2006 Annual Award Recipients Annual Convention Milwaukee, Wisconsin

• Jerry Allen
  Selina Roberts Ottum Award
• Jennifer Armstrong
  Emerging Leader Award
• Mark di Suvero
  Public Art Network Award
• Alecia Townsend Kintner
  Michael Newton Award

Jerry Allen, Selina Roberts Ottum Award
Most recently, Jerry Allen was the director of the Office of Cultural Affairs in San Jose, CA. Previously, he was the visual arts coordinator for the King County Arts Commission (Seattle); the executive director of the King County Arts Commission; and the director of cultural affairs for the city of Dallas. In addition, he has served on scores of art selection panels and has been a member of several National Endowment panels.

Jerry Allen is also a well-regarded member of the public art field. While working in Dallas, he directed the first public art master plan ever completed. And his administration of the King County's EARTHWORKS: Land Reclamation as Sculpture symposium is one of the shaping projects of contemporary public art. He was on the national advisory board for Forecast, publishers of the Public Art Review, the only national periodical dedicated to public art.

Allen received his B.F.A. in sculpture from the University of Puget Sound and pursued his graduate studies in studio art and public administration at the University of Washington.

Back to Top

Jennifer Armstrong, Emerging Leader Award
Jennifer Armstrong is the executive director of 40 North/88 West—the Champaign County Arts, Culture & Entertainment Council. At the national and state levels, she serves as immediate past chair of Americans for the Arts Emerging Leader Council, is on the board of The Association of American Culture, and is a member of the Illinois Arts Council's strategic planning task force. Locally, Jennifer serves as vice chair for Big. Small. All. Champaign County. She is also a co-founder of individuals TOGETHER, and young professional organizations formed by both the Urban League of Champaign County and the Champaign County Chamber of Commerce. She moved to Champaign County in 2004 from Phoenix, AZ, where she served as the program coordinator for the Herberger College Department of Dance at Arizona State University. Jennifer studied arts and business administration, theater, and dance at Millikin University.

Back to Top

Mark di Suvero, Public Art Network Award
Mark di Suvero is one of the most important American artists to emerge from the Abstract Expressionist era. His sculptures have been exhibited in citywide exhibitions in Paris, France; Venice, Italy; New York City, USA; Stuttgart, Germany; and Nice and Valence, France. He was the first living artist to be shown in Le Jardin des Tuileries in Paris. His sculpture, The Calling, is adjacent to the entrance to the Calatrava addition to the Milwaukee Art Museum.

A key figure in the development of postwar American sculpture, di Suvero constructs his monumentally scaled sculptures primarily from industrial I-beams that are welded or bolted together. Often the size of small buildings, his work is not exhibited in traditional museums or gallery settings. The areas where di Suvero's sculptures are on view were created specifically for these works.

Back to Top

Alecia Townsend Kintner, Michael Newton Award
Since 1997, Townsend Kintner has managed the Greater Hartford Arts Council's united arts fund, which now raises $3.5 million annually. Over the past 10 years, she has averaged 9.85 percent growth in revenue with a 16.5 percent increase in 2004. Her professional interests include regional marketing, city beautification, and collaborative/alternative arts funding mechanisms. A Hartford resident, she holds a master's degree in business administration and a B.A. in performing arts journalism from schools in her native Southern California.

The Greater Hartford Arts Council is a national leader in diversified services and cultural promotion and the largest independent arts council in New England. Since 1971, the Arts Council has raised and distributed $42 million for the arts, helping to place Greater Hartford in the top 6 percent of metropolitan areas in North America for its arts and culture.