MUSEUM OF ARTS & DESIGN WILL HONOR SEVEN AT ANNUAL VISIONARIES! GALA
September 8, New York…Seven distinguished individuals whose achievements have helped the Museum of Arts & Design to further its mission of exploring the changing definition of craft will receive the Museum's Visionaries! award, "Radiant Figure", at its seventh annual black-tie dinner in New York City, Wednesday, September 27, 2000. Held in the Pierre Hotel, honorees will be recognized for personal contributions in their respective fields and for promoting excellence in the arts.
Commissioner Schuyler G. Chapin of New York City's Department of Cultural Affairs will preside over the festivities; Honorary Chair is First Lady Libby Pataki. Co-chairs are Jack Lenor Larsen, distinguished artist and Museum of Arts & Design Trustee; Sharon Patrick, President and COO of Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, Inc. (MSO); and Barbara Tober, Chairman of the Board of the Museum of Arts & Design.
This year's awards will go to artists Magdalena Abakanowicz, Lenore Tawney, Julie Taymor and pioneering craft school founders Francis and Priscilla Merritt and Anne Gould Hauberg, and to corporate honoree Martha Stewart
Magdalena Abakanowicz will receive recognition for her vision in transforming fiber art into powerful, three-dimensional sculpture. Lenore Tawney has helped to move American art into a position of eminence through her sculpture and fiber art. The electrifying work of Julie Taymor, who has revolutionized contemporary theater with her visual innovations, will be paid tribute with a live performance from The Lion King.
The Haystack Mountain School of Craft's founders, Francis and Priscilla Merritt and Anne Gould Hauberg, founder of the Pilchuck Glass School, will receive awards to mark their efforts as creators and builders of two preeminent art schools whose students constitute a major force in the American craft world.
Martha Stewart, Chairman and CEO of Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia Inc. (MSO), will be honored for fostering creativity and providing artistic alternatives to conformity through her far-reaching work which has encouraged millions of Americans to take an aesthetic, hands-on approach to their daily lives.
The sculpted bronze and silver Visionaries! award, "Radiant Figure", was designed by artist Michele Oka Doner and was generously underwritten by Nanette L. Laitman, who is president of the Museum's Board of Governors.
Tickets for the gala dinner, which begins at 7 PM, are $500 for Individual Friends and $1,000 for Individual Sponsors. For further information or the purchase of individual tickets or tables, please call (212) 956-3535.
In little more than forty years, the Museum of Arts & Design has emerged as an international resource center for the exhibition, collection, preservation and study of craft in all media. The museum's educational programs present art-related events, lectures and workshops for children, adults, collectors, students and families in a joyful environment of contemporary craft, decorative arts and design. This year, the museum celebrates the acquisition of their current condominium site and the announcement of a capital campaign and an endowment program to ensure the continuance of its unique contribution to the arts.