Works & Process at the Guggenheim nominated for 2021 APAP William Dawson Award for Programmatic Excellence and Sustained Achievement in Programming

The Association of Performing Arts Professionals (APAP) announced the nominees for its APAP Awards. APAP will recognize the nominees and announce the final award recipients at The APAP Honors, as well as celebrate the recipients of the Annual NAPAMA Awards and Halsey & Alice North Award for APAP Board Alumni. The APAP Honors will recognize groundbreakers and luminaries in a virtual ceremony that will take place on Thursday, May 6, 2021 from 4:00-5:30 p.m. (EDT). The event is free and open-to-the-public. Charitable contributions to support much-needed APAP programs and resources are welcome.

To RSVP for The APAP Honors, visit https://web.cvent.com/event/73e8159b-fc51-47a2-aebd-edd8f5a0e24c/regProcessStep1?RefId=HONREG&rp=bd4e3f0b-b1c6-481c-b16f-8214a54fac98.

To make a donation to APAP, visit https://my.apap365.org/About/Donate/General-Operations.

APAP President and CEO Lisa Richards Toney explains the significance of hosting an awards celebration in 2021. “APAP’s work has always been to lift up the field. When much of the performing arts has been devastated, APAP is working hard to support the field during the crisis and through the recovery.”

“Visibility is extremely important for the field and for arts professionals at this time,” Richards Toney continues. “At APAP, we are working to preserve jobs, preserve livelihoods, and preserve the ecosystem that is integral to the cultural and economic fabric of our society. That work is a combination of advocating for federal support, delivering programs and services to build the field back better, and providing membership relief so our people can weather this storm. APAP wants to be here for those hardest hit by the effects of the pandemic, and we take seriously our role to help carry the field forward.” 

“We are thrilled to have our Works & Process programming recognized by APAP,” shared nominee Caroline Cronson, producer of Works & Process at the Guggenheim. “This year, we’ve introduced several new initiatives including virtual commissions, bubble residencies, a docuseries, and are proud to have reopened live indoor performances in our efforts to continue to support artists and bring the arts to the greater community, and we’re excited to continue and expand these programs,” said nominee Duke Dang, general manager of Works & Process at the Guggenheim. 

For decades, the coveted awards have been presented annually as part of the APAP Awards Ceremony, traditionally held at the annual APAP|NYC conference. In 2021, the Awards event—renamed The APAP Honors—is being held virtually on May 6. The APAP Awards celebrate those individuals and organizations that have demonstrated a significant impact on the industry and communities they serve both in the U.S. and abroad.

Richards Toney invites all to attend the event in celebration of the many diverse arts professionals and organizations who are part of the ecosystem that is APAP’s very mission to support. 

“As we continue to work to ensure that the performing arts is able to return stronger than ever, we also welcome charitable contributions to APAP, so that we are able to deliver on the services and resources our members have come to rely upon. As a membership organization, our lifeblood is our members and the crisis of the pandemic has shown us that, now, more than ever, our members need us. And, simply put, we are committed to serving them. Support to APAP is deeply appreciated as it helps us to continue helping the field now and into the future.” 

The APAP Honors is sponsored by IMG Artists (https://imgartists.com/). Learn more about APAP event sponsorship here: https://www.apap365.org/About/Advertising-and-Sponsorship.

Fifty-three performing arts professionals and organizations were nominated by APAP members for the following awards and represent the breadth and depth of the performing arts presenting, booking and touring field at this moment. “For the first time ever, given so much great work and the important chance to lift up and celebrate the magnanimity of the performing arts field, we are celebrating all of our nominees and featuring as many as possible during the awards program itself,” explains Richards Toney. 

Final award recipients will be announced at The APAP Honors on May 6.

THE AWARD OF MERIT FOR ACHIEVEMENT IN THE PERFORMING ARTS

Ronald K. Brown, Choreographer/Artistic Director, EVIDENCE, a Dance Company 
Rhodnie Désir, Artistic Director/Artist/Choreographer, RD Creations 
Christine Dixon, artist 
Raja Feather Kelly, Founding Artistic Director, the feath3r theory 
Zakir Hussain, tabla player, composer, percussionist, producer, actor 
Yo-Yo Ma, cellist, musician, founder, Silk Road Ensemble  
Christian McBride, bassist, composer, arranger 
Charles Miller, Program Consultant, Mayo Performing Arts Center 
Deborah Nagy, Founder and Director, Les Délices 
Moses Pendleton, choreographer, dancer and the artistic director of MOMIX 
Toshi Reagon, musician, composer, curator and producer  
 
THE SIDNEY R. YATES AWARD FOR OUTSTANDING ADVOCACY ON BEHALF OF THE PERFORMING ARTS
 
Gail Boyd, President, Gail Boyd Artist Management  
Matthew Covey, Executive Director, Tamizdat  
Creating New Futures: Working Guidelines for Ethics & Equity in Presenting Dance & Performance
María López De León, President and CEO, National Association of Latino Arts & Cultures (NALAC) 
Nikki Estes, Director, Presenting & Touring, South Arts 
Florida Professional Presenters Consortium, Inc. 
Dayna Frank, President/Co-Founder, NIVA 
Meena Malik, musician, arts consultant, and cultural organizer; Program Manager of Theater, NEFA; API Arts Network of Boston 
Mixedearners.org, Kevin Erickson and Sarah Al Howes, Esquire 
Rev. Moose Marauder, Executive Director/Co-Founder, NIVA 
The Performing Arts Managers & Agents Coalition (PAMAC) Charlotte Lee, Founder 
Jonathan Shmidt Chapman, Executive Director, TYA/USA 
Zeyba Rahman, Senior Program Officer for the Building Bridges Program (DDFIA), Doris Duke Charitable Foundation 
United States Artists, Deana Haggag, President & CEO 
We See You White American Theater
 
THE WILLIAM DAWSON AWARD FOR PROGRAMMATIC EXCELLENCE AND SUSTAINED ACHIEVEMENT IN PROGRAMMING
 
Aspen Santa Fe Ballet, Jean-Philippe Malaty, Executive Director, and Tom Mossbrucker, Artistic Director 
Barrington Stage Company, Julianne Boyd, Artistic Director 
W. Lee Bell, Senior Director of Programming, Kravis Center for the Performing Arts 
Celebrity Series of Boston, Amy Lam, Artistic Programmer
Charleston Gaillard Center, Therese Spaseff, Director of Entertainment and Programming 
Zenetta S. Drew, Executive Director, Dallas Black Dance Theatre 
Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts, Kathy Ramsberger, President & CEO 
Brooke Horejsi, Assistant Dean for Art & Creative Engagement, Executive Director of UtahPresents 
Kodi Hutchinson, Artistic Producer, JazzYYC 
Lied Center for the Performing Arts, Bill Stephan, Executive Director & Chief Artistic Officer
William Lockwood, Special Programming Director, McCarter Theatre Center, Princeton University  
Charles Miller, Program Consultant, Mayo Performing Arts Center 
Kristina Newman-Scott, President, BRIC Arts Media 
The Public Theater, Shanta Thake, Associate Artistic Director/ Director of Artistic Programs
Steven Schmidt, General Manager, Riverside Concerts/City of Rochester (MN) Civic Music Department 
Kathy Schuman, Vice President & Artistic Director, Caramoor Center for Music and the Arts 
Roberta Uno, Director, Arts in a Changing America  
Works & Process at the Guggenheim, Caroline Cronson, Producer and Duke Dang, General Manager 
 
THE FAN TAYLOR DISTINGUISHED SERVICE AWARD FOR EXEMPLARY SERVICE TO THE FIELD OF PROFESSIONAL PRESENTING
 
Andre Bouchard, Principal and Founder, Indigenous Performance Productions, a nonprofit company 
Mario Garcia Durham, arts administrator, educator 
María López De León, President and CEO, National Association of Latino Arts & Cultures (NALAC) 
Deana Haggag, President & CEO, United States Artists  
Steve Lerian, Director, Cal Poly Arts 
Charles Miller, Program Consultant, Mayo Performing Arts Center 
Norton Owen, Director of Preservation, Jacob’s Pillow 
Diane Rodriguez, Director, Rodriguez Projects (posthumously)  
Vera Wilson, Founder, Astral Artists, Inc.  
 
APAP is also pleased to announce Olga Garay-English as the 2021 recipient of the Halsey & Alice North Board Alumni Award. Garay-English is currently an independent arts consultant and is Senior Advisor for International Affairs to Fundación Teatro a Mil. The Halsey & Alice North Board Alumni Award is presented to an APAP Board Alum who “has demonstrated in their words and actions the beautiful spirit of generosity and giving, not only on a continuing basis to Association of Performing Arts Professionals, but to the field at large”.

In January, NAPAMA announced winners of its 2021 awards; Kevin Spencer, Self-Represented Artist, Educator and Advocate, Hocus Focus, Inc. will receive the Liz Silverstein Award for Agent-Manager of the Year, and Hollis Ashby, Artistic and Executive Director, Williams Center for the Arts will receive the NAPAMA Award for Presenter of the Year.

Works & Process at the Guggenheim 
Described by The New York Times as “an exceptional opportunity to understand something of the creative process,” for over 35 years, New Yorkers have been able to see, hear, and meet the most acclaimed artists in the world, in an intimate setting unlike any other. Works & Process, the performing arts series at the Guggenheim, has championed new works and offered audiences unprecedented access to generations of leading creators and performers. Most performances take place in the Guggenheim’s intimate Frank Lloyd Wright–designed 273-seat Peter B. Lewis Theater. In 2017, Works & Process established a new residency and commissioning program, inviting artists to create new works, made in and for the iconic Guggenheim rotunda. In March 2020, Works & Process Artists (WPA) Virtual Commissions was created to financially support artists and nurture their creative process during the pandemic and was described by The New York Times as “one of the most powerful artistic responses yet to the Covid-19 crisis.” To forge a path for artists to safely gather, create, and perform during the pandemic, in summer 2020, Works & Process pioneered and produced a series of bubble residencies that were captured in the docuseries Isolation to Creation that can be streamed for free on allarts.org. The bubble residencies will continue into 2021. On March 20, 2021 Works & Process was the first to reopen live indoor in person performances, in the Guggenheim rotunda. worksandprocess.org. Lead funding for Works & Process is provided by The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation with additional support from the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, Ford Foundation, the Christian Humann Foundation, Leon Levy Foundation, Mertz Gilmore Foundation, NYC COVID-19 Response and Impact Fund, Rockefeller Brothers Fund, Evelyn Sharp Foundation, and the Geraldine Stutz Trust, with public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council and the National Endowment for the Arts. Works & Process has received support from the U.S. Small Business Administration Paycheck Protection Program and NYC Employee Retention Grant Program. 

About The APAP Honors and APAP Awards
For more information about The APAP Honors and APAP Awards, including past award recipients, visit https://www.apap365.org/Programs/APAP-Honors-2021.

About APAP, the Association of Performing Arts Professionals 
APAP, the Association of Performing Arts Professionals, based in Washington, D.C., is the national service, advocacy and membership organization dedicated to developing and supporting a robust, performing arts presenting field and the professionals who work within it. Our 1,700 national and international members represent leading performing arts centers, municipal and university performance facilities, nonprofit performing arts centers, culturally specific organizations, foreign governments, as well as artist agencies, managers, touring companies, and national consulting practices that serve the field, and a growing roster of self-presenting artists. APAP works to effect change through advocacy, professional development, resource sharing and civic engagement. APAP is a nonprofit 501(c)3 organization governed by a volunteer board of directors and led by President and CEO Lisa Richards Toney (https://www.apap365.org/About/Who-We-Are/Staff/Lisa-Richards-Toney). In addition to presenting the annual APAP|NYC conference—the world’s leading gathering and marketplace for the performing arts—APAP continues to be the industry’s leading resource, knowledge and networking destination for the advancement of performing arts presenting, booking and touring. For more information, visit https://www.apap365.org.

About NAPAMA
NAPAMA, the North American Performing Arts Managers and Agents, promotes the best interests of professionals engaged in the touring of the performing arts through building and sharing knowledge, advocacy, leadership, and innovation. Committed to the core values of equity, diversity and inclusion, NAPAMA provides members with a platform for networking, communication, information exchange, resource identification, trends in the field, research, and best practices. 

About The North Group, Inc.
Halsey and Alice North headed The North Group Inc. from 1987 to 2018, providing an integrated approach to planning, board development, and fundraising for nonprofit performing arts centers and historic theaters across the country. They have been active in APAP as board members, teachers, volunteers, board emeritus, honorary lifetime members, fundraisers, and donors. Halsey was honored with the Fan Taylor Award in 1988. Halsey and Alice were the first recipients of the Halsey & Alice North Award in 2013 in recognition of their commitment to APAP and their leadership in the field.