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Irma Lazarus Award

Wayne P. Lawson, Columbus

Since the 1970s, Wayne P. Lawson has been a pivotal figure in arts leadership across the state of Ohio. For nearly 30 years, Lawson served as the fourth executive director of the Ohio Arts Council. Following his retirement in 2006, he has continued his fervent support for the arts by serving as a professor of public policy and arts administration at The Ohio State University, advising the Greater Columbus Arts Council on strategic initiatives, and volunteering on a number of arts and cultural boards.

Lawson is a trustee of the Columbus Museum of Art; vice-chair of the Alliance of Artists Communities in Providence, R.I.; a trustee of the Fine Arts Work Center in Provincetown, Mass.; and vice president of the board of Thurber House, a literary center in Columbus. He has been on many program panels for the National Endowment for the Arts, served a three-year term as chairman of the National Assembly of State Arts Agencies and completed three terms as chairman of Arts Midwest.

Lawson, who was born in Cleveland, received a BA in Romance languages, an MA in European literature and earned his doctorate in theatre and comparative literature from The Ohio State University. His tenure as director of the Ohio Arts Council lasted from 1978 to 2006. During that time, the OAC became one of the foremost state arts agencies in the nation in terms of funding, long-range planning and evaluation, support for individual artists and innovative services to constituents in all arts disciplines.

This isn't the first time Lawson has been recognized for his lifelong dedication to the arts. He received the Gary Young Award for outstanding leadership in arts administration from the National Assembly of State Arts Agencies and was honored by the Association of American Cultures for leadership and commitment to the development of cultural diversity in the arts. In 2009, he was recognized by the Chilean National Council for Culture and the Arts for his professional commitment to cultural collaborations between Ohio and Chile, a segment of the International Program that he founded at the OAC. In September 2010, Lawson produced the exhibition that represented the United States for the centennial anniversary of the Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes. "100 Years of American Art" was supported by the U.S. Embassy in Chile.

Wayne Lawson video tribute (11:55 minutes)