Students from 16 Ohio High Schools Chosen to Participate in Arts Day 2006
by Kathy Burgan

In an effort to educate young people about the legislative process, Ohio Citizens for the Arts Foundation, with the help of the Ohio Alliance for Arts Education, invited high schools from around Ohio to participate in Arts Day 2006. Arts Day, co-presented annually by Ohio Citizens for the Arts Foundation and the Ohio Arts Council, offers opportunities for citizens to express their support of public funding for the arts to their state legislators.

Schools selected to participate in Arts Day 2006 are Admiral King High School, Lorain; Botkins High School, Botkins; Hoover High School, North Canton; Southview High School, Lorain; The Wellington School, Columbus; Westerville North High School, Westerville; and Stark Youth Arts Council represented by: Alliance High School, Canton South High School, East Canton High School, Hoover High School, Jackson High School, Lake High School, Louisville High School, Minerva High School, Perry High School and Timken High School. More than 60 high schools expressed interest in the event.

Each high school will choose six students to participate in the event based on their ability to be successful student advocates. Advocates must have an interest in the arts and the legislative process, an ability to speak in public with individuals or small groups and willingness to follow through with written assignments.

Prior to Arts Day, each participating school hosted a state legislator who shared information regarding the state government process and received information on the school’s arts and civics programs. On Arts Day, March 29, the student advocates will travel to Columbus to spend the morning speaking with legislators about the impact the arts have had on their lives. In the afternoon, they will attend the 2006 Governor’s Awards for the Arts in Ohio ceremony.

For more information about the legislative school visits and Arts Day meetings please contact Donna Collins at Ohio Citizens for the Arts, 614/221-4064.

Arts Day takes place in conjunction with the Governor’s Awards for the Arts in Ohio. Seven winners have been chosen in six categories from 60 nominations.

The Governor’s Awards for the Arts are given annually to Ohio individuals and organizations in recognition of outstanding contributions to the arts statewide, regionally and nationally.

This year’s ceremony will be held Wednesday, March 29, 3:30 p.m. in the Capitol Theatre in the Vern Riffe Center for Government and the Arts, 77 S. High Street, downtown Columbus. The awards ceremony is free and open to the public. A free reception in the Ohio Arts Council’s Riffe Gallery will follow the ceremony.

Award categories and recipients included: Arts in Education, Jack Louiso (Cincinnati); Community Development and Participation, Southern Ohio Museum and Cultural Center (Portsmouth); Arts Administration, Nannette Maciejunes (Columbus); Arts Patron, David and Georgia Welles (Toledo); Individual Artist, Steven Bognar (Yellow Springs); Business Support of the Arts, Park National Bank (Newark). The Irma Lazarus Award will be given to Erich Kunzel, Conductor of the Cincinnati Pops.

The awards ceremony, hosted by the Ohio Arts Council and Ohio Citizens for the Arts Foundation, honors award recipients and members of the Ohio Legislature for their support of public funding for the arts.

The 2006 Governor’s Awards for the Arts in Ohio and Arts Day are made possible by Carrabba’s Italian Grill, Cinergy Foundation, and Ohio Government Telecommunications. Media sponsors include the Columbus Dispatch, Dayton Daily News, Ohio Cable Telecommunications, Ohio Magazine, The Plain Dealer and Time Warner Cable.

More information about the Governor’s Awards for the Arts in Ohio, including a full list of winners, past and present, is available on the Ohio Arts Council Web site at www.oac.state.oh.us.

Ohio Citizens for the Arts Foundation provides education about the arts in Ohio and educates citizens about ways to participate effectively in their government. The OCA Foundation partners with the Ohio Arts Council in the annual presentation of Arts Day and the Governor Arts Awards for the Arts ceremony.

The Ohio Arts Council is a state agency that funds and supports quality arts experiences to strengthen Ohio communities culturally, educationally and economically.

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