Winners Announced at
5th Annual ACE Awards
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October 23, 2009, Champaign, IL - 40 North | 88 West proudly announces the winners of the 5th Annual ACE (Arts, Culture, and Entertainment) Awards. The ACE Awards recognize and celebrate outstanding contributions to the cultural life of Champaign County. The winners were announced at the ACE Awards ceremony, held inside The Highdive on Thursday, October 22. The ACE Awards honor outstanding achievements in these seven categories: Arts Education, Media, Advocacy, Spotlight, Creative Community Service, Business and Lifetime Achievement.
“This is just like the Academy Awards, micro-urban style!”
– Mike Ross, 2009 Advocacy ACE presenter and Director of the
Krannert Center for the Performing Arts
300 people attended the lively awards ceremony Thursday night, with exceptional food provided by English Hedgerow and live music from acclaimed sitarist Indrajit Banerjee, tabla player Subrata Bhattacharya and vocalist Nirmalya Roy. The performers were presented through a partnership with Rhythm and Raag, an Institute for Indian Performing Arts. Short video presentations, produced by Dreamscape Design and profiling the seven winners, were shown as each of the awards were announced. Psymbolic Visual Communications provided live video mixing and computer animation for the event, in partnership with ATLAS—Applied Technologies for Learning in the Arts & Sciences—at the University of Illinois. Photographer Valerie Oliveiro was on hand to document the event. The Title Sponsors for the 2009 ACE Awards were Dreamscape Design and Buzz.
THE WINNERS OF THE 2009 ACE AWARDS ARE:
Mary Ellen Page — Education ACE Award Winner (watch video)
As creator of Tolono’s Unity Junior High School Youth Theater program and Drama Club, Mary Ellen Page inspired scores of Champaign County students, including Mark Roberts, Andy and David Warfel, Brent O'Neil and Diane Ducey. An 8th Grade English teacher at Unity, Mrs. Page involved a large percentage of the student body in three productions every school year. She involved students in all aspects of theatrical production and stage craft, teaching them to act, design, build, and paint sets, and master the rudiments of scenic lighting. She also handled the fundraising, administration, oversight and direction of their productions. She provided many young people with innumerable opportunities for success—and instilled in them what would become a lifelong appreciation for the arts.
Parkland College Television (PCTV) — Media ACE Award Winner (watch video)
For 31 years, Parkland College Educational Television (PCTV) has maintained a strong commitment to the arts. This 24-hour cable channel is the Champaign County broadcast home of Classic Arts Showcase, a unique program bringing opera, ballet, symphony orchestra concerts and much more to local television audiences. PCTV also creates original local content, including For Arts Sake, a half-hour series covering exhibitions in Parkland Art Gallery, and In Praise of Women Artists. PCTV has profiled productions at the Parkland College Theatre and promoted the arts to children during media classes in Parkland’s College for Kids program. PCTV has further made significant contributions to the media arts in Champaign County in the students it has trained to work in the industry through hands-on courses taught at the PCTV studios.
Jo Ellen DeVilbiss — Advocacy ACE Award Winner (watch video)
Jo Ellen DeVilbiss is a respected educator, performing artist, administrator, and a diligent advocate for the arts in Champaign County. As executive director of the Conservatory of Central Illinois, Jo Ellen has forged relationships with countless artists and arts organizations and acted as a treasured resource for those wanting to get involved in the creative life of our community. Her consistent advocacy for music education, her considerable leadership skills, and her talents as an educator and performer – all have helped create a safe space in Champaign County where the artists of both today and tomorrow can find their voice.
Bow-Dacious String Band — Spotlight ACE Award Winner (watch video)
The Bow-dacious String Band is an ensemble of up to 50 young string players under the direction of Community Center for the Arts Director Robin Kearton. Devoted to the cultivation of excellent ensemble skills, improvisation, and applied music theory through the performance of traditional and popular music, the group performs at frequent concerts and has appeared in venues around the country ranging from the Illinois State Fair to Chattanooga and Nashville, Tennessee, and from Chicago’s Millennium Park to a National String Teachers Conference in Atlanta, Georgia. Their many public appearances highlight the distinctiveness of the ensemble while introducing the Bow-Dacious teaching concept to other communities, bringing attention to both a unique music education model and a bustling Champaign County arts community.
Nathan and Julie Gunn — Creative Community Service ACE Award Winners (watch video)
University of Illinois professor Nathan Gunn is a consummate artist with an international reputation as both performer and presenter of master classes. Dr. Julie Gunn is associate professor in the accompanying division, an opera coach and chamber music performer. Since moving to Champaign County, Nathan and Julie have given outstanding service to our creative community, providing essential support to the Krannert Center for the Performing Arts, Conservatory of Central Illinois, UofI School of Music Alumni Board, C-U Ballet, 40 North | 88 West, and the UofI College of Fine and Applied Arts. The Gunns have worked tirelessly with numerous community arts organizations to stimulate coordination and cooperation between groups, hosted benefit performances and receptions, and recruited others to support the arts in Champaign County. The parents of five children, Nathan and Julie have also taken the time to spearhead an effort to consider the creation of a new cultural center in downtown Champaign and are serving on a volunteer committee discussing a cultural arts district in our community.
Iron Post, Paul Wirth, owner — Business ACE Award Winner (watch video)
For years, Iron Post owner Paul Wirth has worked hard to provide high-quality live music a home in Champaign County. The Iron Post offers a packed monthly schedule of affordable concerts featuring jazz, blues, folk, zydeco, rock and more. Paul’s commitment to supporting local artists gives them a treasured venue where they can perform and connect with audiences. A strong supporter of the Urbana Park District and the Community Center for the Arts, Paul regularly collaborates on a wide array of special events and festivals. He is also an active board member of the Urbana Business Association, helping them to better provide for arts and cultural activities both in Urbana and county-wide. With the Iron Post, Paul Wirth is making music more accessible and contributing to the vibrancy of our entire creative community.
Robin Hall — Lifetime Achievement ACE Award Winner (watch video)
Robin Hall has offered exemplary leadership on expanding public and private support for the arts in Champaign County. For 34 years, Robin was Executive Director of the Urbana Park District, where he established the widely-praised Wandell Sculpture Garden in Meadowbrook Park. An avid arts patron, Robin is now the City of Urbana Public Arts Commission Chair and Director of the Office of Recreation and Tourism Development at the University of Illinois. His Wandell Sculpture Garden brilliantly links the community’s love of the natural environment with its interest in the arts, creating a unique space where the public can appreciate the beauty of both. As Public Arts Commission Chair, Robin has assisted in the development of the Urbana Public Arts Granting Program and a new sculpture loan program.
A panel of independent judges representing a broad cross-section of the community selected the seven ACE Award winners for 2009. This year’s ACE Award judges were:
- Seamus Reilly, Vice President for Institutional Advancement, Parkland College
- Roger Cooper, Senior Community Events Liaison, WILL AM/FM Radio
- Mike Frerichs, Senator, Illinois State District 52
- Carl Altstetter, ACE Lifetime Achievement Winner, 2008
- Laurel Prussing, Mayor, City of Urbana
- Kay Machula, Business Development Officer, Bank Champaign, board member, Champaign County YMCA and Larkin’s Place at the Y.
- Heather Tucker, Media/Communications Specialist in the Office of the Vice Chancellor for Institutional Advancement, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Presenters at the 2009 ACE Awards included:
- Don Elmore, President, 40 North | 88 West Board of Directors
- Brian Hagy, Prompting Theatre, 2008 Education ACE Award winner
- Ian Wang, Rantoul Press, 2008 Media ACE Award winner
- Patrick Harness, artist, 2008 Creative Community Service ACE Award winner
- Scott Schwartz, Sousa Archives and Center for American Music, 2008 Spotlight ACE Award winner
- Donna Greene, CEO, Busey Wealth Management and Chris Shroyer, President, Busey Bank, 2008 Business ACE Award winner
- Mike Ross, Director, Krannert Center for the Performing Arts, 2008 Advocacy ACE Award winner
- Rick Orr, owner, Rick Orr Florist, 2006 Lifetime Achievement ACE Award winner
- Eric Robeson, Robeson’s Inc., Judge, 2005 ACE Awards
- Chris Hartman, CMH Properties, LLC, Treasurer, 40 North | 88 West
- Megan Wolf, Director of Development, 40 North | 88 West
- Steven Bentz, Director of Operations, 40 North | 88 West
SPONSORS
The Title Sponsors for the 2009 ACE Awards were Dreamscape Design and Buzz. ACE Award Sponsor was English Hedgerow. ACE Awards Supporters were The High Dive, Krannert Art Museum, Krannert Center for the Performing Arts, RATIO Architecture and WEFT 90.1 FM. ACE Award Benefactors: Champaign Telephone Company, Jon “Cody” Sokolski and Marci Dodds and One Main Development and Kathleen Harleman. ACE Contributors: ATLAS - Applied Technologies for Learning in the Arts & Sciences , CMH Properties, LLC, Eastland Suites and Russ & Nick Taylor of ReMax Realty Associates. Individual ACE Donors included Peter and Kim Fox, Peter and Joan Hood, David Morse, Rosann Noel, Robert and Nobuko Graves and Rod and Jane Reid. Additional support was provided by the Champaign County Convention and Visitors Bureau, the City of Champaign, the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and Rhythm and Raag. This program is supported in part by a grant from the Illinois Arts Council, a state agency.
40 North | 88 West - Champaign County’s Arts, Culture and Entertainment Council - is dedicated to cultivating creativity in Champaign County. Through advocacy, information and collaboration, 40 North works to stimulate a vibrant, thriving environment for the arts, culture and entertainment essential to the quality of life in Champaign County. For more on 40 North, visit www.40north.org.