High atop the Mayfair in the Sky Club, the world looked glitteringly perfect on the evening of Tuesday, October 6. With a magnificent view of downtown Dallas and Turtle Creek, it was so amazing that even those with a hint of vertigo at the Business Council for the Arts event sloughed the malady off for the night.
The gathering including BCA Board Chair Larry Glasgow, Janice Evans-Page, Barbara Daseke, Lee Papert, Richard Eiseman, Susan Stich, Randall White, Dotti Reeder, David Haemisegger, Laree Hulshoff and Ben Fischer was to reveal The Obelisk Awardees that will be recognized at The Fairmont on Friday, November 13.
Originally called the Business Committee for the Arts, the art-supporting nonprofit was the brainchild of the late Ray Nasher. Established in 1987, it was created to bring together the Dallas business community and the arts. Over the years, the organization transitioned into Business Council for the Arts. But it stayed within the Nasher family, when daughter Nancy Nasher took over the role of Founder’s Chair. The Obelisk Awards were created “to salute North Texas businesses and community leaders who have immeasurably enriched arts and culture in the region through partnership, leadership and education.”
This year’s awardees are:
- Atmos Energy Corporation nominated by WaterTower Theatre
- Beyond the Horizon nominated by Undermain Theatre
- Booker T. Washington High School for the Performing and Visual Arts and Plano Children’s Theatre
- Edwin Cabaniss nominated by Steven Roth
- Neiman Marcus Willow Bend nominated by North Texas Performing Arts and Plano Children’s Theatre
- NorthPark Center nominated by Dallas Symphony Orchestra
- Spec’s Wines, Spirits And Finer Foods nominated by the University of North Texas, College of Music
- Stephen A. Waldman nominated by the Dallas Holocaust Museum/Center for Education and Tolerance
- The Dallas Weekly nominated by Dallas Black Dance Theatre
- Virgin America nominated by Dallas Film Society
The 2015 Obelisk Award Host Committee Chair Kevin Hurst and BCA Board Chair Larry Glasgow revealed that North Texas Public Broadcasting President/CEO Mary Anne Alhadeff will serve as luncheon emcee, and the special presenter will be Dr. Eric Olson, director of the Hamon Center for Regenerative Science and Medicine and professor and chair of molecular biology at UT Southwestern Medical Center.
One change in this year’s presentation is the Obelisk Award itself. Breaking with tradition of a tall piece of art, glass artisan Jim Bowman has created a transparent purple, kidney-shaped bowl to be presented to the awardees.