Since its creation by the late Raymond Nasher in 1988, Business Council for the Arts has had three executive directors including Pat Porter and Katherine Wagner. On Thursday, November 9, third Executive Director Stacie Adams oversaw the annual Obelisk Awards Luncheon to celebrate the people and organizations that have married the North Texas arts with the business communities.
It was proof that Stacie was building on the foundation of her predecessors while adding some slight changes. For instance, the decision was made to honor five organizations/programs and five individuals whose “leadership across business, arts and culture has made all the difference to their success.”
Another change was the location of the event. Instead of taking place at the Arts District Mansion, the fundraiser was on the JW Marriott Dallas Arts District’s 12th floor Harwood Ballroom. For many, it was their first at the newest hotel in downtown Dallas, but the initiation was painless as they were immediately directed upon arrival to the elevator to the 11th floor and then to the elevator taking them to the 12th floor with an exquisite view of the Arts District plus a living garden wall to serve for photo backdrops.
Following the reception in the ballroom’s lobby, the program got underway with a video featuring Luncheon Co-Chairs Rachael and Evan Singer. As the video ended, BCA Board Chair Joel Austin and Founding Chair Nancy Nasher took their places at the podium to welcome the sold-out crowd and acknowledge the contributions of Katherine, who was recognized by the group with applause.
Stacie then replaced Joel and Nancy at the podium reporting that the 2023 Art and Economics Report would be officially released later in the week. However, she did share that “in 2022 alone, your taxes, arts and culture experiences, exhibitions and events were responsible for producing more than $1.5 billion in economic activity. They generated more than $300 million in taxes revenue and created more than 25.000 jobs. As a matter of fact, Texas was recently ranked the number one business climate in the country.”
She then invited Dallas Opera baritone Erik Earl Larson on stage accompanied by pianist Kirk Severtson for a brief performance.
As the honorees took their places on the stage, the presentation of the awards got underway. Here are highlights from each of their acceptances:
- Distinguished Cultural Organization: Dallas Holocaust and Human Rights Museum accepted by President/CEO Mary Pat Higgins — “At The Museum, we’re dedicated to keeping a history of the Holocaust and advancing the human rights to combat prejudice, hatred and anger. Now more than ever, there was a critical need for fact-based education. Recent local and global events illustrate the growing support of antisemitism and hatred that we work to combat. This year we will reach 210,000 people through our powerful exhibition, engagement, community coverings and training opportunities for students and professionals. Of those we serve annually, 120,000 are students. Every day at the museum, tomorrow’s leaders arrive with their classmates on school buses. We owe it to them and to our community to teach them that if they see something wrong, to stand up, to say something.”
- Arts Education: Genesis Inspiration Foundation accepted by Genesis Motor America’s Keith Webb — “Genesis Inspiration Foundation is committed to connecting you to the transforming power of the arts. With the support of the Genesis retailers nationwide and Genesis Motor America, we are pleased to do that in North Texas and throughout the country. While the Inspiration Foundation is a small group, we couldn’t do it without the tireless dedication of all our partners who are teaching our students and working with youth day in and day out.”
- Arts Partnerships: Goldmark Cultural Center accepted by Executive Director Joseph Ye — “We would like to express our sincerest gratitude to our Co-Founders Du Chau, Marty Ray and Chin-Chin Ye, who together have shaped our cultural center from its earliest days. Their unstinting dedication sustained us through difficult times; their boundless enthusiasm has been a vital part of our finding artists; and their expansive vision guides our efforts to provide local artists with workspace opportunities and resources activities. We’d also like to thank Armando Sebastian, one of our longtime Goldmark artists, for nominating us for this prestigious award. Finally, we thank the 100+ Goldmark artists who provide our cultural center with talents, insights and enthusiasm to sustain our community and our collaborative efforts with local artists in our institutions. To Goldmark artists, we’re forever indebted.”
- New Initiatives (Small): Cabaniss Management and Kessler Presents accepted by Edwin Cabaniss — “So 15 years ago, I was a downtown office guy at 2100 Ross. I started getting this tip about when the Nasher was going to open and I walked down there and there was this little man and it was Mr. Nasher himself wearing a hardhat. He would tell the stories about how his parents didn’t have a whole lot of money, but they were taking him to the arts and culture. And I just was so inspired by that… I was fortunate to be a leadership arts alumnus and with the support for that, many years ago. That’s why the story is great. It rings so true that out of his mouth in my ears is exactly the same words that my parents had told me — ‘You find yourself in a situation where you can help somebody, you probably should.’ And that’s the message. Every one of us in here has the ability to help others and right now art is very, very important. And there are some parts of our arts organizations around the town that really need help.”
- New Initiatives (Large): Virgin Hotels Dallas accepted by General Manager Michael Bridges — “Dallas and Virgin’s 50-year history is truly rooted in music, our culture, diversity and acceptance. And it is truly an honor to bring that finally and represent that city of Dallas. It’s also an incredible honor to have the population in the hotel at the Dallas International Film Festival. And it truly shows, I believe, tradition and the impact that two organizations can have when they join forces together to support the local community.”
- Outstanding Leadership Arts Alumnus Raymond Rowell — “Now, I must share a little story. It’s been a busy few weeks and a few days ago, I realized that I needed to make remarks for today. So I shared this with my wife and she said, ‘Well, you’d better thank me.’ I am sure she was joking. But to her I want to express my deepest thanks. To my incredible wife of 20 years for support, patience and understanding of allowing me to pursue my passion for the past few decades. I would also like to express my gratitude to Business Council for the Arts, not necessarily for the award today, but for the impressive work that this organization does, and the impact that it builds in North Texas, year after year, decade after decade, one company, one arts organization at a time; thank you… I want to emphasize the tremendous impact the arts have on our community, and encourage all of us in our collective work to create a vibrant and culturally rich environment for everyone to enjoy, regardless of their circumstances. So, with that, thank you once again for this honor, and for your dedication …”
- Visionary Nonprofit Arts Leader Gayle Halperin — “I began dancing when I was five years old. And it was the only thing I’d ever wanted to do. And every year my mother would say, ‘Do you want to go back to the dance studio?’ And there was just no question. I was like, ‘Sure, yes.’ I never even thought about it. I knew that was where I belonged. And in the dance world as in the art world, there is great sacrifice, because you do give up a lot… When I came to Dallas, I didn’t really like Dallas. And my husband will be the first one to tell you that. And I set out in a very humble way to make the Dallas dance scene a little more like New York, and I found a person who reflected that: Bruce Wood. His vision was to bring a New York-style dance company with a choreographer as the artistic director and in the name of the company, as Bruce Wood Dance. And so way back in 1997, we became colleagues. But during that time I was highly involved with Titas and the Dance Council of North Texas. One of his dancers who joined him in 2001 was Joy Bollinger. So now we fast-forward to about 2010, and Bruce and I are talking and I said, ‘You have to come to Dallas.’ And one of the very people who helped influence Bruce to come to Dallas is Veletta Lill. And I want to thank you so much. She at that time was at the Dallas Arts District and her vision was tremendous and Bruce wanted to be a part of the Dallas Arts District. My dear friend Kathy Chamberlain, who I’ve known since 1996 with all my nonprofit work, has nominated me for this award. And I’m so grateful to her for that and we continue to be colleagues and collaborators through Bruce Wood Dance. So thank you very much. Bruce passed on in 2014. And being obsessed, because I am obsessed, you don’t get this far without getting crazy! So, Joy Bollinger — whom I mentioned her earlier — when I said I was going to form Bruce Wood Dance Company, Joy said to me, ‘I’m there.’ And she is here. And she has carried on the baton for Bruce Wood Dance and Bruce’s incredible style of choreography, which is to promote what’s human: the emotional nature of our lives and our struggles, our challenges as well as our triumphs. Joy carries that emotional flavor in our work.”
- Business Champion For The Arts Cece Smith — “I want to recognize Raymond Nasher for his vision in starting the Business Council for the Arts. I was on the board of Ray’s bank for many years, so I was able to see firsthand his commitment to business support of the arts. I also want to thank Nancy Nasher for continuing this tradition and for her love of the symphony, whose CEO Kim Noltemy nominated me for this award. I love business and I love the arts. And it’s so important that they work hand-in-hand. The arts are very important to businesses in Dallas. And businesses must support the arts for the arts to survive and thrive. And Business Council for the Arts tagline, ‘Uniting commerce and culture,’ is just such a perfect expression of what all of you are doing here today. “
- Legacy Awardee Robyn Flatt — “This is pretty awesome. Thank you so very much for this incredible recognition. And I accept it not just for me, but for all the marvelous children and families who have grown up. And it’s so exciting. You know, you must have been around for a bunch of years to have people come up and say, ‘Well, I came when I was a child and now I’m bringing my children or my grandchildren.’ And it’s really, really rewarding and exciting. This kind of award is so, so important to an organization like ours, because children so often get forgotten. We think, ‘Oh, well, we can just throw them something.’ And we’ve really tried all these years to stand for your children who need our best if we want them to bring their best to the world, and bring those marvelous, rich talents that are inside of them. If we want those to grow and prosper, we have to give them what they can reach for… the idea of what they can reach for. … As I look out across this group, there are so many of you who have helped fight the battles. And I think we all have to be warriors for the arts. Because if we’re not warriors for the arts, if we’re not going to dedicate giving our all to making this arts experience available and accessible to our communities and our people and our children, we’re not going to have it.”
- Lifetime Achievement Awardee Mary Brinegar — “Today, one of the groups of people that helped us accomplish our dreams would be the business community. Starting with the 20 to 30 volunteers that corporations send every festival to take a half-day shift. There have been thousands and thousands of those. But they also gave us corporate executives — and we needed them. We started out by adding these individuals to our board, to our executive committee. And then to make our standing committees be smarter than that, we had each standing committee have two or three board members that brought in eight to 10 additional corporate leaders in their field. So, architecture/construction is filled with people in charge of construction firms, engineering firms, whatever. And so … I had the best teams ever. They also taught me along the way. I didn’t know the value of engineering until I figured out what it was, [and realized we were] cutting out what I really wanted to have… We wanted to bring [Dale] Chihuly to Dallas seven years ago, and I needed a lot of money fast. And I had a wonderful partnership with AT&T and Bank of America. And they started by giving me the initial money to go out and raise just a little more, so that we could guarantee the fee for Dale Chihuly. Sometimes the list just goes on and on. I so appreciate all the people that opened their door to talk to us, and all the people that we’ve worked with and lived with together. We’ve had a break. But we did it because we all share the dream. And we weren’t afraid to work hard and to smile together, because joy is so much better and multiplied when you share it with others.”
The event, which had been scheduled to end at 1:30, actually finished at 1:20, allowing guests to get back to their jobs providing North Texans with more opportunities for the arts to flourish.
For more looks of the honorees and guests, check out MySweetCharity Photo Gallery.