Ryan Names Winners Of 1999 Governor's Awards For The Arts

CHICAGO - Governor George H. Ryan announced today the winners of the 1999 Governor's Awards for the arts, recognizing the contributions made by individuals and organizations to encourage excellence in the arts and to support the arts growth in Illinois.

"Illinois benefits educationally, economically and culturally from investing in the arts and supporting established arts groups," Ryan said. "Recognizing those who have devoted so much to the arts is an important step toward increasing our awareness of all these benefits."

Awards winners include:

ARTS ORGANIZATION: The Hinsdale Center for the Arts and its director, Sherry DeVries. The Hinsdale Center for the Arts is one of Illinois' 44 designated Established Regional Arts Institutions and serves the DuPage County area with a wide-range of high quality visual and performing arts programs including classes, exhibitions, festivals, workshops as well as outreach programs. The Center also provides technical assistance to the numerous artists and arts organizations within its service area.

INDIVIDUAL ARTIST: Robert Falls, internationally-recognized Artistic Director of the Goodman Theatre, Chicago. During his 22-year career as one of Chicago's preeminent artists, Falls has won numerous Joseph Jefferson awards, and the 1992 Special Tony Award for Outstanding Regional Theatre on behalf of the Goodman. Most recently, he won four 1999 Tony Awards, including Best Director and Best Revival of a Play, for his production of Death of a Salesman with Brian Dennehy. After the play closes on Broadway later this year, it will then continue under Falls' direction at London's Old Vic Theatre in January 2000.

CORPORATION: Quincy Newspapers, Inc. The Quincy Newspapers, including The Quincy Herald-Whig, Oakley Lindsay Foundation and WGEM-AM-FM-TV, supports the arts through direct financial support, marketing services and volunteer efforts. The support impacts the city's ability to have a flourishing arts community, and the Arts are a major reason that the City of Quincy was recently listed as one of the 100 best small arts communities in the United States. Its support also reaches other Illinois cities such as Rockford and locations beyond Illinois' borders.

COMMUNITY: Cultural Arts Programs of Decatur Park District. Serving a community of 83,000 and located in central Illinois, the Cultural Arts Programs of Decatur Park District offer diverse programming, facilities and special events that involve hundreds of performers and reach thousands of audience members annually. It serves as a model for what can be achieved through the partnership of government and the arts working together to benefit local citizenry. As a unit, the arts programming won the 1995 Dottie Mullens Arts and Humanities Award, the highest honor attainable in its field on a national level for excellence in the arts.

SPECIAL RECOGNITION: John H. Bryan. John H. Bryan will receive a special recognition award for his advocacy on behalf of increased private-sector support of the arts in Illinois and for his personal contributions, and as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Sara Lee Corporation, which have benefited the arts worldwide. He has earned numerous awards for his dedicated efforts.

On November 3 at the Governor's Awards ceremony, award winners will be presented with a sculpture commissioned by the Illinois Arts Council Foundation and executed by Richard Hunt, an Illinois artist and former member of the Illinois Arts Council and the National Council for the Arts.