Times-Union: Eight Arts Awards will be handed out Saturday at black tie dinner

Link to article: http://www.jacksonville.com/entertainmentlife/20180429/eight-arts-awards-will-be-handed-out-saturday-at-black-tie-dinner

The 42nd Annual Arts Awards will take place Saturday at Everbank Field. Winners who are being honored are:

• Emily Lisska (The Helen Lane Founder’s Award): Lisska recently retired after 21 years as executive director of the Jacksonville Historical Society. In 2012, The Southern Academy of Arts and Letters awarded Lisska its highest honor, “The Order of the South.”

• Shawana Brooks (The Robert Arleigh White Award for Advocacy): Brooks is the arts and culture developer for the Jacksonville Public Library. She is part of the team that oversees the 25,000-square-foot Jax Makerspace, a gallery on the first floor of the Main Library.

• Color Me Kona (Production of the Year): Color Me Kona was a participatory cultural event produced the Kona Skate Park and Jax Kid’s Mural Project, founded by Nicole Holderbaum. The event served as a fundraiser for the Jax Kid’s Mural Project, a program that serves Title 1 schools which have a high percentage of children from low income families.

• Malcolm Jackson (Visual Artist of the Year): Jackson is a street photographer who got his start at 15. After spending a couple of decades taking photos at car shows and meetings, in 2017, Jackson presented “Candy: The Land of Donks” at Space 42. Donks are full-sized Chevrolet Caprices and Impalas built 1971-76 and customized with oversized wheels.

• Tim Gilmore (Literary Artist of the Year): Gilmore, a professor of English at Florida State College at Jacksonville, has written 15 books about Jacksonville history. His most recent was last year’s “The Book of Isaiah,” which explored the life of Jacksonville’s founder, Isaiah Hart.

• Philip Pan (Performing Artist of the Year): A violinist, Pan joined the Jacksonville Symphony in 1984 and retired as concertmaster last spring. Pan currently performs with Folk is People, Different Folk and Mariachi Primera.

• Tony Rodrigues (Art Educator of the Year): Rodriguez began working with incarcerated youth 20 years ago through the Cultural Council of Greater Jacksonville’s CANVAS program. He now continues to do so through the Cathedral Arts Project. In 2017 Rodrigues worked with students to create and curate “County Missives;” an exhibit at the Lufrano Intercultural Gallery at the University of North Florida.

• Heather Moore (The Art of Giving Award): Since moving to Jacksonville in 2011, Moore has been involved, often in a leadership role, in a number of organizations. Among them are the Cathedral Arts Project, for which she is a board member, and Phase Eight Theater Company, for which is board chair. She has helped raise more than $500,000 for arts non-profits.

The black tie event will begin at 6 p.m. Saturday with a VIP reception. The awards presentation and a seated dinner will be at 7 p.m. and the after party will begin at 8 p.m. Al Letson will serve as master of ceremonies. Individual tickets are $175. VIP packages are $1,000 for two. Go to bit.ly/2EjWUz5 to purchase tickets.