T E N N E S S E E E X E C U T I V E R E S I D E N C E C O N S E R VA T I O N H A L L
Program Welcome Anne B. Pope, Executive Director Patsy W. Camp, Chair Tennessee Arts Commission Remarks Governor Bill Haslam Mistress of Ceremonies Anne Holt WKRN News 2 Primary Anchor Presentation of Awards Folklife Heritage Award Bill Henry Whittler & Woodworker Jack Martin Hockaday Handmade Brooms Arts Leadership Award Bill May Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts Scott Niswonger Philanthropist Stax Museum of American Soul Music Distinguished Artist Award Mary Costa Opera Singer Dr. Bobby Jones Gospel Musician B.B. King Blues Singer/Songwriter Loretta Lynn Country Music Singer/Songwriter Cormac McCarthy Novelist {unable to attend or send a representative}
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Governor Bill Haslam and First Lady Crissy Haslam with the Tennessee Arts Commission welcome you to the presentation of the
2015 Governor’s Arts Awards Tuesday, March 17, 2015
Tennessee Executive Residence Conservation Hall Reception: 5:00 p.m. Awards Presentation: 6:00 pm.
Established in 1971 by the Tennessee Arts Commission, the Governor’s Arts Awards are Tennessee’s highest honor in the arts. The awards recognize extraordinary artistic and cultural contributions by individuals or organizations with state, regional and national impact. The contribution or achievement in arts education, community involvement or for a unique achievement may be made as an artist, patron or an arts or private-sector organization.
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q q The 2015 Governor’s Arts Award The Metal Museum is the only institution in the United States devoted exclusively to the advancement of the art and craft of fine metalwork. One of the museum’s most prominent features is its blacksmithing shop and foundry. The shops are staffed by a team of artists and apprentices who specialize in designing and creating custom-made unique works of art in a broad range of metals. The Metal Museum has become the center for metal arts - a place that actively promotes artists and their work and plays a vital role in the recognition and collection of metal work and the teaching of innovative practices. It is a place that serves an international community of artists and artisans creating work that is steadily building a strong following and important place within the contemporary art dialogue. In 2013, the Executive Residence Foundation asked the Tennessee Arts Commission to help them commission an artist to develop a centerpiece for the kitchen and cutting garden that would be inspired by the botanical environment and represent the State of Tennessee. The Tennessee Arts Commission, along with a diverse selection committee, carefully reviewed extensive submissions. The Metal Museum of Memphis was selected to create the piece which was installed in the summer of 2014. The Metal Museum’s design is an armillary that uses a contemporary take on an age-old design. Handcrafted in bronze, copper and stainless steel, the armillary sphere references the cutting garden by including organic shapes, insects, fruits, animals, leaves and flowers from official Tennessee state symbols. This year’s award is a 17” replica of the armillary. It is handcrafted in mild steel sandblasted with a gun blue finish. The award, as well as the armillary, was designed and produced by the artists at the Metal Museum led by Jim Masterson, Resident Artist.
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q q Greetings from Governor and First Lady Haslam
Every day, Tennesseans from all walks of life help develop our state’s culture through their contributions to the arts. Tonight we come together to recognize an outstanding group of Tennessee artists and organizations for their creativity, dedication and energy. We appreciate their commitment, celebrate their accomplishments and look forward to working with them to make our great state an even better place to live, work and raise a family. Crissy and I are pleased to honor the 2015 recipients of the Governor’s Arts Awards and offer congratulations on behalf of the people of Tennessee.
Governor Bill Haslam
First Lady Crissy Haslam
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q Anne Holt
Mistress of Ceremonies
After more than thirty years anchoring the news on WKRN News 2 in Nashville, Anne Holt is a trusted friend. Ms. Holt is an eight-time Emmy Award winning journalist and recipient of the coveted George Foster Peabody Award for the investigative documentary, Under the Influence. Ms. Holt received her education from the University of Tennessee in Knoxville and immediately went to work for the local television station, WATE-TV. She moved to Nashville in 1976 as a reporter and weekend anchor for News 2. In 1980, Ms. Holt became the primary anchor. Ms. Holt has received countless awards and honors including the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences’ highest honor, The Governor’s Award for Lifetime Achievement. She’s a recipient of the Distinguished Service Award from the Tennessee Association of Broadcasters. With that honor, she earned the distinction of being the first woman, the first African American and the first news anchor to receive the award. Ms. Holt also received the Distinguished Alumni Award from the UTK College of Communications. Her proudest accomplishments include her service to her alma mater, the University of Tennessee. In 2006, Governor Phil Bredesen appointed her to a six year term on the University of Tennessee Board of Trustees. In addition, Ms. Holt and her husband, Kenny Blackburn, have endowed a scholarship bearing Ms. Holt’s name in the College of Communication and Information. In 2013, Ms. Holt was inducted into the Inaugural Class of the Tennessee Journalism Hall of Fame at Middle Tennessee State University in Murfreesboro. Ms. Holt’s passion for helping others has led to News 2’s 29 year partnership with the Second Harvest Food Bank of Middle Tennessee. The station’s “Food-2-Families Campaign” has collected millions of pounds of food through area schools, while raising hunger awareness and compassion among a new generation.
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qBill Henry
Folklife Heritage Award
A self-identified “itinerant whittler,” folk craftsman Bill Henry has mastered over 200 forms and carved an estimated 20,000 pieces, many of which are on display in private and public collections, including the Museum of Appalachia and the Smithsonian. His wood carvings include miniature tools, birdhouses, working wooden padlocks and more of what he describes as “Miniature Americana.” He demonstrated his whittling at the Smithsonian Folklife Festival during America’s Bicentennial in 1976 and again in 1983. Mr. Henry became a member of the Southern Highland Arts Guild in 1965 and a lifetime member in 1991. His service to the folk arts includes his charter membership of the Foothills Craft Guild, an organization for which he also served as the first president. He has won numerous awards and honors, including The Southern Arts Craft Guild’s Heritage Preservation Award in 2012. Now 85, Mr. Henry has spent over 50 years representing Tennessee culture and crafts to the nation, not just as a practitioner but also as an advocate of the folk arts. Living up to his itinerant nature, he continues to travel a circuit through Tennessee and beyond, carving and sharing his devotion to southern folk art forms and the cultures from which they come. He has served as artist-in-residence at Callaway Gardens in Georgia and at Peter’s Valley in New Jersey and has also appeared at the National Folk Festival, the Mercer Folk Festival, the Fall Homecoming at the Museum of Appalachia and many more. A voracious student as well, in 1976 he apprenticed himself to whittler Alex Stewart of Hancock County where he learned the art of coopering, or making wooden barrels and pails, without the use of nails or other adhesives. Another of Mr. Henry’s strengths is his ability to recognize traditional art forms and folk culture. Mr. Henry successfully nominated both mountain craftsman Alex Stewart and blacksmith Bea Hensley for National Heritage Fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts. Longtime friend and The Heartland Series’ host Bill Landry says, “I do not believe anyone alive has done more in support of heritage preservation than Bill Henry.” Born in a coal mining camp in Gatliff, Kentucky, Mr. Henry moved to Clairfield, Tennessee in 1939 and then to Oak Ridge as a teenager. After a stint away from home in the military, Mr. Henry returned to Oak Ridge where he has stayed to the present. He eventually became employed as a chemical operator for the Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL). Working in the Hot Cells Department of ORNL’s Operations Division, Mr. Henry’s responsibilities included running special tests at fixed intervals. In 1976, Mr. Henry took a leave of absence from ORNL to further develop his wood-working skill with Alex Stewart. He returned to ORNL and stayed until his retirement in 1986, all the while continuing to keep alive a once common, but now almost forgotten folk art. For locals and visitors alike, Mr. Henry retains a kindness and modesty that make young and old feel comfortable, connected and curious about the old ways that he preserves and shares. Today he can still be found on his front porch on warm days. With legs crossed at the knee, glasses low on his nose and a band-aid on his thumb, Bill Henry whittles with great concentration and sands finished pieces to meet his own high expectations. 5
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q Jack Martin
Folklife Heritage Award
Artisan, educator and devoted tradition bearer, Jack Martin of Selmer, Tennessee is a fourth generation broom maker continuing the craft he learned from his grandfather. Owner of Hockaday Handmade Brooms, Mr. Martin has given his life, and his livelihood, to this family heritage. Still operating his great-grandfather’s nearly 100-year-old equipment, Mr. Martin creates every broom by hand, selecting materials, winding, sewing and carefully finishing each, one at a time. His brooms are found in prestigious museum and archival collections, including the Smithsonian. Mr. Martin and Hockaday Handmade Brooms have been featured on PBS, DIY Network and HGTV. Among other recognitions, Martin has been presented with the McNairy County Ambassador Award and was given the honor of representing American folk culture at the 1996 Summer Olympic Games in Atlanta. As a demonstrator, Mr. Martin’s “Living History” program has reached an estimated one million elementary school children in West Tennessee over the past 25 years. He has also expanded his business to include a larger workshop and a working museum that is open year-round to visitors. In 1996, Mr. Martin started the Broomcorn Festival, a successful annual event held at Selmer’s largest municipal park in partnership with McNairy County’s tourism, economic and cultural development agencies. Hockaday Handmade Brooms is one of the oldest family owned businesses in southwest Tennessee, dating its origin to 1916. Farmer Will Hockaday, Mr. Martin’s maternal great-grandfather, harvested his own broomcorn and fashioned production equipment in his one-man saw-mill and blacksmith shop. Will’s son Jack Hockaday inherited the craft, taught it to his daughter Mildred and continued to make brooms into the 1970s. Mr. Martin was Mildred Hockaday’s son, and grew up on the family farm immersed in the customs of rural life. Due to economic necessity, Mr. Martin left home in search of work in the late 1980s and worked as an engineer for GE, Rockwell International and Texas Instruments. He eventually left the corporate world to return to the family farm in Selmer and restart the family broom business. With guidance from his grandfather, Mr. Martin learned to make brooms in the manner passed through his family. After replenishing and since preserving the lost broomcorn stock in the late 1980s, he reinvigorated Hockaday Handmade Brooms and began to sell his products at regional craft fairs and small retailers around the southeast. Despite advancements in technology, Mr. Martin has insisted on using his family’s time-tested handmade techniques. His meticulous method and sensitivity to detail transforms his craft items from ordinary, functional objects into works of art. Mr. Martin and his wife Dee, also known as Virginia, have also invented a drumstick made from broom-corn that is sold though the Pro-Mark company. The sticks have gained popularity among several well-known musicians including Chad Smith of the Red Hot Chili Peppers. As he now hands down the family business to his own children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren, Jack Martin secures the broom-making tradition for other generations. He has not only succeeded in reviving Hockaday Handmade Brooms, but in creating a cultural treasure that can be valued for decades to come. 6
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qBill May
Arts Leadership Award
Throughout its 100 year history, the Arrowmont School has been known as a source of education and enrichment in the Gatlinburg area. Thanks to the leadership of Executive Director Bill May, this pinnacle of history can welcome another 100 years of learning and craft-making after May coordinated efforts to raise $8 million in seven months to save the Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts from dissolution. Located in the heart of Gatlinburg, the one-building school grew to what it is today—an internationally recognized campus for visual arts education that offers classes and creative experiences year-round in art forms such as crafting, painting, pottery and glassmaking. Arrowmont offers residencies, classes and workshops in the visual arts and has had a significant impact on the economic development and education of the city. Established as a Settlement School by the Pi Beta Phi fraternity for women in 1912, raw beginnings saw a passionate effort to educate the people of the Appalachian Mountains. Although the original classes were general education, mountain handicrafts unique to the surrounding peoples were soon added in order to refine and preserve skills. This also enabled many to turn their favorite pass-time into a craft that provided livelihood for themselves and their families. By 1926 the school had expanded, opening the Arrowcraft Shop to sell the crafts it helped create. When the Great Smoky Mountains National Park was opened in 1934, Gatlinburg quickly grew as a popular tourist attraction and gateway into the park. The school stayed rooted amidst the change and enriched the growth of the town in ways from which the Gatlinburg community is still flourishing. However, in 2008, Pi Beta Phi announced plans to sell the property on which the school was located. Although options were explored for moving the campus, the original sale fell through and in 2010, Arrowmont announced its decision to stay, with hopes of purchasing the Gatlinburg property. In 2013, the fraternity agreed to sell the property to the School if the purchase could be completed in seven months. With the weight of potentially dismantling a 100-year-old tradition on his shoulders, Executive Director Bill May showed extraordinary leadership. He organized a funding coalition that included the Gatlinburg City Commission, the Sevier County Commission, a developer, a private foundation, Arrowmont’s Board of Governors and 126 private citizens. Through complex negotiations and dedicated fundraising, the coalition achieved its goal and purchased the school on April 2, 2014. With this triumph, not only was the legacy of the school secured, but the value of Arrowmont and the arts was affirmed by the community in a powerful way. Today, Mr. May continues to lead Arrowmont as its Executive Director. Since 2011, he has provided guidance over programs, development and operations. In addition, he serves as an exhibition juror and an art education presenter, as well as a board member for outside organizations. Prior to his current position, he was a student, instructor and board member at Arrowmont. With Bill May at the helm, the school can rest assured that its mission to fulfill lives through the arts will continue to build on its rich history and positively impact Tennessee. 7
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Arts Leadership Award
q Scott Niswonger
Businessman and philanthropist from Greeneville, Scott Niswonger has been instrumental in bringing positive change to Northeast Tennessee. Since founding Landair Transport, Inc. in 1981, he built his company into a transportation and logistics leader employing over one thousand people in Greeneville. Using his success to fuel his commitment to philanthropy, Mr. Niswonger has made a tremendous impact on the arts in the region through the Niswonger Foundation and the Niswonger Performing Arts Center. The Niswonger Performing Arts Center, which seats 1,150, has created a flourishing arts community and offers arts education programming for K-12 children. The center adds to Greeneville’s quality of life and is a powerful economic engine for the entire region. In response to suggestions that a performing arts center could be part of the renovations at Greeneville High School, Mr. Niswonger stepped forward and offered a contribution. Plans for an auditorium that seated 800 were scrapped for a more ambitious scheme to build a 39,000 foot performing arts center that would be an asset to the entire region. Opened in December 2004, the Center is celebrating its 10th anniversary this year as a nationally recognized venue for performances by touring musicians, comedians and theatrical companies. Education and outreach are vital parts of the Niswonger Performing Arts Center. The programming of the center includes shows for children and outreach by the artists in the community. In addition, a summer theatrical day camp is offered annually by the center to students in grades K-12. Mr. Niswonger also supports education through his foundation which provides grants to enhance cultural enrichment and to champion education. With the goal of fostering leaders who will help improve their communities, the Niswonger Foundation provides scholarships to high achieving students who pledge to return to their communities for one year of service after graduation. In addition, the Foundation provides grant money for school programming and professional development, including Arts in Education programs. The Arts in Education funding makes it possible for artists to visit public schools, for all Greene County high schools to offer band and instrumental music programs and for an annual concert to be offered to over 2,000 students in the area by the Knoxville Symphony Orchestra. With a focus on holistically supporting the community in its areas of greatest need, Mr. Niswonger also supports healthcare through the founding of the Niswonger Children’s Hospital, which is home to one of only six St. Jude affiliate clinics nationwide. The hospital opened its doors in 2009 and provides essential pediatric services to the region and beyond. Mr. Niswonger often arranges for touring artists from the Performing Arts Center to visit the hospital and entertain the children. Furthermore, Mr. Niswonger brings Broadway performers to the hospital to perform with the children in an annual talent show and fundraiser. These significant contributions are only a small picture of the ways Scott Niswonger’s vision and generosity are benefiting Northeast Tennessee and beyond. His leadership and legacy will have a profound impact on the region, state and arts community for generations to come. 8
Arts Leadership Award
q q Stax Museum of American Soul Music
Started in 2003, the Stax Museum of American Soul Music has again brought soul music and the Memphis Sound to the forefront of American culture and restored the legacy of legendary recording studio Stax Records. During its remarkable 15 year run, the label scored more than 167 songs on the Top 100 pop charts and an astonishing 243 hits on the Top 100 R&B charts. Stax Records was the hit maker responsible for launching the careers of many iconic singers, including Otis Redding, Isaac Hayes, Booker T. & the M.G.’s, Sam & Dave, Albert King and the Staple Singers. Today, the Stax Museum preserves and promotes the rich history and culture of Stax Records and American soul music. But even more so, the museum upholds the value of soul music for the past and present and uses music as a catalyst today to revitalize a neighborhood, improve education and transform lives. What started as a museum and foundation now includes a thriving academic college preparatory school and music academy. Established on the corner of McLemore Avenue and College Street in Memphis, commitment to social good has always been a part of the DNA of Stax Records. A forward-thinking company in the midst of segregation, Stax Records was a culture changer—becoming one of the first establishments to integrate its workplace, invest in African American businesses and neighborhoods and expand into multimedia production. By the 1970s, following the boom and bust of the recording business and changing musical tastes, Stax was forced into involuntary bankruptcy, but its influence among newer generations of musical artists never waned. It took until 2003 for a group of concerned Memphis citizens to reclaim the abandoned Stax Records lot and memorialize the space with the building of a museum on the original site. The project revived the Memphis tourism industry and brought global attention to American soul music. Time magazine named the Stax Museum “the most authentic American experience in Tennessee” in 2008 and National Geographic called Memphis one of the “Best of 2013” Top 20 Cities to Visit in the World, largely due to Stax. Currently, the Soulsville Foundation provides monetary support and leadership for the Stax Museum and its affiliate organizations. The foundation launched Stax Music Academy in 2000 to provide area youth the opportunity to develop their music capabilities, gain performance opportunities and carry the torch of soul music to the next generation. In addition, the foundation started The Soulsville Charter School in 2005 to “prepare students for success in college and life in an academically rigorous, music-rich environment.” Both affiliates have successfully reached the South Memphis community and made measureable impacts. The public charter school currently serves 625 students in grades 6-12 and boasts a 100% college acceptance rate for all its graduating classes. Today, thanks to the Stax Museum, Soulsville youth are developing their academic and musical potential, a community is being revitalized and a legacy is being honored. Visitors from around the world are being exposed to the gritty sounds of soul music, and gaining knowledge of the rich history and talent behind the songs. Without a doubt, Stax Museum has advanced the value of a Memphis-born music tradition to Tennessee and beyond. 9
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qMary Costa
Distinguished Artist Award
As the beloved Princess Aurora, Mary Costa brought both her voice and personality to the 1959 Disney classic Sleeping Beauty and emerged as an international artist who has graced the stages of opera, concert, theatre, television and movies. In a stellar career that included performances in 38 operatic roles, she premiered roles for many of the greatest composers of the era, including Tytania in the American premiere of Benjamin Britten’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and Ninette in the world premiere of Norman Dello Joio’s Blood Moon. She earned the Licia Albanese-Puccini Foundation Lifetime Achievement Award in 1989 and was appointed by President George W. Bush to serve on the National Council on the Arts from 2003-2007. Ms. Costa has performed in all of the world’s top opera houses, including The Metropolitan Opera, The Royal Opera House at Covent Garden, The Bolshoi Theatre and The San Francisco Opera. She created the role of Anne Trulove at the San Francisco Opera’s production of Igor Stravinsky’s opera, The Rake’s Progress and her Metropolitan Opera debut received one of the season’s greatest ovations, engendering enthusiastic praise from critics. She is credited with triumphantly meeting the challenge of some of the most demanding leading roles in opera including those in Manon, La Traviata, La Bohème, Vanessa and Faust. Ms. Costa’s beautiful voice and winning personality gained her fame beyond the international opera scene, as she performed with TV stars and radio personalities such as Bing Crosby, Frank Sinatra, Don Knotts and Jack Benny. She was also asked by First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy to sing at President John F. Kennedy’s Memorial Service. Years later, at the request of Leonard Bernstein, Costa sang the lead in a revival of Candide, which opened the opera house at the new Kennedy Center in Washington. Despite her international fame, Ms. Costa’s roots have always been in Tennessee. A member of the state’s Film, Entertainment and Music Commission Advisory Council, Ms. Costa has served Tennessee as an ambassador and advisor. She was recently awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Humane and Musical Letters from the College of Arts and Sciences at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. She also helped found the Knoxville Opera in 1979, which has grown into one of Tennessee’s major cultural institutions. Knoxville Opera has touched the lives of nearly two million children and adults through education programs, performances and festivals, creating nearly $25 million in commerce for East Tennessee. Ms. Costa continues to be a positive example and leader through her mentorship of the next generation of great singers at the University of Tennessee and other schools. She works to inspire these young people to achieve their goals by emphasizing the importance of dedication and discipline. Additionally, Ms. Costa has helped raise funds on behalf of various charities, including Childhelp USA, East Tennessee Children’s Hospital, Read Across America and Signal Centers of Chattanooga, all of which benefit children in need. In the same way that she signs her name “Princess Aurora” when sending letters to sick children in need of a smile, Mary Costa has used her talent and dedication to make a difference in the lives of all those she has touched, and continues to shine a beautiful light on Knoxville and the state of Tennessee. 10
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q Dr. Bobby Jones
Distinguished Artist Award
Dr. Bobby Jones is a torchbearer for gospel music in Tennessee and the world. He is an acclaimed singer who has released 14 albums, toured internationally and won many honors, including Stellar Awards, Dove Awards and a Grammy Award for his single with Barbara Mandrell, “I’m So Glad I’m Standing Here Today.” He also wrote and produced the first black gospel opera, Make a Joyful Noise, which won a Gabriel Award. In addition, he founded and continues to lead the premier gospel group, the Nashville Super Choir. Dr. Jones has also attained legendary status as a television icon and can be credited with giving gospel music its first national stage. Started in 1980, Bobby Jones Gospel is the longest continuously running show on cable and a Sunday morning staple of Black Entertainment Television. At a time when gospel music was not seen as marketable and few black artists were visible on television, Dr. Jones revolutionized the music world by bringing an African American music tradition to the mainstream. He currently hosts the show, as well as a daily show called Visions at Mt. Zion on the Impact Network and two radio programs on the Sheridan Gospel Network. Always one to share the spotlight, Dr. Jones gives popular and upcoming gospel singers a platform to perform on his show and has opened the door to success for artists such as Kirk Franklin, Yolanda Adams and Mary Mary. In addition, for 22 years he held a biannual gospel music industry retreat to provide professional development opportunities for artists in the field, as well as create a forum for fellowship and career support. He continues to serve as a mentor in the field and an outspoken advocate for gospel music. Despite his national profile, Dr. Jones has never forgotten his roots growing up in rural Henry County. He excelled academically throughout school, graduating from high school at 15 and Tennessee State University at 19 with a bachelor’s degree in elementary education. His family did not have the means to support his education, so he taught himself piano to secure a gig playing music for the church. His persistence and talent paid off and he eventually became director for the biggest choir in Nashville, although he had never received any formal music lessons. His drive and dedication further secured what would soon become apparent, his destiny in music. This passion and ambition continues to manifests itself as a desire to give back. Now a current resident of Nashville, Dr. Jones strives to bring acclaim to Tennessee through his music. He gave his alma mater, Tennessee State University, the largest in-kind gift it has ever received—the donation of 30 years’ worth of recordings and exclusive rights to his performances. In addition, Dr. Jones has organized several ‘Gospel Explosion’ events in Tennessee and brought the first Black Expo to Nashville in the ‘90s. As a second career, he has been an educator with the Nashville Metropolitan Schools and Tennessee State University. Along with his credits in the gospel music industry, Dr. Jones was named Dominica Ambassador At-Large in 2006. Dr. Jones is truly a trailblazer and shows no signs of slowing down. Commended by President George Bush in 2001 for “revolutionizing gospel,” he continues to broadcast, perform and share his love of gospel music with the world. His musical talent and influence in the gospel industry will surely reverberate for generations. 11
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qB.B. King
Distinguished Artist Award
As he approaches his ninth decade, B.B. King continues to reign as the unchallenged “King of the Blues.” Named one of the top ten guitarists of all time by Rolling Stone magazine, King’s legacy and influence far exceeds the blues and qualifies him as one of a handful of the most influential American musicians of the past century. A household name around the world, he is a cultural icon and the epitome of a distinguished artist. Over the past seventy years, he has released over fifty albums and received fifteen Grammy awards; had a museum named in his honor, the B.B. King Museum and Delta Interpretive Center; and become the brand name for music clubs in Memphis, Nashville, and Orlando. King is a living musical giant whose contribution to arts and culture in Tennessee cannot be overstated. Born Riley B. King in 1925 on a rural Mississippi plantation, he has been immersed in Southern music traditions since childhood. After an early start playing on small town street corners, King hitchhiked to Memphis in 1947. Settled there with his cousin Bukka White, he got his first break performing on Sonny Boy Williamson’s KWEM radio program. By 1948 he had earned his own show, “Sepia Swing Club,” on legendary station WDIA, and had become a regular performer at the Sixteenth Avenue Grill. At one of King’s more memorable shows from the mid-1950s, a wild bar fight broke out between two men over a woman named Lucille. The ruckus eventually caused a fire and the evacuation of the building. King, having at first left his guitar behind, was forced to risk his life to reenter and save his beloved instrument. Since that night he has called each of his guitars Lucille. The name has been a reminder never to do something as foolish again, and today remains an iconic moniker for each of his trademark Gibson guitars. King scored his first hit, “Three O’ Clock Blues,” in 1952. In the years that followed, he amassed a series of chart-topping songs, including classics such as “Payin’ The Cost to the Boss,” “How Blue Can You Get,” “Everyday I Have the Blues,” “Why I Sing the Blues” and “The Thrill is Gone”—a pop crossover which won a 1970 Grammy Award and entered the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1998. He toured extensively as a young performer, and in 1956 performed an astounding 342 shows. Even in recent decades, he has averaged over 250 concerts per year. B.B. King elevated the status of blues music and has influenced generations of musicians. His signature single string guitar style—marked with clear, distinct noting in the right hand and emotive vibrato in the left—has been imitated by players such as Eric Clapton, George Harrison, and Jeff Beck. In 2009, Time called him one of the top ten electric guitar players of all time. He is an inductee in the Blues Foundation Hall of Fame and The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame; a recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom, National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences Lifetime Achievement Grammy Award and the Kennedy Center Honors; and a conferee of several honorary doctorates from distinguished colleges and universities. His name is synonymous with Memphis and Beale Street, and he is a proud ambassador of the blues. Today, B.B. King’s music continues to inspire and entertain around the world. 12
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qLoretta Lynn
Distinguished Artist Award
For fifty years now, Ms. Lynn has fashioned a body of work as artistically and commercially successful—and as culturally significant—as any female performer you’d care to name. Her music has confronted many of the major social issues of her time, and her life story is a rags-toriches tale familiar to pop, rock and country fans alike. The Coal Miner’s Daughter has journeyed from the poverty of the Kentucky hills to Nashville superstardom to her current status as an American icon. Born in Butcher Holler, Kentucky, Ms. Lynn married 21-year-old Oliver “Doo” Lynn and moved to Custer, Washington in 1951. Lynn spent the next decade as a fulltime mother of four kids and learned to play the guitar and began singing in the area. Before long, the Lynns hit the road cross-country, stopping every time they spotted a country radio station to push her first release, “I’m a Honky Tonk Girl.” By the time they reached Nashville, the record was a hit and Ms. Lynn was soon cutting sides with Owen Bradley, producer at the time for Patsy Cline, Bill Anderson and Webb Pierce. Strongly influenced by Kitty Wells and Patsy Cline, Ms. Lynn fashioned her distinctive style as a mature fusion of twang, grit, energy and romance. Throughout the 1960s, Ms. Lynn wrote a string of hits unprecedented for their strong women narrators. In “You Ain’t Woman Enough (to Take My Man)” [#2, 1966], “Don’t Come Home A’Drinkin’ (with Lovin’ on Your Mind)” [#1, 1967], and “Fist City” [#1, 1968], among others, Ms. Lynn presented a new character on the country scene: a woman unafraid to stand up for herself, just like real women did. Ms. Lynn’s brand of women’s liberation was attuned specifically to her blue-collar audience and life as it was lived. In 1970 she released her signature song, chart-topper “Coal Miner’s Daughter,” which chronicled for all time the strides women were making in these years—from country to city, from home to workforce and, in Ms. Lynn’s case, from “girl-singer” to superstar. The immense popularity of the songs, as well as other straight-shooting hits like “Women of the World (Leave My World Alone)” and “You’re Looking at Country,” culminated in 1972 when Ms. Lynn won her second Best Female Vocalist award from the Country Music Association—and when she became the first woman to win the CMA’s most prestigious award, Entertainer of the Year. Ms. Lynn continued to score hits during the next decade and became famous beyond her country base. In 1973, she appeared on the cover of Newsweek; in 1976 her autobiography (written with journalist George Vescey) became a New York Times bestseller; in 1980 the book was made into an Oscar winning film. By the time of her last major hit—“I Lie,” in 1982—Ms. Lynn could count 52 Top 10 hits and 16 number 1’s, standing as the most awarded woman in country music. Ms. Lynn’s latest album, the Jack White-produced Van Lear Rose, reminds the world yet again of Lynn’s power as a vocalist and her skill as a songwriter. As she puts it in “Story of My Life,” the new album’s closing track: “Not half bad for this ol’ KY girl, I guess … Here’s the story of my life. Listen close, I’ll tell it twice.” When Ms. Loretta Lynn isn’t touring, she can be found working in her garden at her 5,000 acre ranch located in Hurricane Mills. Ms. Lynn’s Ranch, located in Humphreys County, is one of Tennessee’s top tourist attractions of offering visitors tours, camping and other recreational activities. 13
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Distinguished Artist Award
q Cormac McCarthy
One of the country’s most important living authors, Cormac McCarthy moved to Knoxville at the age of four, attended the University of Tennessee as a young man and spent several decades of his adult life in East Tennessee. The region inspired and served as the setting of many of his best known works, including Suttree and Child of God. Other novels such as the Orchard Keeper, Blood Meridian and The Crossing have found favor with the public and critics alike, leading to a string of literary awards and fellowships culminating with a Pulitzer Prize in 2007 for his postapocalypse novel The Road. Several of his novels have been made into successful films including The Road, All the Pretty Horses and No Country for Old Men. In addition to being a master of the novel, Mr. McCarthy has also written plays such as The Stonemason and screenplays, most recently, The Counselor. The Tennessee of novelist, playwright and screenwriter Mr. McCarthy is at once familiar and mysterious. This is typical of the dichotomies that define McCarthy’s work. With prose that is floridly descriptive, yet reveals nothing more than what is essential to the reader’s comprehension, he reveals a Tennessee (America) that is both romanticized and unflinching. His name often mentioned in the same company as Joyce, Faulkner and Melville; Mr. McCarthy is one of the country’s most analyzed and renowned authors. Mr. McCarthy’s family moved to Knoxville when he was a young child and he returned to Knoxville after four years in the military. There he attended the University of Tennessee where work published in the university’s literary magazine won the first of his many writing awards. For most of the next couple of decades he made East Tennessee his home. Living at first in a rented house and later in a barn, Mr. McCarthy restored himself, using bricks salvaged from the childhood home of Tennessee poet James Agee to build a fireplace. His first novel, The Orchard Keeper, was published in 1965. A fellowship from the American Academy of Arts and Letters followed. The work kept coming and so did the awards and recognition. He received a Rockefeller Foundation grant and, after the publication of Outer Dark, a Guggenheim fellowship in 1966. In 1979, he published Suttree, a novel some twenty years in the making. Suttree’s Tennessee River setting and vivid characters leave an indelible impression in the reader’s mind and provides a stunning apogee to Mr. McCarthy’s Appalachian cycle of novels. After publishing the haunting and brilliant novels of The Border Trilogy during the subsequent decades, Mr. McCarthy returns to Appalachia and East Tennessee in 2006’s The Road. In 2007, he added a Pulitzer Prize to his long list of awards. Cormac McCarthy and his work have become subjects of intense fascination for students, readers and scholars. His writings are dissected, studied and analyzed in academic and literary circles. In fact, the Cormac McCarty Society and The English department at the University of Memphis will co-host a conference in October 2015 to analyze the work and present papers about The Orchard Keeper in celebration of its 50th anniversary. It is this prolonged and sustained interest that continues to bring readers and researchers to Tennessee and to its rich cultural heritage.
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Tennessee Arts Commission
q Commission Members
Patsy W. Camp, Jackson - Chair Stephanie B. Conner, Nashville - Vice Chair Ann C. Smith, Johnson City - Secretary Steve Bailey, Knoxville Lisa Bobango, Germantown Ritche Bowden, Memphis Donna Chase, Knoxville Ed Gerace, Johnson City Andrea J. Loughry, Murfreesboro Chancellor Carol L. McCoy, Nashville Dr. Leo McGee, Cookeville Waymon L. Hickman Sr., Columbia Jan Ramsey, Chattanooga Connie S. Weathers, Chattanooga Lee D. Yeiser, Savannah
2015 Governor’s Arts Awards Committee Members Ann C. Smith, Chair Lisa Bobango Ritche Bowden Patsy W. Camp Donna Chase Stephanie B. Conner Dr. Leo McGee Jan Ramsey Connie Weathers Rachel Lundeen, First Lady’s Office David Smith, Governor’s Office, Press Secretary
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q q Special Thanks Morgan Bohannon, Regional Market Manager, iHeart Media Ronnie Brooks, McNairy County Mayor Tony Coleman, Drummer and Former Member of B.B. King Band Steve Cropper, STAX Guitarist, Songwriter, and Record Producer Ryan DeSear, Regional Manager, Ripley Entertainment Dr. Nancy Dishner, Executive Vice President, Niswonger Foundation Herman Green, Memphis Blues Musician Elaine Meyer, President, Museum of Appalachia Cindy Ogle, City Manager of Gatlinburg Dr. Jeffrey Pappas, Director of the School of Music, University of Tennessee Knoxville Deanie Parker, singer/songwriter, former Stax Records Executive and Co-founder, Soulsville Foundation Dr. Shawn Pitts, Chiropractor, Selmer Chiropractic Center and President of Tennessee Folklore Society Bobby Rush, Entertainer and Recording Artist Brian Salesky, Executive Director and Conductor, Knoxville Opera Jay Sieleman, President and Chief Executive Officer, The Blues Foundation Jody Stephens, Chief Executive Officer of Art and Music, Ardent Studios Calvin Stovall, Chief Executive Officer, Soulsville Foundation Larry Waters, Mayor, Sevier County John Gary Williams , original member of the Mad Lads Angie Wilson, Managing Director, Niswonger Performing Arts Center Sam Venable, Columnist, Knoxville News Sentinel
Acknowledgments The Staff of Governor Bill Haslam The Staff of First Lady Crissy Haslam David Davenport, Video Production Sandra Harris, Voice-over Talent Rich Foge, President, Tennessee Malt Beverage Association Jennifer Benedict Horizon Wine & Spirits State of Tennessee Printing and Media Services State of Tennessee Photography Services Lucie Rice Illustration & Design, Cover Design 16
q q Entertainment Corinna Rose Logston Jeremy Preston Stephens Dr. Bobby Jones and Ensemble from the Nashville Super Choir Joe Davidian Trio: Joe Davidian, piano; Jim Ferguson, bass; Joshua Hunt, drums
Interpreters Peter Dublin Forest Sponseller
Tennessee Arts Commission Staff Anne B. Pope, Executive Director Hal Partlow, Associate Director of Grants Carol White, Associate Director of Operations Suzanne Lynch, Director of Marketing and Development Krishna Adams, Director of Visual Arts, Craft, Media, and Design Lee Baird, Grants Analyst and Director of Literary Arts Ann Brown, Director of Arts Education Mike Chambers, Information Technology Director William Coleman, Director of Arts Access Dr. Dana Everts-Boehm, Folklife Program Assistant Shannon Ford, Director of Community Arts Development Camille Greer, Communications Intern Bradley Hanson, Director of Folklife Michelle McEwen, Accounting Technician Vickie McPherson, Arts Program Administrative Assistant Jared Morrison, Director of Performing Arts Grace Robinson, Communications Intern Suzanne Spooner-Faulk, Executive Administrative Assistant James Wells, Arts Education Special Projects Coordinator Diane Williams, Director of Grants Management
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2015 GOVERNOR’S ARTS AWARDS PUBLICATION NO. 316513
No person on the basis of race, color, national origin, disability, age, religion, or sex shall be excluded from participation in or otherwise be subjected to discrimination of services, programs, and employment provided by the Tennessee Arts Commission
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