New York Foundation for the Arts (NYFA) to Honor Nokia, Brian Alfred, Mark Golden at its Second Annual Inspiration Awards
Tuesday, May 17, 2005 at 6:30 P.M. - Ritz-Carlton New York, Battery Park
New York, NY (PRWEB) May 4, 2005 -- New York Foundation for the Arts (NYFA)
will honor mobile communications company Nokia, artist Brian Alfred, and arts
patron Mark Golden at its second annual Inspiration Awards to be held in
Manhattan on Tuesday, May 17, 2005. The Inspiration Awards recognize individuals
and organizations that have made significant achievements as artists or in
support of artists. The gala evening includes a cocktail reception, dinner, and
an awards ceremony. Ticket prices range from $200, which allows the purchaser to
offer their seat to a NYFA artist, to $25,000 for a table for 12.
The
Inspiration Awards will be presented at The Ritz-Carlton New York, Battery Park,
which boasts stunning views of the New York harbor, as well as an impressive
collection of art by downtown New York City artists. The gala evening, which
begins at 6:30 P.M., will highlight NYFA’s role in supporting artists of all
disciplines, and a number of NYFA Fellows will participate with offerings of
original artwork. Each gala table will have as its centerpiece a unique artwork
donated by a recent NYFA Fellow. The evening’s program will also include remarks
by NYFA Board President Leni R. Darrow, NYFA Executive Director Theodore S.
Berger, and Trustee and benefit Chair Anita Durst.
“We are extremely
pleased to present the corporate Inspiration Award to Nokia for their
outstanding ‘Connect to Art’ program that commissions leading and emerging
international artists to bring art to mobile devices,” said Mr. Berger. “NYFA
will also present the artist Inspiration Award to Brian Alfred in recognition of
his innovative multi-disciplinary art works. Furthermore, we are extremely
pleased to be presenting the first arts patron Inspiration Award to entrepreneur
and philanthropist Mark Golden for his support of individual artists in Upstate
New York.”
Lucy Tower Funke, Co-chair of this year’s Inspiration Awards
and Director of the Sam and Adele Golden Foundation for the Arts, Inc., praised
Mark Golden for his work supporting artists. “Creating The Golden Foundation was
Mark's inspiration,” she explained. “It was formed to honor the legacy of his
parents Sam and Adele and as a way to give back to the community of artists. The
Golden Foundation is a continuation of Mark's dream and his desire to inspire
artists to continue to create new work. We are most pleased that Mark is being
recognized with the first arts patron Inspiration Award."
Similarly,
Eero Miettinen, Group Design Director at Nokia, who will be on hand at the event
to accept the Inspiration Award together with Nokia North America’s Marketing
Director Sara Paz, expressed his gratitude to NYFA for recognizing Nokia’s
contributions to contemporary art. “I am honored that NYFA is acknowledging
Nokia’s efforts to connect art and mobility with this award. Nokia has long
acted as a patron of the arts, co-operating with various art museums around the
world. The Nokia ‘Connect to Art’ program is building a bridge between the
artists and their audience by using the latest mobile telecommunications
technology. It combines intimacy and broadest possible reach, two very
fundamental components in art."
Of artist honoree Alfred, benefit Chair
Durst commented: “Though Brian is still a young artist, the frequency and ease
of his images might make you think otherwise. What I like most about it is his
eye for iconic images, and the facility with which he translates those images
into big and small planes of color. His earnest dedication to producing great
work and willingness to collaborate with artists outside of his discipline is an
inspiration to other young artists, and I look forward to viewing his output in
the years to come."
Proceeds from The Inspiration Awards Benefit Gala
will be used to support the general operating expenses of the New York
Foundation for the Arts, as well as the more than 1,000 originating artists in
the performing, visual, media and literary arts who receive financial assistance
from NYFA each year in the form of awards and sponsorship. Funds raised will
also help sustain NYFA’s public programs, its information resources which
provide services to more than 850,000 artists annually, and the dozens of new
and emerging arts organizations currently assisted by NYFA.
About the
Honorees
Corporate Inspiration Award: Nokia:
‘Connect to Art’ is a new
dimension of art, a joint effort between the art community and Nokia to bring
art to mobile devices. The concept provides artists with new channels for their
artistic expression and a unique way to reach both new and existing audiences
with mobile phones as the interface, giving art lovers around the world the
possibility to enjoy works of art on their mobile phones anytime anywhere. The
artists currently involved with 'Connect to Art' have designed works of art
specifically for mobile devices, exploring the vast possibilities of this new
canvas. These audiovisual works of art can be downloaded to Nokia mobile phone
from the ‘Connect to Art’ website at www.nokia.com/art.
Artist Inspiration Award: Brian
Alfred:
Artist Brian Alfred's work moves gracefully between painting,
collage, paper sculpture, and video animation. Many of his canvases explore the
uneasy relationship between constructed and natural environments. Utilizing
digital versions of images he previously painted or collaged, Mr. Alfred also
creates computer animations that are often accompanied by music composed in
response to his work by leading electronic music artists. Born in 1973, Mr.
Alfred is a native of Pittsburgh who currently resides in Brooklyn. An MFA
graduate of Yale University and alumnus of the Skowhegan School of Painting and
Sculpture, Mr. Alfred has shown internationally and is currently represented by
Mary Boone Gallery in New York. His work is part of the collections of the
Whitney, Guggenheim, and San Francisco MoMA. Artflick.001:painter_BrianAlfred ,
a short film profiling Mr. Alfred’s work, was shown at the 2004 Sundance Online
Film Festival and the 2004 Tribeca Film Festival. His work was also featured in
Vitamin P, a major survey of contemporary painting published by
Phaidon.
Arts Patron Inspiration Award - Mark Golden:
Mark Golden is
CEO of Golden Artist Colors, Inc, a company he co-founded with his father, the
late Sam Golden, 25 years ago. Over the years, he has worked closely with
leading artists to create custom acrylic paints utilized in their work,
including Robert Rauschenberg, Ken Noland, Frank Stella, Jules Olitski, Roy
Lichtenstein, Julian Schnabel, David Hockney, Helen Frankenthaler and many
others. A patron of the arts, Mr. Golden has supported many artists,
exhibitions, and cultural organizations personally and through the Sam and Adele
Golden Foundation for the Arts, Inc. The foundation was established in 1999 to
honor the legacy of his parents and provide individual artists with financial
awards that support their artistic expression. Honored in 1996 as the Small
Business Person of the Year for New York State by then President Bill Clinton,
Mr. Golden has also been a lecturer at the Smithsonian Institute in Washington,
D.C. and the Tate Gallery in London on issues dealing with the conversation of
acrylic paint and paintings.
About the New York Foundation for the
Arts:
New York Foundation for the Arts (NYFA) provides more support to
artists and arts organizations in all disciplines than any other private
organization in the country: nearly $6 million annually. NYFA’s Fellowships are
awarded to New York State artists from a field of 16 disciplines, covering the
visual, performing, and literary arts. NYFA’s national information resources and
fiscal sponsorship enable artists and emerging organizations to meet their
artistic goals and see projects to fruition. Small and midsized organizations
are further supported with services and training that encourages and sustains
their growth. NYFA's annual budget of nearly $7 million comes from individual,
corporate, foundation, and public sources, as well as NYFA's fiscal sponsorship
services for artists and emerging organizations.
For more information on
the Inspiration Awards, please visit www.nyfa.org/inspiration
Press
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