It has been a little more than a month since The Arts Council held its annual Celebrate the Arts event, and people are still raving about it! The event was themed “Follow the Yellow Brick Road” to tie in with the relocation of The Arts Council later this Fall. The event included a night of nostalgic 80’s music, costume, and live performances by The Theatre Company and The Spazmatics. More than 500 guests attended the event at the Brazos County Expo Complex on Thursday, Sept. 6, with one common goal - to show their support for the arts.
Upon entering the event, guests followed the yellow brick road and entered the mystical Land of Oz. An original painted mural of Emerald City, created by local artist Le Hale, provided a unique backdrop for photo opportunities. Dorothy, Toto, and other friends and characters were in attendance, thanks to the Theatre Company of Bryan College Station, and helped introduce the live auction packages. The 2018 auction packages included several traveling adventures as well as unique dining experiences, which brought in more than $23,000. Event guests joined forces by contributing more than $16,000 to The Arts Council’s College Arts Scholarship fund, which enables deserving young artists from the Brazos Valley to pursue a degree in the arts. Another highlight of the evening was the jewelry raffle. This year’s item was a beautiful set of yellow gold, 3-carat diamond hoop earrings generously donated by David Gardner’s Jewelers, and won by Coleen Bradfield.
It’s been an exciting year for The Arts Council as they started a capital campaign for their new facility. The community has been very generous with their support and The Arts Council extends a special thanks all those who continued their support by attending Celebrate the Arts and helping them raise more than $147,000 for impactful artistic programming with the goal of making the arts accessible to all residents and visitors of the Brazos Valley. “We couldn’t have been more pleased with the event, the turnout, and the support from our community for the arts this year. It was a pleasure to be a part of an event like this that makes such a big impact on our local community,” said Stephanie Jones.
Many notable members of the community were in attendance on Thursday evening to help The Arts Council recognize many outstanding individuals and businesses in the Brazos Valley that have made a positive impact in the arts. Honors were awarded to the following individuals:
- Jinsil Hwaryoung Seo - M.L. "Sonny" Moss Artist of the Year
- Ben Hardeman - D.A. "Andy" Anderson Award
- Denise Bermudez - Jane Wolfe Distinguished Arts Leadership Award
- Cheryl & Doug Pederson of Twin City Properties - Arts Business Patron Award
- Jan & Grover Vos - Arts Volunteers of the Year
The Arts Councils wants to thank the award recipients for their hard work and dedication to enhancing the arts in the Brazos Valley, as well as the many event sponsors that helped to make the 2018 Celebrate the Arts event another overwhelming success. The generous Yellow Brick Road level sponsors who made the event possible are:
- Ann & Barry Satterwhite
- Becky & B. Don Russell
- Brazos Valley Council of Governments
- Coleen & Jay Bradfield
- City of College Station
- City of Bryan
- City of Navasota
- Denise Bermudez
- MSC OPAS
- Pam & Bob Smits
- Party Time Rentals
- The Texas A&M University - Office of the President
- Texas A&M University System - Office of the Chancellor
Celebrate the Arts 2019 date, theme, and location will be announced soon. For more information about Celebrate the Arts or to view event photos, visit The Arts Council website at www.acbv.org or follow them on Facebook @BVarts.
