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At the annual benefit, the Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art honors a group of special individuals whose accomplishments reflect the ideals of creativity, innovation and cultural community that are at the heart of the Museums mission. This annual award acknowledges the cultural entrepreneurs and out-of-the-box thinkers in our midst—those who truly have built the foundations of a creative culture here and on whose shoulders we all stand. Such spirited, entrepreneurial individuals have—through their professional or civic activities—raised the profile of contemporary art, architecture and design in the Valley. We call these individuals Contemporary Catalysts. |
Congratulations to the 2009 Contemporary Catalyst Awardees. |
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Contemporary Catalyst video and photography courtesy of Mark Vinci and Paul DeNigris
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Cindy Dach &Greg Esser
Cindy Dach and Greg Esser work across municipal boundaries and build bridges between artists and the public. They have helped jump-start a vibrant urban art economy and have contributed vastly to the evolution of the Valley’s burgeoning cultural scene. Cindy is general manager of Changing Hands Bookstore in Tempe and a founder of Local First Arizona, a forum for locally owned businesses. Greg Esser is an award-winning artist, writer and neighborhood activist, who directed the public-art program for the City of Phoenix. Together, they have developed artists’ studios and exhibition spaces in downtown Phoenix, including eye lounge contemporary art space, 515 Arts, Sixth Street Studios, Kitchenette and MADE Art Boutique on Roosevelt Row, which set the stage for today’s emerging, vibrant arts district and residential development.
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SMoCA Celebrates all the 2009 Contemporary Catalyst Nominees: |
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from left: Charity Snyder accepting the award on behalf of Rachel Sacco, Nan Ellin, Wendell Burnette, & Bentley Calverley
photo by: Claire Warden
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Rachel Sacco
Rachel Sacco President & CEO, has served the Scottsdale community the past 23 years at the Scottsdale Convention & Visitor’s Bureau. During that time, she has supported and promoted the city as an arts and culture destination. In the early years of promoting Scottsdale, Rachel had to push hard to convince the business community that the arts and culture of the city is more than a sleepy little western town. She put Scottsdale on the map internationally. Rachel’s uniqueness in the industry comes not only from her commitment, but her passion and leadership. She is a visionary who strives for greatness in everything she does. Rachel also is forward-thinking, always interested in forming partnerships to the benefit of the community and the industry. These partnerships have led to the Culture Quest Scottsdale program and the creation of Native Trails, Native American festivals that increase awareness and understanding of our Native American cultures throughout the state. Rachel was inducted into the Arizona State University College of Public Programs’ Alumni Chapter Hall of Fame, named the 2004 Executive of the Year by the Phoenix Chapter of the International Association of Business Communicators, named to the Arizona Culinary Hall of Fame as a Culinary Ambassador in 2005, and named to the Arizona Governor’s Tourism Hall of Fame in 2006.
watch the video interview |
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Nan Ellin
Nan Ellin is a widely recognized scholar who applies her study of urban planning and public policy far beyond the walls of academia. She is an involved citizen who works effectively for the betterment of the metro area through her stalwart service on public boards and committees, as well as her essays for the Arizona Republic and other publications. Nan strives to help improve the built environment and to shape a community that is vital, diverse and environmentally conscious. She has a special interest in seeding change by bringing people together to solve problems. With the Maricopa Partnership for Arts and Culture, Nan initiated the book Phoenix: 21st Century City (2006). She is a champion for the incorporation of arts and culture into downtown revitalization and works with her students on the frontlines of urban issues.
watch the video interview |
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Wendell Burnette
Wendell Burnette, AIA, Principal, was educated in the practice of architecture through 30 years of experience that spans all aspects of the profession spanning a wide range of commercial and residential work. Wendell’s curriculum of self-study education includes a three-year period at the Frank Lloyd Wright School of Architecture. His 11-year association with the studio of William Bruder culminated in a six-year design collaboration on the Phoenix Central Library as co-designer, project architect, and field architect. Since 1996, he has led Wendell Burnette Architects as its sole principal in all aspects of development. The specific focus of the practice is concerned with space and light, context and place, and with the environment and landscape in which we live. He is also an equal design partner in I-10 Studio, LLC with Marwan Al-Sayed and Rick Joy which is dedicated exclusively to completing design and documents on a destination eco-resort Hotel and Spa in southern Utah. Wendell’s work has been featured twice at SMoCA, including the recent Flip a Strip exhibition (2008) and the southwestNET Architecture & Design (2003) exhibition. The Smithsonian Cooper Hewitt National Design Museum in New York also exhibited his work in Design Culture Now. The work of Wendell Burnette Architects has earned numerous honors, including a 1990 Young Architects Award from Progressive Architecture magazine, and most recently a National AIA Honor Award for the Palo Verde Library/Maryvale Community Center. In addition to the private practice, Wendell is an Assistant Professor at the School of Architecture and Landscape Architecture at Arizona State University.
watch the video interview |
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Bentley Calverley
Bentley Calverley, owner of the Bentley Gallery and Bentley Projects, has provided Scottsdale and the warehouse district in downtown Phoenix with contemporary art. The Bentley Gallery in Scottsdale exhibits contemporary painting and sculpture, by internationally recognized artists as well as rising painters and sculptors, and also shows masterworks from the mid- and late-20th-century. After having the Scottsdale location for 18 years, Bentley decided to branch into Phoenix, providing a space for larger sculptures and very large paintings. Bentley Projects occupies a former commercial laundry in a warehouse-style building built in 1912. By normal gallery standards, it is huge, with 24,000 square feet of gallery space spread out over several cavernous industrial rooms. Bentley has also served on the Scottsdale Cultural Council board.
watch the video interview |
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