Among the takeaways from ArtsWestchester’s Arts Awards Celebration Wednesday, April 10, at Brae Burn Country Club in Purchase was the idea that one individual can change the life of another, indeed that an individual can change the world.
Arts advocate Lee Balter, who received the President’s Award, told the story of an underserved student who participated in a dance program at Rockefeller Center in Manhattan and pronounced it the best day of his life. (It was also Balter’s birthday, so the luncheon throng of more than 300 serenaded the Tarrytown resident, led by ever-suave emcee Tony Aiello, the Westchester reporter for CBS New York. Elizabeth Diaz – who received the Larry Salley Photography Award for “Baby’s Breath,” her series of Renaissance-style portraits of transgender people, festooned with the fragile titular flower – reminded the audience that we’re all human beings. Nyle Lynn Salley, who presented the award, said that her late father – an ardent musician and photographer who was onetime Westchester County Commissioner of Transportation – once observed, “What we do for ourselves dies with us. What we do for others remains immortal.”
In that spirit, jazz singer Andromeda Turre received one of three Advancing Equity Awards for her songwriting, which plumbs the relationship between climate and the marginalized, and offered a sultry selection from her album, out this summer. Other Advancing Equity recipients were New Era Creative Space of Peekskill and Yonkers Arts.
George Otero-Pailos of Rye took home the Artist’s Award for his pioneering artwork and experimental preservation practices. The Neuberger Museum of Art in Purchase received the Arts Organization Award for 50 years of engaging exhibits and programming. Arc Stages in Pleasantville was honored with the Sophia Abeles Education Award for its tireless support of contemporary theater. And the New Rochelle Council on the Arts accepted the Community Award for its commitment to enriching that Sound Shore city and beyond.
The other chief takeaway was how much ArtsWestchester CEO Janet T. Langsam has meant to the arts in the county. Langsam, who is stepping down from her post after 33 years on June 30 — received a standing ovation from attendees as she was hailed as the “first lady and queen of the arts in Westchester” and acknowledged by the grateful award recipients.
But it was also a day for local businesses to shine in the networking cocktail reception as All Heart Baking Co., Custom Candles, Farida Skin Care Studio, Gaelle Pastries, Ilf Jewelry Studio, Lady Optical, Origami Owl Jewelry and 3 Gems Unlimited took part in the boutique. Farida joined The J House Greenwich and Feeding Westchester as raffle sponsors.
All in all, an event so “glittering,” as Aeillo put it, that at one point he donned his leftover eclipse glasses.
