Good for you: ArtsBuild announces new Holmberg Leadership class

ArtsBuild announces new Holmberg Leadership class

ArtsBuild welcomed 36 class members into its Holmberg Arts Leadership Institute during a recent reception at the Chattanooga Theatre Centre.

The four-month institute prepares participants to become arts advocates with behind-the-scene site visits to cultural and educational institutions, panel discussions with community leaders and a forum for shared goals among arts leaders, business leaders, educators and philanthropic foundations.

The 2014 Holmberg Arts Leadership class includes Kevin Bate, Joel Baxley, Rachel Bodenbender, Robin Burk, Ashley Conrad, April Cox, Laura Cleary, Barbara Cooley, Errin Cusack and Evie Durant.

Also in the class are Tiffany Feltner, Rudy Foster, Lee Garner, Laura Grody, Doug Hedwig, Kristy Huntley, Paul LaJeunesse, Steven Llorca, Martha Mackey, Ric Morris, Shane Morrow, Yulia Nasedkina, Kathleen Nolte and Garry Posey.

Also, Tyler Rand, Meredith Rivers, Katherine Rogers, Daniel Rose, Rick Rushing, Michele Sanborn, Lee Sanders, Mary Catherine Schimpf, Sarah Sherfey, Mark Stone, Craig Tyndall and Shelby Watson.


WTCI announces board members

WTCI, the Tennessee Valley's PBS station, announces five new members to its board of directors.

They are Deborah Elwell Arfken, professor in the department of Political Science, Public Administration and Nonprofit Management at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga; and Hodgen Mainda, director of business development and provider relations for MDP Management and One to One Personal Physician Network.

Also added are Erskine Oglesby, associate director of corporate engagement for United Way of Greater Chattanooga; Frank Shriner, banking executive; and Scott Wilson, Baylor School headmaster.


Whitaker appointed to state board

Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal has appointed Berry College Chief of Staff Alexander "Whit" Whitaker to the Georgia Nonpublic Postsecondary Education Commission.

Whitaker, a retired U.S. Navy captain and judge advocate, will serve a three-year term in the office. The Georgia Nonpublic Postsecondary Education Commission, which began operations in 1991, ensures that authorized colleges and schools are financially stable, educationally sound and that students graduate with appropriate job skills.

Along with serving as secretary to the Berry College Board of Trustees, Whitaker serves on the boards of SunTrust Bank of Northwest Georgia, William S. Davies Homeless Shelter, Mercy Care Rome and Trinity School for Ministry in Ambridge, Pa. Before his tenure as Berry chief of staff, Whitaker was assistant vice president for major gifts.


Royal Envy dancers place second

Envy Dance Factory's Royal Envy dance team recently placed second in the Seventh-through-12th grade category in the "Buck or Die" regional competition in Tugaloo, Miss. Twenty-three teams from across the South danced in the competition hosted by The Dancing Dolls, the dance team cast of Lifetime Network's "Bring It."

Royal Envy dance team, which formed in May of this year, is comprised of urban girls ages 7 to 18. Members are required to attend eight or more hours of practice per week and maintain a 2.0 grade-point average in school.

"I am beyond proud of my dancers," said Envy Dance Factory's talent director E. DeVante Williams. "This was their first away competition and it lasted over 13 hours."


photo Thomas West

West wins American Prize in Voice

Thomas West, 18, a graduate of McCallie School now studying classical voice at The Juilliard School in New York City, is the 2014 winner of the American Prize in Voice - Friedrich & Virginia Schorr Memorial Awards, in the high school division. West was selected from applications reviewed this summer from across the United States.

The American Prize is a series of new, nonprofit competitions designed to recognize and reward the best performing artists, ensembles and composers in the United States based on submitted recordings.Winners of The American Prize receive cash prizes, professional adjudication and national and international recognition based on recorded performances. Winners are profiled on The American Prize website, where links lead to video and audio excerpts of winning performances.

Over the past two years, Thomas has taken first prize in many regional and national vocal competitions, including the Performing Arts League of Chattanooga Vocal Competition, the Knoxville Choral Society Young Classical Musicians Competition, the University of Kentucky Young Singers Competition, Georgia NATS and the Music Teachers National Association National Competition.

He was also featured on the NPR radio show "From the Top" in 2012 and 2014 and was a 2014 National Young Arts finalist and Presidential Scholar in the Arts. Thomas is also the founder of ReGenerate, an arts leadership program dedicated to fundraising for the arts in the public schools of Chattanooga. The group has raised more than $14,000 for arts education in his hometown.

For more information on the award and a list of winners, go to http://theamericanprize.blogspot.com.


Berry drum major earns national award

David Warren, a junior majoring in music education at Berry College in Rome, Ga., has received the Drum Corps International leadership award for conducting.

Warren received the Jim Jones Leadership Award for conducting Phantom Regiment at the 2014 DCI World Championships. Phantom Regiment is a drum and bugle corps that has been DCI champion twice since it began in 1956, as well as a finalist in numerous years.

The award is given each year to one Open Class and one World Class drum major. It is named after one of the founding directors of Drum Corps International. Selections are made each year by a committee of Hall of Fame members. Funds for the award are also provided by members of the Hall of Fame.


Dollar General Foundation awards grants

The Dollar General Literacy Foundation has awarded Girls. Inc. of Chattanooga and Loftis Middle School grants in the amounts of $2,000 each to support youth literacy programs.

Awarded at the beginning of the academic year, these grants help provide teachers, schools and organizations with the funding and resources to properly begin the school year.

The foundation awarded about $4 million in youth literacy grants this month to 825 schools, nonprofit organizations, libraries and community groups dedicated to the advancement of literacy.

A complete list of grant recipients may be found online at dgliteracy.org. Grant applications for adult, family, summer and youth literacy grants will be available in January 2015.

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