HughE Dillon: Arts & Business Council Awards

Philadelphia's creative innovators were honored at the 27th annual celebration.

The Arts & Business Council (ABC) hosted its 27th annual awards celebration at Vie on Wednesday, May 30th, to honor exceptional volunteers. Nearly 600 people, including Rob Wonderling, president/CEO of the Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce, First Lady of Pennsylvania Susan Corbett, Gary Steuer, chief cultural officer of Philadelphia, Karen Copeland, ABC executive director, and Ed Cambron, executive director of the Kimmel Center’s arts festival. Cambron recently revealed that PIFA’s 2013 theme will be “If You Had a Time Machine … ?”

Below: Dito Van Reigersberg, otherwise known as Martha Graham Cracker, did a fun rendition of the “Rainbow Connection,” which, in the end, seemed more like a church revival, team-building exercise as there were high-fives and duets during the tune.

Below: The apple doesn’t fall too far from the tree as Dina Wind is an award-winning artist and mother of jewelery designer John Wind, with Penny Balkin Bach, executive director and chief curator of the recently renamed Fairmount Park Art Association, now known as Association for Public Art (APA). It’s the nation’s first private nonprofit dedicated to integrating public art and urban planning. The APA sponsors “Museum Without Walls,” which takes walkers down the Parkway from LOVE Park to Kelly Drive as they listen to the fascinating stories behind each artwork via cell phone or mobile device. There are 35 stops for 51 sculptures.

Below: Darrel A. German, Sr. VP at TD Bank Philadelphia, Andrea Allon, Ronald Matthew Sr., VP at TD Bank, Trish Cashman, development officer of United Way, Meaghan Brown, development officer of United Way, George Bi and Kevin Murphy.

Below: Chris Johnson, Jennifer Hoffmaster, program director, Once Upon a Nation at Historic Philadelphia, and Alison English, also of Once Upon a Nation, which is one of my favorite summertime attractions. You can hear the nation’s untold tales from storytellers at 13 free storytelling benches located throughout the historic district from Memorial Day to Labor Day.

Below: Angela Louro, Greater Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce, DJ Afrodjiak, Scott Mirkin, of ESM Productions, and Alexandria Phillips, Greater Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce. The Greater Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce awarded Mirkin its “Small-Business Person of the Year” award. Right now, he’s busy preparing for the 2012 Wawa Welcome America celebration, which is less than a month away. Then he’ll be concentrating on the Jay-Z “Made in America” concert, which will be held over the Labor Day weekend to benefit the United Way.

Below: Alex Hillman is co-founder of Independents Hall, a coworking facility based in Old City. Indy Hall won the Creative Economy award for distinction in a for-profit creative field. Also: Seth Kranzler, metals process manager at NextFab, Amanda Matyas, Adam Teterus, of Indy Hall, and David Clayton, curator at Breadboard at the Science Center. NextFab Studio and Breadboard won the Business & Arts Partnership award. Hillman said to me that creation and innovation places like Indy Hall and Breadboard, bring people together to create brilliant projects.

Below: Melanie Johnson, city representative, and Rhashidah Perry Jones, director of institutional communications at Kimmel Center. Johnson says look for Laura Izibor, named an “Artist to Watch” by Rolling Stone, to perform at the Taste of Philadelphia. Also starting on June 6th, City Hall will present a series of concerts in the courtyard called “City Hall Presents” every Wednesday throughout the summer. First up: a percussion band; then on June 13th, the Black Pearl Chamber Orchestra performs. The hour-long concerts are free and begin at 5:30 p.m.