Shakespeare Fest wins Community Arts Award

In recognition of its “outstanding contributions to the arts in New Orleans,” the Shakespeare Festival at Tulane was awarded a 2013 Community Arts Award from the Arts Council of New Orleans on Tuesday (Sept. 24).

At the event at the Contemporary Arts Center, awards also were presented to actor and activist Bryan Batt, a 1985 Tulane College of Arts and Sciences graduate, and painter, photographer and curator Jan Gilbert, who earned an MFA from Tulane in 1982, as well as other community arts leaders.

Marty Sachs, artistic director, and Clare Moncrief, managing director, accepted the award on behalf of the Shakespeare Festival.

More than 66,000 theatergoers have attended performances of the New Orleans Shakespeare Festival at Tulane, now in its 20th year. A professional Shakespeare company, the festival is one of the largest employers of theater artists in the city. It started as a summer theater production company but soon expanded to focus on year-round educational outreach.

Among its artistic and educational programs are the annual Performance for the Schools productions on the Tulane campus, which hundreds of middle and high school students attend on field trips each year.

Other Shakespeare Festival programs are Shakespeare on the Road, the New Orleans Branch National Shakespeare Speech Competition, the Gavin Mahlie All Things Shakespeare Training Program and the Shakespeare Set Free Institute on Teaching Shakespeare.

Kim Cook, president and CEO of the Arts Council of New Orleans, said of the awards, “New Orleans is graced with a vibrant culture and phenomenally talented artists. It is our honor to be able to celebrate those people and organizations who've given so much to our community.”

The Arts Council of New Orleans is a private, nonprofit organization designated as the city's official arts agency.