News
Corbett hands out awards for top art honors, talks art education funding, tuition increases By PETE SIRIANNI Managing Editor P.M.Sirianni@iup.edu
Gov. Tom Corbett stressed the importance of the arts after awarding five major honors in the 34th Governor’s Awards for the Arts in a ceremony Sunday at Fisher Auditorium. The annual awards, which move around to a different city in the commonwealth every year, marked the first time they had ever been hosted at a college campus. Jimmy Stewart, the Indiana-born Oscar-winning actor, was the recipient of the first Distinguished Arts Award in 1980, which played a hand in why Indiana was chosen as the host of the event. “I think everyone certainly enjoyed this tonight and this afternoon,” Corbett said. “But I think it’s always important to talk about the arts and make sure that we do everything we can to include arts for everybody, and that’s what this does.” Corbett honored four artists and The Andy Warhol Museum for their excellence in Pennsylvania artistry. Art education funding was a hot topic issue for the Fisher Auditorium crowd, receiving applause anytime it was mentioned by an award-winner. Corbett blamed a lack of available money in the budget from the state’s pension problem – which was caused by “mistakes made in the past, not my administration” – as the reason why public
News
schools are cutting back on art education funding. The state has to come up with $610 million of new money each year to cover expenditures, according to Corbett, which causes art funding to sometimes fall to the back-burner. “Many of us would like to do more, but we have to take care of our responsibilities first,” Corbett said. “You hate to see arts coming after the fact, but to a certain extent, until we resolve this, they are.” The Republican governor also acknowledged the rising tuition prices for college students nationwide, not just in Pennsylvania. “We also have been, during my administration, trying to keep the tuitions, particularly in the state system
which is part of our system, keep them down, not see them go up radically,” Corbett said. The Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education approved a $99 a semester tuition increase for its 14 state schools in the 2014-15 academic year. Funding from the state has been held steady for the last four years, according to a press release from PASSHE. “[Tuition costs] were going up quite a bit before I entered office, and we’ve been working very closely with the chancellor of the system of higher education to keep the demands down,” Corbett said. “Again, part of that cost going up is the cost of faculty and administration and so forth. And that is also driven by the pension crisis.”
Gov. Corbett shook hands with Mark Pasquerilla. (Zach Nellis/ The Penn)
September 30, 2014
Lead NewsWriter: Jennifer Bush – J.M.Bush@iup.edu
Awards presented at Governor’s Arts Awards By JENNIFER BUSH Lead News Writer J.M.Bush@iup.edu
Sunday, many gathered in Fisher Auditorium for the Pennsylvania Governor’s Arts Awards, which was held at a college campus for the first time. “…Indiana University of Pennsylvania has a long history of supporting, nurturing and educating young artists and musicians, so it was only fitting to have it here,” said Susan Corbett, wife of Gov. Tom Corbett. The prestigious award for the arts brings a spotlight to many talented artists across the Keystone state. “Picking winners is a difficult process because there are so many talented artists in Pennsylvania,” Mrs. Corbett said. Mrs. Corbett is chair of the PA Council of the Arts and said that she has been an art enthusiast since she was little. Kicking off the program was IUP’s president, Dr. Michael Driscoll. Following his introduction was Rodney Ruddock, chairman on the Indiana County Commissioners. Rep. Dave Reed also welcomed the winners and all in attendance. There were five different categories in which there were winners. Robert Qualters, a Pittsburgh painter, installation artist and printmaker, was named Artist of the Year. Qualters worked as an assistant professor from
1976 to 1981 at Indiana University of Pennsylvania. The Andy Warhol Museum won the Arts Innovation Award and showed a short video of their new app, D.I.Y POP. With the app, anyone can make a silkscreen from their own pictures, just like Warhol did. Jennifer Higdon won the Distinguished Arts Award. She is a composer who has become a prominent figure in contemporary classic music. Orchestras all around the world perform pieces she has made. Currently, she is writing an opera. IUP graduate and Indiana lawyer Myron Tomb won the Leadership & Service award for his contributions to art education over his lifetime. Mark E. Pasquerilla is the first winner from Johnstown and won the Patron Award. Reading “The Red Coal” by Gerald Stern was Lewisburg Area High School student Elliot Davidson. He is the 2014 State Champion for the “Poetry Out Loud” contest. Another student showcased was India Scott, of Blacklick Valley High School, who talked about how important art was to her and her school. The awards ceremony ended with a piece that awardee Higdon composed, “Nocturne from String Poetic Echo Dash.” Gergana Haralampieva on violin and George Xiaoyuan on piano performed the piece.
3