Rich Boyd awarded the 2014 Gary Young Award

GREETINGS FROM ANNE B. POPE, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

Last week, Commissioners Patsy Camp, Stephanie Connor and Ed Gerace, several staff members and I attended the 2014 Assembly hosted by the National Assembly of State Arts Agencies. This bi-annual event offers state arts agencies the unique opportunity to convene with arts and cultural leaders from across the country. Almost all the states and territories are represented and the assembly provides time to meet with our peer groups. I believe we all learned a lot and deepened our relationships with NASAA and other state arts agencies.

Rich Boyd

The arts in Tennessee also returned with an honor. During the Leadership Award ceremony, former Tennessee Arts Commission executive director, Rich Boyd was awarded the 2014 Gary Young Award. This is a well-deserved award for Rich who has been a long-time advocate for the arts in Tennessee. He has worked tirelessly to move Tennessee communities forward through the arts.

Rich served as executive director for 13 years and assistant director for 15 years. Under his leadership the Tennessee Arts Commission became a national leader among arts agencies in terms of public funding, arts education, advocacy, cultural heritage, strategic planning, support for individual artists and innovative services to constituents.

The NASAA awards program showcases best practices of state arts agencies and regional arts organizations, recognizes exemplary leadership and demonstrates how government creatively, effectively and efficiently serves the public through the arts. The Gary Young Award recognizes an executive director who makes extraordinary contributions to public support for the arts at the state, regional and nationals levels.

We are so proud of Rich. Please join us in congratulating him on this outstanding achievement and honor.