The College of Fine, Performing and Communication Arts at Wayne State University presented its 34th Arts Achievement Awards. Outstanding alumni and former students of Wayne State University were recognized for their dedication to, and advocacy for, the arts and communication and for achievements in their respective fields. The Arts Achievement Awards event took place 4pm to 6pm, Friday, March 22, 2013, at the Alumni House on the Wayne State campus.

Wayne State Arts Achievement Awards honorees for 2013

Dean’s Award for Community Impact, College of Fine, Performing and Communication Arts
Harry Leibowitz, founder and co-chair, World of Children Award

In 1996, Harry Leibowitz co-founded with his wife, Kay Isaacson-Leibowitz, the World of Children Award, a global program that funds children’s issues throughout the world and honors those who selflessly devote their lives to improving the lives of children. In its 17-year history, the World of Children Award has invested $5 million in programs led by 95 honorees serving children in 140 countries, touching the lives of an estimated 30,000,000 children. Leibowitz conducted doctoral work at Wayne State from 1964 to ’67.

Career Achievement Award in the Field of Communication, Department of Communication
Gregory Andracke, filmmaker, Andracke Productions

Greg Andracke is a film director, cinematographer and camera operator with professional credits spanning back to the early 1980s, including the 2008 Academy Award-winning best documentary Taxi to the Dark Side, 1997’s Emmy nominated documentary Talked to Death and 1988’s Academy Award-winning short film You Don’t Have to Die. Andracke earned a bachelor’s degree in radio and TV at Wayne State in 1966.

Career Achievement Award in the Field of Art and Art History, James Pearson Duffy Dept. of Art and Art History
John Hunter, painter, art historian, retired professor, Cleveland State University

In the 1960s and ‘70s, John Hunter studied painting at Wayne State. He went on to become an education curator at the Detroit Institute of Arts and later a professor, department chair and associate dean at Cleveland State University. He retired to New York City in 2003 where he works in his own painting studio. Dr. Hunter mounted studio shows in 2007, ’08 and ’10 and exhibited work at the Metropolitan Playhouse in 2011 and Wayne State’s Alumni Exhibition in 2012. Hunter earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees at Wayne State in, respectively, 1965 and ’71.

Career Achievement Award in the Field of Music, Department of Music
James Lentini, professor and dean, School of Creative Arts at Miami University of Ohio

Jim Lentini is an award-winning composer and guitarist and a professor of music. His compositions have been performed by distinguished artists and ensembles such as the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, the Krakow Philharmonic and the Bohuslav Martinu Philharmonic. Dr. Lentini has served as a juror for the Segovia International Guitar Competition, where he also received the composition prize. Lentini earned a bachelor’s degree in music at Wayne State in 1982.

Career Achievement Award in the Field of Dance, Maggie Allesee Dept. of Theatre and Dance
Elizabeth Schmidt, artistic director, Spotlight Dance Works

Liz Schmidt created a pre-professional training program at Spotlight Dance Works that has grown to the honorable status of “Top 20 Studios” in North America as named by Dance Spirit Magazine in 2011. This achievement was followed by her selection as Dance Teacher Magazine’s 2012 Dance Teacher Award winner in the private studio/conservatory category. Schmidt earned a bachelor’s degree in dance at Wayne State in 2004.

Across the history of the Arts Achievement Awards, Wayne State University has honored outstanding alumni and friends of the university for dedication to the arts and communication, for achievements in their respective fields of endeavor or for service to the College of Fine, Performing and Communication Arts. Alumni from the departments of art and art history, theatre and dance, music, and communication are individually recognized. As well, the College of Fine, Performing and Communication Arts often bestows Dean’s Awards for excellence, service, career achievement or arts advocacy to an individual or group demonstrating a deep commitment to and leadership in the arts or communication.

Past Honorees

2012
Linda Downs – Art and Art History
Kendall Smith – Theatre
Sonya Tayeh – Dance
Lisa Vallee-Smith – Communication
Magenta Giraffe Theatre Company – Dean's Award for Arts Entrepreneurship

2008–09
Ken and Kim Cockrel – Communication
John Feierabend – Music
Kent Neely – Theatre
John Egner – Dean's Career Achievement Award in the Field of Art

2007–08
Rose Marie Floyd – Dance
Ed Fraga – Art
Thorsten Kaye – Theatre
David Salzman – Communication
George Shirley – Music
Susan Mosey – Community Service Award

2006–07
Daniel Loepp – Communication
Eunice Moore – Dance
Larry Walker – Art
Leonard Leone – Dean’s Award for Distinguished Service
Tom Skerritt – Dean’s Award for Career Achievement

2005–06
Jack Kay – Communication
Stephen Millen – Music
Ernie Hudson – Theatre
Richard Bilaitis – Dean’s Distinguished Service Award
Detroit Free Press – Dean’s Community Service Award

2004
William Benoit – Communication
Robert Brock – Theatre
Helen Landgarten – Art Education
James Pallas – Art and Art History
Charles Postlewate – Music
John Richards – English
Sharon Unrau – Dance