It wasn't televised. There were no ball gowns. And, devoid of production numbers, montages, and time-killing banter, the whole thing clocked in at just over an hour.
Yet the Quad City Presenters' inaugural awards ceremony managed to say more about the arts, and say it better, in 60-plus minutes than this year's Academy Awards telecast did in 230.
A coalition of nearly 50 area arts organizations, Quad City Presenters last week recognized six proponents of local arts with citations in the categories of Individual Donor, Business Donor, and Volunteer - with the Don Wooten Award for career achievement (named after the organization's founder) given to Roald Tweet - and very few, if any, of these winners could be considered surprising ones.
But what was inspiring, even moving, about the event was the speakers' eloquence and humor as they reminded us not only of the vitality but the necessity of the Quad Cities' arts scene.
The Light and the Spirit
"Art Matters" was the theme of the opening remarks made by St. Ambrose academic dean Aron Aji, who explained that "'art matters' is what keeps us searching, finding, helping cultivate creativity, making sure it finds its fullest expression."
But he added that artists are guided by "an even greater article of faith ... namely the belief that art transforms. The proverbial mirror that art holds to reality is one that shows not just the way we are, but why we are the way we are, and importantly, how we could be more than we are."
Certainly, this sentiment was shared by speaker Don Wooten, who began by delivering what he called "one of the most magnificent sets of lines I've ever heard": the Greek chorus' Antigone ode that begins with "The world is full of wonders, but none so wonderful as man."
"When you look into that choral ode," said Wooten upon completing his recitation, "the word 'wonderful' is pretty weak. But if you look in the original Greek, there's more to it than that. There is an element of awe in that word, almost of terror, of magic, that human beings are somehow so phenomenally different from all other creatures - that what they do is, in a sense, wonderful.
"What is it that lifts us up from the clay of which we are made, and what do we do with that - what do we do with our gifts? The answer is art. Art is simply doing or making something well. It is how you express yourself to the rest of the world. You tell people what you are and who you are, about what you do and what you make, and if your work is slipshod or careless, you advertise to the world: 'That's what I am.'
"But if there is purpose and form and structure and passion and meaning in what you do, then you are saying something important about yourself, and you are contributing to the structure of society in a meaningful way. It's nice to be wealthy, it's nice to be favored with good health and all that, but it's the light and the spirit ... that makes people wonderful."
The Power of Art
This spirit was referenced by program host Kai Swanson, who introduced area artist and educator Larry DeVilbiss - one of two recipients of the Volunteer Award - with a personal anecdote.
"I don't remember the first Larry DeVilbiss painting that I saw," said Swanson. "I don't remember what it looked like; I don't remember the subject matter. But I remember seeing it, and I hope this speaks to the power of art - I remember the feeling. It's the same feeling that you get when you listen to the transition between the third and fourth movements of Beethoven's Fifth. ["There you go," said a woman at a neighboring table.] It's just right. It's logical, it's harmonious. ... It takes you where you ought to be going."
Swanson explained that DeVilbiss was nominated for his honor by MidCoast Fine Arts for being "a relentless arts-advocate volunteer" and "a passionate arts educator, artist, leader, and lifelong champion of the arts." And while the artist joked that "I'm probably just the nominee with the least amount of money and the most amount of time," the comment underscored how the privilege to create art continually outweighs financial considerations.
"As all of you know," DeVilbiss said, "there isn't enough money to pay us to do what we do. It's all based on our passion for what our organizations are doing, and for me, the people involved in those organizations. And without those people - people making totally new innovations in the arts in this community - it wouldn't be worth doing.
"It's always fun and exciting," he continued, "and so, really, it's kind of selfish on my part; that's why I'm involved. I like the excitement of it, and if I wasn't involved," he concluded with good-natured self-deprecation, "I wouldn't have any friends at all."
Creating Family
A pair of local organizations, too, were acknowledged as friends to local artists. The Riverboat Development Authority (RDA), headed by Mary Ellen Chamberlin, was nominated by both New Ground Theatre and MidCoast Fine Arts in the category of Business Donor, in recognition of RDA's grant programs and its emergency fund, which helps offset unexpected expenses for local artisans. Swanson mentioned how the Riverboat Development Authority "takes chances on new groups with seed operating money," and while "not all of the groups succeed ... the willingness to take a chance is what is of preeminent importance."
Chamberlin accepted by acknowledging her organization's recent 15th anniversary of providing community-arts grants. "The first couple of times we did grants," she recalled, "people said, 'We didn't think you would do that. Why are you doing that?' But my philosophy has been that arts define a community, and that we need to have art as an economic-development tool."
(Ending with a personal recollection, Chamberlin earned an appreciative laugh when she said, "About five years into our grant program, I ran into then-judge Linda Neuman somewhere at an arts function, and she said, 'You know, Mary Ellen, I am totally amazed. Whoever thought that the riverboats would become the patrons of the arts?' And I said, 'I did.'")
Opera Quad Cities, meanwhile, provided the nomination for Business Donor recipient West Music, for its provision of musical instruments at little or no cost, and its enthusiasm for the performing arts. "And this is a direct quote," read Swanson. "'West Music makes our job so-o-o-o-o-o...' - there are six 'O's in there - 'much easier.'"
James Harding, a Quad Cities native and certified Steinway piano specialist at West Music's Moline store, accepted on his company's behalf. "Since 1941," Harding said, "West Music has been a family-owned business, and our mission has always been to enrich people's lives through their participation in music."
Harding expressed his business' continued commitment to the area's arts community, and added that "locally, we are proud to announce that we now offer over three thousand lessons to Quad City-area students every week. As you know, this world is about differentiation, and we differentiate ourselves by creating family, wherever we are."
An Awfully Interesting Place
The theme of family continued in the remarks made by Roald Tweet, who, Swanson reminded, once wrote a comprehensive account of the upper Mississippi River's corps of engineers, and was "known to many of us for his work in capturing and distilling our region's history through the radio serial Rock Island Lines."
"This award means a lot to me," Tweet said upon receiving his career-achievement accolade, "and the Quad Cities does. Some of you have heard me say that when I came to the Quad Cities in 1960, it was my intention to stay three years and then," he added to much laughter, "go someplace interesting. What happened, obviously, in those first three years, is that this got to be an awfully interesting place."
Tweet emphasized his point by describing a trip that he once took with a group of Augustana students to Machu Picchu, "one of those seven places on earth where the energies of the heavens come down so close to the earth that you can feel the vibrations.
"What I'd like to suggest," he concluded, "is that you people, and the groups you represent, are responsible for the fact that we no longer have to go to Peru, or Chile, or Tibet; the Quad Cities is one of those places. Go to a New Ground Theatre production. Go to Bucktown. Go to a Genesius Guild production. Listen to the Nova Singers. And you will see that it is here, as well as Peru, where the energies of the earth come down and touch each one of us."
The Great Things
"There is plenty of creativity in our community," Aji stated in his introduction, "but 'plenty' needs a little bit of help to become graceful abundance." And as Wooten made clear in his closing remarks, that abundance exists in the organizations associated with Quad City Presenters, and in the Quad Cities itself.
"This organization is made up of arts organizations," he said, "and the most unusual thing about it is that while most art is solitary - and even in group works it's confined to that group - we meet together, we look for common themes, we do what we can to promote the arts. And our work will never be done until there is as much local coverage of the arts and culture in the newspaper as there is of sports. That's been my standard all my life, and I will never live to see it happen.
"Working alone in the studio, using mind and hand to create a work of art, collaborating with others to bring to life an action on stage which will be more real, in many ways, than the life you live ... these are great things to do with a life. I congratulate all of you, and I urge you to never stop, to corral others, be shameless in it, promote what you do. Because what you do is one of the most important functions of human beings. It's what makes human beings wonderful."
Winners of the 2007 Quad City Presenters Awards
The inaugural Quad City Presenters Awards were hosted by Kai Swanson, and took place on March 6, 2007, in the Rogalski Center of St. Ambrose University. Individuals and organizations were initially nominated by the organizations within Quad City Presenters, and the winners subsequently voted on by the group's membership. For information on Quad City Presenters, e-mail (qcpresenters@gmail.com).
Individual Donor:
Dr. Walter Neiswanger
Bridget Consamus
Business Donor:
West Music, Davenport and Moline
Riverboat Development Authority
Volunteer:
Eileen Eitrheim
Larry DeVilbiss
The Don Wooten Award:
Roald Tweet
