06/18/2009
Contact:
Liz Bartolomeo
Office: 202.371.2830
press@artsusa.org
Americans for the Arts Presents the 2009 Public Art Network Award to Environmental Artists Buster Simpson
SEATTLE, WA — June 18, 2009 — Americans for the Arts today presented the 2009 Public Art Network (PAN) Award to environmental artist Buster Simpson at its annual meeting, held this year in Seattle. The Public Art Network Award was created to recognize and honor innovative and creative contributions and commitment in the field of public art.
"Buster Simpson has helped define contemporary and environmental public art," said Robert L. Lynch, president and CEO of Americans for the Arts. “He is an accomplished artist and an exemplary leader in community arts. His innovation and dedication has been recognized regionally and nationally in the public art field.”
The Seattle-based artist has been making intelligent, provocative, entertaining, and challenging public artworks for more than 30 years. Recent commissioned projects include Whole Flow in Pasadena, CA; Instrument Implement: Walla Walla Campanile in Walla Walla, WA; Ice Blade in Richmond, BC, Canada; and Parable in Seattle, WA. Beckoning Cistern, part of a nine block high density urban watershed project in Seattle, was selected for the Public Arts Network’s Year in Review in 2004. He holds a master’s degree from the University of Michigan.
"He has never wavered from caring about and addressing critical environmental issues in all kinds of settings with a completely unique personal voice and style. Buster has been 'green' long before anyone really knew what that meant. He is a brilliant thinker, highly original artist, and treasured member of the country’s public art community,” wrote Eloise Damrosch, executive director of Portland’s Regional Arts & Culture Council, in nominating Simpson for the award.
The Public Art Network, a program of Americans for the Arts, is designed to provide services to the diverse field of public art and to develop strategies and tools to improve communities through public art. The Network’s constituents are public art professionals, visual artists, design professionals, and communities and organizations planning public art projects and programs.
Americans for the Arts is the leading nonprofit organization for advancing the arts in America. With offices in Washington, DC, and New York City, it has a record of 49 years of service. Americans for the Arts is dedicated to representing and serving local communities and creating opportunities for every American to participate in and appreciate all forms of the arts. Additional information is available at www.AmericansForTheArts.org.
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