Washington et al to Receive Princess Grace Awards, Nov. 10, 2010

The Princess Grace Foundation-USA (PGF-USA) has announced that the 28th Annual Princess Grace Awards Gala will be held on Wednesday, November 10, 2010 at Cipriani 42nd Street in New York City. The Awards ceremony will include the presentation of 21 awards to emerging artists in theater, dance and film as well as the Prince Rainier III Award to be presented to Denzel and Pauletta Washington and the Princess Grace Statue Award to be presented to Anna D. Shapiro. The Award recipients hail from cities and states across America and will travel to New York City to receive their honor at the glamorous black tie ceremony. The 28th Annual Princess Grace Awards Gala will take place in the presence of Her Royal Highness Caroline Princess of Hanover. The evening will be co-chaired by Bonnie Pfeifer Evans. Presenting Sponsor for the Gala is Hermes; Platinum Sponsors are The Charles Evans Foundation and Noelle and Dick Wolf; and Crown Sponsor is Lily Safra.

The Princess Grace Foundation-USA is a not-for-profit, publicly-supported foundation headquartered in New York City and founded more than 25 years ago by Prince Rainier III of Monaco in honor of his wife, Princess Grace (Kelly). The Foundation's mission, that mirrors Princess Grace's in Her lifetime, is to support emerging artists in theater, dance and film through the awarding of scholarships, apprenticeships and fellowships. Since its inception, the Foundation has bestowed more than 650 awards totaling more than $7 million in grants.

This year, PGF-USA will honor Denzel and Pauletta Washington with the Prince Rainier III Award in recognition of their outstanding careers and philanthropic endeavors. In addition to their distinguished professional accomplishments, Denzel and Pauletta Washington have been devoted to numerous philanthropic causes for more than 20 years. This is the first time a couple will share the Prince Rainier III Award honor, which was inaugurated in 2005 by the PGF-USA Board of Trustees in recognition of the man who helped begin the Foundation. This Award is presented to eminent artists who have not only been highly successful in their careers, but have made significant humanitarian contributions to their fields. To date, Mikhail Baryshnikov (2005), Twyla Tharp (2006), George Lucas (2007), Glenn Close (2008) and Mandy Patinkin (2009) have received this honor, which includes a grant of $25,000 to the philanthropic organization of their choice.

Past winners of the Awards for theater, dance and film who distinguish themselves in their artistic disciplines since receiving their initial Princess Grace Awards are eligible to win the Foundation's Princess Grace Statue Award. This year, Tony® Award-winning director Anna D. Shapiro will be honored for her outstanding achievements. Ms. Shapiro received her first Princess Grace Award in 1996 while working with Steppenwolf Theater Company. In addition to a $25,000 unrestricted cash gift, these Awardees are presented with a bronze statuette of Princess Grace created by the Dutch artist Kees Verkade. To date, fifty-three artists have received this award.

For the second year, celebrated artist Alex Soldier, known for his mastery of fine jewelry and precious miniatures, has designed an objet d'art to symbolize the Princess Grace Awards. The Award symbolically combines the three art forms lauded by the Foundation: theater, dance, and film by using precious metals and Swarovski crystal accents. The sculpture is made for each recipient to wear as a pin, a special reminder of their Award for the world to see. The sculpture, presented to the Prince Rainier III Award recipient, is a larger version of the pin and demonstrates the interconnectedness between the art forms.

The Gala will begin with cocktails, followed by an opening act featuring past Princess Grace Award winners in Dance or Choreography, who will perform a myriad of diverse dance styles, specially created for the 2010 Gala; then a 3-course dinner catered by Cipriani 42nd Street; remarks by HSH Princess Caroline of Hanover; followed by the Awards presentations and finally dancing to DJ Clockwork in the Chapel Room. At the Gala, guests will have the opportunity to support the Foundation by bidding on an extensive collection of unique silent auction lots including travel packages, jewelry and accessories. All auction proceeds will benefit Princess Grace Awards to advance its mission of providing crucial support to emerging artists in America.

"We are extremely pleased to be honoring Denzel and Pauletta Washington, as well as Anna D. Shapiro, for their incredible professional achievements and for their dedication, inspiration and generosity to the community," says John F. Lehman, Chairman of the Board of PGF-USA and Princess Grace's cousin. "These honorees are the true embodiment of Princess Grace's vision of giving back to the artistic community She loved so much. We are humbled and moved by their achievements."

Each year, the Foundation presents the Princess Grace Awards to artists who show excellence and promise in the areas of theater, dance, and film. Students are eligible for scholarships while emerging artists working in companies qualify for apprenticeships and fellowships. A playwriting fellowship is available for individual artists, which includes a residency at New Dramatists in New York City, and the opportunity for representation and publication by Samuel French, Inc. In addition to these, the Foundation also gives honorable mention grants to applicants through Honoraria.

The 2010 Princess Grace Awards winners (listed below) represent 20 colleges, universities, and not-for-profit theater and dance companies throughout the United States. The Awards winners exemplify both classical and experimental artistic disciplines and, while still considered emerging talent, already show exceptional promise in their areas of expertise. The Foundation's support assists their theater and dance studies, helps pay their artistic fees at non-profit theater and dance companies and helps support their thesis film projects. In addition to the Awards, the Princess Grace Foundation-USA extends general operating monies to companies hosting an Awards winner. The 2010 Princess Grace Awards winners are:

Theater and Playwriting

Andrea Assaf - Theater Fellowship, Gant Gaither Theater Award, Pangea World Theater

Charlotte Brathwaite - Theater Scholarship, George C. Wolfe Award, Yale School of Drama

Shana Cooper - Theater Fellowship, Robert & Gloria Hausman Award, Oregon Shakespeare Festival

Tom Gleeson - Theater Fellowship, Faberge Theater Award, Arden Theatre Company

Virginia Grise - Theater Apprenticeship, Pierre Cardin Theater Award, Playwrights' Arena

Adam Pinti - Theater Scholarship, Grace Le Vine Award, Arizona State University

A. Rey Pamatmat - Playwriting Fellowship, New Dramatists Inc.

Dance and Choreography

Kyle Abraham - Choreography Fellowship; Perry-Mansfield Performing Arts School & Camp

Craig Black - Dance Scholarship; The Julliard School-Dance Division

Ashley Jackson - Dance Fellowship, Chris Hellman Dance Award; Alonzo King's LINES Ballet

Rachel M. Meyer - Dance Fellowship; Dominic Walsh Dance Project

Andrea Parson - Dance Fellowship; Northwest Dance Project

Brett Perry - Dance Fellowship; Trey McIntyre Project

Victor Quijada - Choreography Fellowship; Hubbard Street Dance Chicago

Andrew J. Wojtal - Dance Scholarship; California Institute of the Arts

Film

Jessica Anne Bardsley - Film Graduate Scholarship; School of the Art Institute of Chicago

Mike Gibisser - Film Graduate Scholarship; University of Illinois, Chicago

Laura Kraning - Film Graduate Scholarship, John H. Johnson Film Award; California Institute of the Arts

Sara Newens - Film Graduate Scholarship; Stanford University

Willie Williams - Film Undergraduate Scholarship; University of Southern California

Javi Aitor Zubizaretta - Film Undergraduate Scholarship, Cary Grant Film Award; University of Notre Dame

Honoraria

Lorianne Arden - Film Honorarium; Vassar College

Chris Bryant - Film Honorarium; Chapman University

Devan McGrath - Film Honorarium; Columbia College Chicago

2010 Special Project Awards and Works in Progress Residencies

Special Project Awards and Works in Progress Residencies at the Baryshnikov Arts Center are grants available to past Princess Grace Awards winners to show continued support. The 2010 Special Project Awards and Works in Progress Residencies are:

Special Project Awards

Carlos Armesto
John Fiege
Michael John Garces
Zach Horton
Kara Manning
Benjamin Russell
Uri Sands

Works in Progress Residencies

Jim Findlay
Andrea Miller
Chi-wang Yang

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About Prince Rainier III Award Honorees -- Denzel & Pauletta Washington

Denzel Washington is a two-time Academy Award-winning actor who recently made his return to Broadway where he appeared opposite Viola Davis in August Wilson's "Fences," earning him his first Tony® Award. Denzel Washington's accomplished artistic career, spanning more than 30 years, has included numerous awards for acting and directing on both stage and screen. In 2004, Denzel Washington was honored by the Boys & Girls Clubs of America (BGCA) for his years of support of the youth organization and was presented the Herbert Hoover Humanitarian Award, the highest honor the BGCA gives to volunteers, at the annual President's Dinner. He has been a spokesperson for the Boys & Girls Clubs of America since 1994. Mr. Washington's wife, Pauletta Washington is an accomplished actress and musician whose undying passion for music started at an early age. Her education included the Julliard School in New York City. Beautiful as well as talented, Pauletta was the first African American to capture first runner-up in the Miss North Carolina Beauty Pageant. Pauletta's generosity of spirit has led her to support numerous charities including The Brain Trust, Crystal Stairs and the Rape Center in Santa Monica. Pauletta has always taken a hands-on approach to any group she's lent her name to, involving herself 100 percent. As a result of Pauletta's dedicated work on behalf of The Brain Trust, in 2004 The Pauletta and Denzel Family Gifted Scholars Program in Neuroscience was established at Cedars-Sinai. As recognition of her outstanding volunteerism, Pauletta has been honored by the Women in Film and by the California Governor's Conference for Women. In May 2003, Pauletta was awarded the most prestigious "Mother of the Year" award from Cedars-Sinai Medical Center.

About Princess Grace Statue Award Winner -- Anna D. Shapiro

Anna D. Shapiro is a graduate of the Yale School of Drama and the recipient of a 1996 Princess Grace Award. She directed Tracy Letts' Pulitzer Prize-winning August: Osage County on Broadway, as well as its run at London's National Theatre, the U.S. Tour, and the upcoming production at the Sydney Theatre Company. For her work on August: Osage County, she received Chicago's Jefferson Award, as well as Broadway's 2008 Tony® Award, Drama Desk Award and the Outer Critics Circle Award for Best Direction of a Play. She joined the faculty of Northwestern University in 2002 and continues there as head of the Graduate Directing Program in Theatre. She has been affiliated with Steppenwolf Theatre in Chicago since 1995, serving as the original director of the New Plays Initiative, later joining the artistic staff as Resident Director, Associate Artist and, since 2005, as an Ensemble member.

About the 2010 Princess Grace Awards Gala

The 2010 Princess Grace Awards Gala is being produced by Scott Mauro of Scott Mauro Entertainment, Inc. for the sixth consecutive year. Tickets for the Gala start at $1,000 for Patron tickets, $1,750 for Sponsor tickets and $2,500 for Benefactor tickets. Tables may be purchased for $15,000, $25,000, $50,000 and $100,000. Approximately 500 guests are expected to attend. Those interested in tickets may contact Tamara Leuchtenburg at Event Associates at 212-245-6570 or tamaral@eventassociatesinc.com. A downloadable invitation and response card and additional information can be found at www.pgfusa.org.

 

Photo Credit: Walter McBride/Retna Ltd.

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