University of Florida Performing Arts Awarded 2010 Arts Presenters/MetLife Arts Access Award for Engaging Underserved Communities

University of Florida Performing Arts (UFPA) recently received the 2010 Arts Presenters/MetLife Arts Access Award for Engaging Underserved Communities.

The award honors an organization that has been exemplary and innovative in its dedication and approach to engaging underserved individuals and communities that lack access to the performing arts and cultural life in the community. Such access could be the result of, but not limited to, differences in geographic location, socio-economic conditions, diverse backgrounds or other factors. UFPA received the award for its work with AIM Together (Arts in Medicine Together with the Performing Arts), a collaboration between UFPA and Shands HealthCare.

AIM Together started as a pilot program in 2004 with funding from the National Endowment for the Arts, AIM Together brings world-class performing artists from UFPA's season into healthcare settings to provide performances and interactive arts events to individuals who, due to illness, age, disability and challenging socio-economic and geographic circumstances, have little or no access to the arts. Since its inception, artists from around the world have participated in AIM Together.

The MetLife Arts Access Award was presented at a luncheon on Monday, January 11 during the 2010 Association of Performing Arts Presenters National Conference in New York City.

Elizabeth Auer, Assistant Director of UFPA and co-director of the AIM Together program, accepted the award on UFPA's behalf.

"The audience in the healthcare setting is a tricky one," she explained to the luncheon attendees. "From the very youngest of individuals who are struggling to begin life to those who are losing a difficult battle, their identity and sense of self can be lost. By engaging them with the best artists in deep immersion and interaction in the arts, they are able to rebuild their identity and rejuvenate their soul."

In her acceptance remarks, Ms. Auer underlined the need for arts participation for all of those in our communities. "The arts are not a luxury, they are a necessity for the soul," she said. "Through AIM Together we use this core belief to engage, stimulate and heal those who need it most."

About the Association of Performing Arts Presenters:
Founded in 1957, the Association of Performing Arts Presenters (Arts Presenters or APAP) is the national service organization for the field of arts presenting. The organization is dedicated to developing and supporting a robust performing arts presenting field and the professionals who work in it. Arts Presenters has nearly 2,000 organizational members and brings nearly 4,000 performing arts professionals together from around the world at the annual APAP Conference NYC. Members range from the nation's leading performing arts centers, to civic and university performance facilities, to the full spectrum of artist agencies, managers, national consulting practices that service the field, and a growing roster of self-presenting artists.

Arts Presenters is a non-profit 501(c)3 organization, based in Washington, D.C. and is governed by a volunteer board of directors. Arts Presenters is led by its CEO Sandra Gibson, now in her ninth year. In addition to presenting the annual APAP Conference NYC - the world's leading forum and marketplace for the performing arts - Arts Presenters continues to be the industry's leading resource, knowledge and networking destination for the advancement of performing arts presenting.

About the MetLife Foundation:
The MetLife Foundation was established in 1976 by MetLife to support various educational, health and welfare and civic and cultural organizations across the country. Recognizing the arts' contribution to the health, vitality and development of our communities, the Foundation is committed to increasing access to the arts and promoting diversity and inclusion. For more information about MetLife Foundation, please visit www.metlife.org.

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