Barter Theatre Receives 2013 Virginia Shining Star Award

At a special ceremony on Sept. 19 at 6:00pm at Heartwood in Abingdon, VA, Barter Theatre will be awarded a major statewide honor, along with a $5,000 cash prize. Barter Theatre will be given the Virginia Shining Star Award for 2013.

This award is a recognition of Barter Theatre's extraordinary impact on its community. Only one statewide Shining Star Award is given each year, and Barter Theatre has won the award twice in the four-year history of the Dominion ArtsStars (2010 and 2013).

As a non-profit arts organization, Barter Theatre depends on contributions from individuals, businesses and granting organizations to support its mission. Only 60% of Barter's operating budget is covered by ticket sales. Without the support of institutions like Virginians for the Arts and Dominion Resources, Barter would not be able to offer the outstanding art that it is known for.

The Shining Star Awards are bestowed upon arts organizations that have an extraordinary impact on the community; successfully develop community partnerships, as well as business, legislative, and local community support; contribute to K-12 education; and demonstrate sustained excellence through the years. The Shining Star Award comes with a cash prize of $5,000.

The awards are given by Virginians for the Arts (VFTA), with the support of Dominion Resources, a longtime supporter of the arts. The awards recognize arts organizations throughout the Commonwealth that best demonstrate the ability to enhance communities, lift our spirits and build a better quality of life. The awards are made possible by a $50,000 contribution from Dominion Resources through its charitable arm, the Dominion Foundation.

Dominion and the Foundation annually award more than $20 million to causes that protect the environment, promote education and help meet basic human needs.

For more information about Dominion, one of the nation's largest producers and transporters of energy, visit www.dom.com.

Virginians for the Arts, a non-profit founded in 1992, works to advance the arts in

Virginia by increasing public awareness of the important contributions the arts make to the life, culture, and economy of the state. The organization works to increase the public value of and appreciation for the arts; provides networking and professional education; and advocates for public funding for the Virginia Commission for the Arts, which makes operating grants essential to the state's arts organizations. For additional profiles of Virginia's arts organizations, please visit the VFTA website at www.VaForArts.org.

With its unique beginnings during the Great Depression, Barter Theatre, one of this nation's oldest professional non-profit theatres, is located in beautiful historic Abingdon, Virginia. Barter Theatre is a theatre of firsts: one of this nation's first professional regional theatres, the first professional theatre to be designated a state theatre - The State Theatre of Virginia and more. Today, Barter offers a variety of musicals, classics, comedies, dramas and new southern and Appalachian plays performed February - December yearly on two stages: Barter Theatre and Barter Stage II. Barter Theatre continues to be one of the nation's most vibrant and exciting professional theatre experiences.

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