Peggy Fox Will Emcee ArtsFairfax Awards with Performances by Artists from Workhouse Arts Center and Inova Arts and Healing

The ArtsFairfax Awards has announced Peggy Fox as the luncheon emcee and Jean Sausele-Knodt as the 2023 Awards Artist and will include a musical performance by the Workhouse Arts Center cast of The Who’s Tommy and a violin solo by Inova Artist in Residence Anthony Hyatt.

The annual event, taking place on Thursday, October 26, at Capital One Hall, will bring together business professionals, elected officials, and arts and community leaders to honor Workhouse Arts Center, Inova Schar Cancer Institute in partnership with Smith Center for Healing and the Arts, The Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at George Mason University, and Lola Reinsch for their extraordinary contributions to the arts and to the Fairfax community.

Peggy Fox, four-time TV news Emmy winner, is an ArtsFairfax board member and Dominion Energy’s Northern Virginia spokesperson and Media and Community Relations Manager. Prior to Dominion Energy, Peggy enjoyed an award-winning career in television news as an anchor and Northern Virginia Bureau Chief for WUSA9 in Washington, D.C. from 1995 until 2019.

ArtsFairfax commissioned local artist Jean Sausele-Knodt to create sculptural awards that will be presented to the 2023 honorees. Her work exhibits widely and is held in private and public collections, including Inova, Capital One, and CBRE Group. Her book, Nine Thousand Straws: Teaching Thinking through Open-Inquiry Learning, describes the nine years she directed and taught a critical and creative thinking program for Fairfax County’s Kent Gardens Elementary School.   

Based on the iconic 1969 rock concept album, Workhouse Arts Center’s The Who’s Tommy will run December 31, 2023–February 11, 2024. With Music, Lyrics, and Book by Pete Townsend and Des McAnuff, this five-time Tony Award-winning musical opens New Year’s Eve at Workhouse’s W3 Theatre for a very special performance and after party to ring in 2024. The Workhouse Performing Arts production is produced by Joseph Wallen and Liz Colandene and directed by Jolene Vettese with music direction by Merissa Driscoll and choreography by Ariel Kraje.

Inova Artist in Residence Anthony Hyatt is a violinist, singer, and dancer with over 25 years of experience in leading creative engagement programs at adult care facilities. He is one of the founding artists in residence of the Smith Center for Healing and the Arts program at the Inova Schar Cancer Institute and is a hospital artist at MedStar Georgetown University Hospital. Anthony has served the community as co-director of the Arts for the Aging Quicksilver senior citizen improv dance company, a master trainer for the National Center for Creative Aging, and a Dance for Parkinson’s Teacher.  

The event’s Visionary Sponsor is the Reston Community Center with Lead Sponsorship by Dominion Energy and McGuireWoods.