Walnut Street Theatre honors PNC Bank's Joseph G. Meterchick with Edwin Forrest Award

Walnut Street Theatre will honor PNC Bank Regional President Joseph G. Meterchick with the 2023 Edwin Forrest Award at the theatre's annual Gala, Imagine, Thursday, May 18, 2023. Meterchick, a Philadelphia native and PNC veteran, has been the regional president for Philadelphia, Delaware, Southern New Jersey since 2016, and is active as a board member in several community and business organizations. The evening will feature an exhilarating musical revue, dinner, and a silent/live auction.

"Making the arts accessible to all Philadelphian's is a core value shared by both PNC and the Walnut," says Bernard Havard, president and producing artistic director of the Walnut. "Joe's impressive 40 years of engagement and leadership demonstrates that investments in arts and culture have a profound impact on the quality of life of every Philadelphian. It is our honor to recognize Joe, and PNC's, longstanding commitment to upholding these values."

The PNC Arts Alive initiative, which receives its funding through the PNC Foundation, supports a wide array of arts and culture programming, with an emphasis on increasing audience participation and engagement. Since its inception, over $13.3 million in local grant funding has benefitted more than 300 programs at 90 arts organizations - demonstrating PNC's commitment to directly investing in their own communities.

"The Edwin Forrest Award is an incredible honor that traditionally highlights the most respected individual and corporate supporters of the theater arts," said Meterchick. "This recognition is especially meaningful when you consider that the PNC Arts Alive initiative was conceived and launched by our team right here in Philadelphia. During the past fourteen years, the goal of PNC Arts Alive has always been to make art and culture more accessible for our community and there are few more revered organizations making that possible every day than Walnut Street Theatre."

This gala is held annually to raise funding and awareness of the Walnut's educational programs and to recognize members of the business and artistic communities with the Edwin Forrest Award for their contributions to American Theatre. The Edwin Forrest Award was created in 1990 in honor of the leading American actor of the nineteenth century, Edwin Forrest. Like Meterchick, Forrest is a Philadelphia native. Forrest made his debut at the Walnut in 1820, performed in several Shakespearean productions at the theatre, and in his later years would mount philanthropic efforts to benefit the arts community of Philadelphia. This year the Walnut is happy to honor Joseph Meterchick for his dedication to not only Walnut Street Theatre, but to the arts and culture sector of Philadelphia and America.

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