Call for Nominations!

Tampa Bay Businesses for Culture and the Arts announces its call for nominations for its Annual Awards Celebration, recognizing local businesses and individuals for their support of arts and cultural institutions. Nominations will be accepted until Thursday, August 5, 2010, at 5 p.m. Honorees will be selected based on such criteria as scope of involvement/support, impact of contribution, originality, quality, level/depth of service, and more. The awards will be based on a company’s or individual’s demonstrated support of the arts in our community throughout past years, however actives in more recent challenging years certainly strengthen nomination. Nomination Form & Guidelines.

The recipients will be honored at the Sixteenth Annual Awards Celebration on Thursday, October 21, 2010, at The Ritz Ybor. The TBBCA is proud to promote and enhance a healthy cultural presence in the community by recognizing outstanding commitments of individuals and businesses. A highlight of the evening will be high-quality entertainment, showcasing local artists. Join us as the TBBCA and the community celebrate cultural institutions in both Pinellas and Hillsborough County.

The TBBCA is proud to be hosting this year’s awards gala at The Ritz Ybor, a thriving venue hosting cultural events and owned by the local Capitano family. Originally built in 1917 as the Rivoli Theatre and later expanded in the 1930's as The Ritz Theatre, this remarkable historical gem has been beautifully restored in old Ybor charm with 21st century flare.

Last year’s award-winners included Marjorie Golub, Carol Kuttler, William Zewadski, Scott Wagman and Beth Houghton, J. Kokolakis Contracting and Tampa International Airport.  Read more about our last year recipients!

Marjorie Golub, nominated by Fine Arts of the Suncoast, Inc., is the energizer bunny of Pasco County.  Marjorie helped to found the Suncoast Arts Fest.  In addition, she was the Executive Director of the Pasco County Arts Council for ten years, in which role she produced an art show for Stephan Kline. She designed the support the artist automobile license plate, which in the first year yielded nearly a million dollars for state-wide arts organizations.  Another accomplishment was the first Art of Recycling contest for high school students making art from recycled items.

Carl Kuttler, outgoing President of St. Petersburg College, is an outstanding figure in the arts community in Pinellas County.  He is responsible for the survival and subsequent success of many of its cultural institutions.  The list includes The Florida Orchestra, American Stage Theatre Company, the Leepa Rattner Museum of Art, the Palladium Theater and the Florida International Museum.  In many instances he has achieved this success by encouraging these institutions to join together for their mutual benefit.  He was nominated by Leepa-Rattner Museum of Art.

Bill Zewadski has brought to Tampa Bay, and beyond, a lifelong passion for the photographic arts.  He has served on the boards of the Museum of Fine Arts in St. Petersburg, the Tampa Museum of Art and the Florida Museum of Photographic Arts in Tampa.  Other beneficiaries include the Bass Museum in Miami Beach and the Michael C. Carlos Museum of Art and Archeology at his alma mater, Emory University in Atlanta.  Bill has also been instrumental in developing a strong corporate collection for his firm, Trenam Kemker.  He was nominated by Florida Museum of Photographic Arts, both because of this support, and because of his endeavors to advocate for the economic health of cultural institutions so that they can be fiscally as well as artistically sound.

Scott Wagman and Beth Houghton are a “power for the arts” in St. Petersburg, having had a major impact on two of the outstanding cultural institutions in that city.  Nominator, American Stage Theatre Company, credits Scott with being instrumental in the recent years of success, in guiding its board in a positive direction and funding its Gala Under the Stars in Demens Landing.  Beth, in turn, has been an angel for Great Explorations, to which she provided a $1 million donation, thus prompting the institution to change its name to the Houghton-Wagman Children’s Museum.  This is truly a “cultural couple.”

J. Kokolakis Contracting, Inc. has been nominated for a corporate award by the Dunedin Fine Arts Center for its in-kind support of both the Arts Center and the City of Dunedin.  The company donated over $150,000 in construction costs to build out Stirling Campus, an adjunct art studio for the Fine Arts Center in downtown Dunedin that includes studio space for thirteen artists and exhibit space for the Miniature Art Society. In addition, its work in developing Main Street Commons has transformed the Dunedin Downtown Commercial District.   The company has also generously supported the Leepa-Rattner Museum of Art and Ruth Eckerd Hall.

Art lovers in Tampa Bay should hang out at the Tampa International Airport.  There they will find a rich treasure trove of murals, floor designs, photographs, sculptures, works in glass, hanging mobiles and tapestries.  From the parking garages to the ticketing and baggage claim areas, from the landside terminals to the airsides, airline patrons encounter a rich experience of Tampa Bay’s history and cultural wealth.  In addition to these daily encounters, the airport also offers education programs and public art tours.  Nominated by Glenn McKenzie, Tampa International Airport serves as an outstanding example of public art in a very public place.