Housewives star, former Rockfordian, to do two days of community service

Add comment June 9th, 2009

“The Real Housewives of New York City” cast member accused of punching her ex-boyfriend reached an agreement Monday in the case, according to this Associated Press story.

Model and Rockford native Kelly Killoren Bensimon must perform two days of community service.

(2008 AP photo)

Mayor’s Arts Awards will be in October as part of new event with broader appeal

Add comment June 9th, 2009

The Mayor’s Arts Awards, a 21-year-old celebration of Rockford area arts people, places and activities that traditionally was held in June, is morphing into an October event targeting a broader audience.

The Mayor’s Arts Awards will be a smaller-but-still-significant portion of the affair that the presenter, the Rockford Area Arts Council, is calling the State of the Arts. The Mayor’s Arts Awards recognizes an artist, advocate, event, business, student and teacher.

Another main focus of The State of the Arts event will be a trade fair of sorts, in that organizations will man display tables to sell season subscriptions and provide information. Such groups will include the Rockford Art Museum, Rockford Symphony Orchestra, Mendelssohn Performing Arts Center, Rockford Wind Ensemble, Rockford Dance Company and Kantorei, The Singing Boys of Rockford. The event also will include highlights of the arts community for the past year.

Anne O’Keefe, executive director of the Arts Council, said the event needs to appeal to more people who aren’t so intimately involved in the arts as a means to keep the arts scene vital. “As we are faced with economic constraints, we need to brand the Arts Council,” O’Keefe told me Monday. “We are the ones who can convene all the arts organizations. We want people outside the arts to know what is going on.”

In May, the city cut funding to the arts group by $25,000, giving it $50,000. The funding cut represents 5 percent of its $462,865 budget, but could mean grant reductions to the organizations the Arts Council funds.

The State of the Arts will be a luncheon from 11:30 to 1 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 1, at Cliffbreakers Riverside Resort, 700 W. Riverside Blvd., Rockford.

Cost will be about $40, and the Arts Councils hopes to sell a table of seats to businesses. O’Keefe said moving the celebration to Cliffbreakers during the day is intended to draw more business people. The Mayor’s Arts Awards had been held evenings at the Coronado Performing Arts Center in downtown Rockford since the theater was renovated in 2001. Last year, about 200 people attended, down from 300 the previous year. O’Keefe hopes to attract 400 this year.

The State of the Arts will be a kick-off of sorts for the Fall ArtScene Oct. 2 and 3, a tour of dozens of Rockford galleries and venues featuring local artists’ works for sale. The State of the Arts also celebrates the start of Illinois’ Arts and Humanities Month. “This will be a very upbeat, positive event,” O’Keefe said.

MIKE DONZE | RRSTAR.COM
Artist Alan Mauries hangs out Saturday, April 18, 2009, at ArtScene at The Brewhouse/Rockford Marina Building, 201 Hill St., in Rockford.