What We Do

Past St. Louis Arts Awards

A special thank you to our partners at Nine Network for creating a video of our event.  (Click the image above to view their video.)

Presented by  

Astounding entertainment and memorable tributes were among the highlights at the Council’s St. Louis Arts Awards on Monday January 24, 2011 at the Chase Park Plaza. This year represented the 20th anniversary of the ceremony which began in 1992 under the leadership of event chair Phoebe Scott Burke and co-chair Judy Champ.

Council board chair Glenn Sheffield and president, Cynthia A. Prost presided over the event of 600 guests along with 2011 chairs Tom and Carol Voss and Dick Fleming and Sarah Smith. Edward Jones was the presenting sponsor.

Grammy-nominated jazz vocalist Carla Cook sang in tribute to Mae Wheeler, who was honored with a Lifetime Achievement in the Arts. Arts Innovator honoree, Paul Reuter of the Sheldon, conducted the Community Music School of Webster University and the St. Louis Children’s Choirs in a performance of his original composition, “We Have a Dream.” And singer Debra Walton sang “River Deep, Mountain High” from the Rep’s upcoming production of “Beehive: The 60s Musical.” The Rep was honored for Excellence in the Arts. Other honorees included Champion for Literary Arts Karen Duffy, Arts Educator of the Year Wayne Salomon, 100-year-old Philanthropist Christian B. Peper, and Corporate Support of the Arts honoree Wells Fargo Advisors.

Honorees

Corporate Support of the Arts
Wells Fargo Advisors

Wells Fargo has emerged as one of our region's leading arts patrons, contributing millions of dollars to culturally enhance the St. Louis region. In 2009 and 2010, Wells Fargo sponsored the current seasons of the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra and Opera Theatre of Saint Louis. In 2009 alone, Wells Fargo Advisors and its employees invested more than $5 million in over 90 St. Louis area non-profits including the Arts and Education Council, Grand Center, the United Way, and the Susan G. Komen Foundation.

Excellence in Philanthropy
Christian B. Peper

Christian Peper graduated from Harvard College in 1932 with a degree in the classics.  Deciding to become a lawyer, he attended Washington University Law School. After graduation, he was appointed a Sterling Fellow at Yale Law School from which he received his LL.M in 1937.  He has served as a law professor, a member of various corporate boards, and was a founding member of Martin Peper & Martin in 1941, now known as Husch Blackwell.  Christian Peper has been a dedicated supporter of the Saint Louis Art Museum for more than four decades and in 1984 received the Museum’s Beaux Arts Council Award for Distinguished Service.  Christian has served as Museum counsel for more than 25 years. Over the years, he has loaned works of art to the Museum for temporary exhibitions, provided funds towards art acquisitions, and donated works of art to the Museum’s permanent collection.

Arts Innovator
Paul Reuter (Sheldon Arts Foundation)

As executive director of the Sheldon Concert Hall and Galleries, Paul Reuter has been instrumental in growing programming as well as the facility through renovations and new construction, including the art galleries. He also conceived the idea of the American Arts Experience – St. Louis more than five years ago as a way for St. Louis' arts organizations to collaborate annually under one theme to stimulate cultural tourism, and saw the project to fruition with its inaugural presentation this fall.

Excellence in the Arts
Repertory Theatre of St. Louis

Since 1966, the Repertory Theatre of St. Louis has been the region's premier live, professional theater and has enhanced the quality of cultural life for all who attend. Through accessible performances and educational outreach, The Rep embodies all that great regional theater should be—high-caliber, provocative and enriching—as it provides substantial and varied opportunities for learning about the human experience through theater arts.

Art Educator of the Year
Wayne Salomon (John Burroughs School)

Wayne Salomon has been chair of the Theatre Department at John Burroughs School for the past 23 years and teaches speech, debate and acting as well as honors English. Beyond the classroom, he directs a fall and spring play, a winter musical, and a winter dance concert. Through all these endeavors, Salomon has touched the life of every student at Burroughs, helping each to develop self-confidence, directness, verbal acuity and the power of self-expression; and a strong work ethic and keen sense of responsibility.

Lifetime Achievement in the Arts
Mae Wheeler

Though she's come to be known as "Lady Jazz" during more than 50 years of entertaining St. Louis audiences, Mae Wheeler often refers to herself not as a jazz singer, but as a "song stylist" who offers interpretations of a wide variety of material, from jazz and blues to pop, rock, Broadway and more. She's also a philanthropist who has raised money for many charitable causes and started a scholarship fund to help local students.

Champion for Literary Arts
Karen Duffy

For 35 years, Karen Duffy has been a driving force in promoting multicultural literature and arts in the St. Louis region through her consistent sponsorship of the River Styx at Duff's Reading Series. The series, held once a month at her restaurant, Duff's, in the Central West End, brings together local and internationally renowned poets, writers, musicians, and performance artists in celebration of the oral tradition of literature.

The 2011 St. Louis Arts Awards is presented by Edward Jones.  Additional major sponsors include The Boeing Company, Wells Fargo Advisors, Ameren Corporation, Centene Corporation, Southwest Airlines, Switch, Ken and Nancy Kranzberg, Macy's, The Monsanto Fund, Brown Shoe Company Inc., Novus International Inc., and PNC Bank.  Additional support provided by BJC HealthCare, RubinBrown LLP, BKD LLP, Fifth Third Bank, HBE Corporation, Laclede Gas Company, Webster University, Arch Coal Foundation, Cassidy Turley, Dale and Sharon Fiehler, HOK, Husch Blackwell, John Burroughs School, Maryville University, Nestlé Purina PetCare, Opera Theatre of Saint Louis, PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, Regional Business Council, Saint Louis Art Museum, Thompson Coburn LLP, University of Missouri St. Louis, U.S. Trust, Bank of America Private Wealth Management, Washington University in St. Louis and Leigh Gerdine College of Fine Arts at Webster University. RCGA and Commerce Magazine are media sponsors.*

For more information about the 2011 St. Louis Arts Awards, including sponsorships and tickets, call 314.289.4004.

* Sponsors as of December 1, 2010