Wednesday, July 14, 2010

Minds Wide Open:Virginia Celebrates Women in the Arts

From Executive Director Elizabeth Murphy:

Yesterday I attended a press conference in Richmond to mark the end of the first statewide arts endeavor of its kind: Minds Wide Open:Virginia Celebrates Women in the Arts. First Lady Maureen McDonnell, along with four former Virginia first ladies, were on hand to help us announce the success of this creation.
MINDS WIDE OPEN: Virginia Celebrates Women in the Arts. Below are some comments from Peggy Baggett, Executive Director of the Virginia Commission for the Arts..

Thanks to those who joined us yesterday in Richmond to commemorate the successful conclusion of our inaugural MINDS WIDE OPEN effort, hear First Lady Maureen McDonnell announce the commissioning of portraits of her living predecessors, and proclaim the theme for our next statewide collaboration: Children and the Arts. Former first lady Anne Holton announced the final statistics, as follows:

“What started out as an idea among fewer than two dozen major arts groups became a massive statewide celebration that involved some 324 different organizations. Collectively, they produced 10,123 individual performances or exhibitions for residents of Virginia and visitors to our state. Almost 700 plays, musicals, concerts, exhibits, readings, and screenings took place in every corner of the Commonwealth and we have documented over 400 locations which hosted at least one Women in the Arts event. The goal of the Women in the Arts Celebration was to increase visibility of the arts in our state, promote the breath and diversity of our programs, and encourage partnerships throughout the entire cultural sector. By any measure, we have succeeded in this endeavor. The positive media coverage for MINDS WIDE OPEN was read by nearly 30,000,000 people with internet and broadcast coverage reaching even more audience members.”


Stay tuned for the 2012 statewide celebration: Minds Wide Open: Virginia Celebrates Children and the Arts, chaired by Gus Stuhlreyer (of Virginia Opera) and me! We are excited to make the next festival even more successful, and raise the profile of the arts in Virginia!

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