Here’s a roundup of news briefs from around Southwest and Southside. Send yours for possible inclusion to news@cardinalnews.org.
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Kendig Awards honor muralist, museum supporter, cultural endowment
Muralist Jon Murrill, the Roanoke Cultural Endowment and Charles Price, former longtime board president of the Harrison Museum of African American Culture, are this year’s recipients of the Perry F. Kendig Awards.
The awards, which recognize people and organizations that support the arts in the Roanoke region, are co-sponsored by Hollins University and Roanoke College. They were presented Tuesday, according to a news release about the event.
Murrill received the Individual Artist Award. A graduate of Roanoke College and Radford University, Murrill works as a professional muralist and is the city of Roanoke’s muralist in residence. He is nearing the end of his most recent project: painting a mural on all four sides of the community space at Roanoke College’s Maroon Village.
Charles Price received the Individual or Business Arts Supporter Award, the release said. He served as the board president of the Harrison Museum for nearly 20 years and is still on its board. Price also has served on boards for the Roanoke Higher Education Center, Total Action for Progress and Center in the Square, among others.
The Roanoke Cultural Endowment, a nonprofit community endowment comprised of funds from both the city of Roanoke and private sources, received the Arts and Culture Organization Award. The endowment, which was formed in 2015, has a goal to raise $20 million. It has currently raised around $8 million.
The Kendig Awards are named for Perry F. Kendig, Roanoke College’s seventh president and an advocate for the arts.
Elizabeth Hall McDonnell and Joanne Leonhardt Cassullo were honored with the Horizon Award, a special recognition created for the Kendig Awards’ 40th anniversary. This award is given to individuals whose support for the arts extends beyond the Roanoke region but still has impact close to home.
McDonnell, a Hollins University trustee emerita, and her husband, James McDonnell III, made a gift to help fund renovations in the Hollins Little Theatre. Additionally, she endowed a faculty chair in the theater program and two visiting professional artist positions. Cassullo, a member of the Roanoke College class of 1978, is a longstanding trustee of Roanoke College, where she has established the Joanne Leonhardt Cassullo Professorship in Art History and the Joanne Leonhardt Cassullo Center for Art.
This year’s nominees for the Individual Artist Award also included Linda Atkinson, Samuel Reed Carter IV, Bryce Cobbs, Aaron Matthew Garber, Lee Hunsaker, Tom Landon, Gina Louthian-Stanley, William Penn, Sue Steele Thomas and Margaret Sue Turner Wright.
The nominees for the Individual or Business Arts Supporter Award also included Cyrus Pace, Cindy Petersen, Bobby Sandel and Dorsey Taylor.
The nominees for the Arts and Culture Organization Award also included the Center for Studying Structures of Race at Roanoke College, Dusk/Dawn Productions, Five Points Music Foundation, Grandin Theatre and Showtimers of Roanoke Valley.
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Roanoke hosts public workshop on parking study
Roanoke is conducting a parking study for downtown and River’s Edge, and wants to hear from residents.
The city will hold a public workshop for the Downtown and River’s Edge Parking Study on from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. Oct. 27 at the Berglund Center.
The city has also released a community survey for residents to provide feedback virtually. Those interested can find the survey on the project website.
The Oct. 27 workshop will be an open house-style listening session where residents can share their thoughts and needs with the study consultants, a press release from the city says. Participants can stop by at any time in the two-hour time frame.