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The 2011 Studio Honors

Recognizing excellence in our community and sustaining creativity.

Save the date and plan to join us for The 2011 Studio Honors celebration planned for March 26, 2011. Presented by The Studio@620 and Red Circle Members at the Vinoy Hotel.

You'll laugh! You'll Cry! You'll Eat!

Mark your calendar for an evening of thought-provoking ideas, artistic excellence, joyous celebration, humours moments, and great entertainment.

About The Studio Honors

In its seven short years, The Studio@620 has come to represent the best of our community by creating a gathering place where anything and everything can happen. The "2011 Studio Honors" awards celebration scheduled for March 26, 2011 will represent what's best about the Studio by honoring five individuals who have contributed to the intellectual, artistic, economic, social, and cultural aspects of our community here and beyond.

"The Studio Honors give us an opportunity to honor individuals whose lives reflect the programming that is characteristic of the Studio," said Bob Devin Jones, Artistic Director of the Studio@620. "We invite old and new friends of the Studio to celebrate Midtown rebuilder Goliath Davis, literary extraordinaire Dennis Lehane, community enricher Patricia Mason, human rights protector John Prendergast, and emerging actor Monica Raymund."

The "2011 Studio Honors" will take place on Saturday, March 26, 2011, at 7:00 p.m. in the Grand Ballroom at the Renaissance Vinoy Resort and Golf Club. Admission is $175 per ticket or $1,500 for a table of ten. Sponsorships are available. All proceeds benefit the Studio@620. Reservations are required by contacting 727.895.6620.

Mr. Jones will produce and direct the Studio Honors celebration. The Studio Honors Honorary Chair is Al May; event co-chairs are former 620 Board of Trustees President Robin O'Dell and current Trustee Amber Brinkley. The awards will be designed by glass artist Duncan McClellan.

The 2011 Honorees

The Studio@620 is proud to announce the following 2011 Honorees and their connection to St. Petersburg:

GOLIATH "GO" DAVIS, Public Servant

Born and raised in St. Petersburg, this former Deputy Mayor and Community Enrichment Administrator was also the city's first African-American Police Chief and spent four decades in public service. Go is recognized for spearheading the economic revitalization efforts of the Midtown community. He is also the Senior Advisor for Diversity and Community Affairs at the University of South Florida, St. Petersburg and a member of the President's Associates at Eckerd College.

DENNIS LEHANE, Novelist

Three of this Eckerd College graduate's nine books have been turned into films: "Mystic River" (Clint Eastwood), "Gone Baby Gone" (Ben Affleck) and "Shutter Island" (Martin Scorcese). Dennis co-founded the celebrated annual Writers in Paradise writers' conference at his alma mater.

 

PATRICIA "PAT" MASON, former Executive Director of First Night St. Petersburg

Pat led St. Petersburg's bicentennial celebration in 1976, helped found the Mainsail Arts Festival, one of the premier juried arts events on the west coast of Florida, and St. Petersburg International Folk Fair Society (SPIFFS), remains dedicated to the city's influential Junior League, and created one of the most successful First Night celebrations in the country.

JOHN PRENDERGAST, International Human Rights Activist

This co-founder of the anti-genocide project Enough! has been working for peace in Africa for 25-plus years. He served as a visiting scholar-in-residence at Eckerd in spring 2010. After a recent trip to Sudan, John and actor George Clooney met with President Obama about January's referendum for Southern Sudan's independence.

MONICA RAYMUND, Actor

St. Petersburg native Monica Raymund had her first starring role in the musical "Manhattan Casino," written and directed by Bob Devin Jones, when she was only 15 years old. A graduate of Shorecrest Preparatory School and Juilliard, Monica now stars on the FOX television show, "Lie to Me."

About the Origin of Studio Honors

The Studio Honors has its roots in our prestigious Social Justice Pioneer Awards, which in prior years honored some of the most influential people of our age: John Hope Franklin, Susan Sarandon, John Lewis, Herb Snitzer, and Ray Arsenault. In 2010, the Studio@620 gave a single award to one of the premier jazz musicians in the world, our own hometown favorite trombonist Buster Cooper. This year, the Studio@620 widens its aperture to honor individuals who have contributed to the intellectual, artistic, economic, social, and cultural aspects of our community and the larger world of which we are a part.

 

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