The City of Reno has been selected as the only recipient of the prestigious 2010 Dorothy Mullen Arts and Humanities Award (Class II), for the success of Artown, the community-wide July arts festival. Awarded by the National Recreation & Park Association (NRPA), the Dorothy Mullen Arts and Humanities program honors the most innovative and effective arts and humanities programs across the nation.
NRPA believes that the arts are an integral part of the recreational programming in the parks and recreation field. Such programming includes concerts, theatre productions, literary programs, festivals and events such as Artown. Entries are judged on the basis of content, innovation, contribution to the community served and expansion of interest in the arts and humanities.
Dorothy G. (Dotti) Mullen was a pioneer in the field of recreation and parks and its many diversified applications. Among Mullen's pursuits was the establishment of a program to recognize excellence in arts and humanities programs through recreation and leisure.
Artown engages the entire population of Reno for 31 days each July. The City of Reno hosted the first festival in 1996 which now consists of more than 400 events, serving over 300,000 attendees - with 60% of the events free to the public last year. In 1995, the City of Reno Arts and Culture Commission made a modest investment of $12,000 to incubate an arts festival, which spun off in 1999 as a 501(c)(3), now simply known simply as Artown. Since that time, the City’s investment in the festival has grown to $120,000, but the community wealth created by the festival is documented at over $12 million.
Artown’s primary benefit to the community is to enhance the overall livability of the entire region. It achieves this in many ways: building economic vitality through promotion of entertainment, retail and restaurant revenues; financially supporting the participating artists; engaging and promoting hundreds of local artists and non-profit arts organizations; strengthening the appreciation of a diverse and culturally inclusive community; and growing Reno’s understanding and celebration of arts and culture.
Over time, the festival has grown to include classical and multicultural music, diverse dance disciplines, performance theater, visual arts, family and children’s events and programs, movies in the park, humanities programs, historical events, and public art installations downtown along the shores of the stunning Truckee River and in adjacent Wingfield Park.
The City of Reno will be honored along with other NRPA National Award recipients at the NRPA Congress in Minneapolis on October 27th, 2010. Last year, the City of Plano (TX) received this honor for its Public Art Program. NRPA is providing a complementary Congress registration for a City employee to attend for the day and accept the award in Minneapolis.
The National Recreation & Park Association is the leading advocacy organization dedicated to the advancement of public parks and recreation opportunities. Founded in 1965 through the merger of 5 national organizations dedicated to the same cause, NRPA conducts research, education and policy initiatives on behalf of the movement. NRPA is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization headquartered in Ashburn, Virginia. Learn more about NRPA at www.nrpa.org.
For more information about this honor contact Christine Fey, Resource Development & Cultural Affairs Manager at (775) 334-2417.