| Actor, Director, Environmentalist Robert Redford Lands 1st Robert Redford Award |
|
|
|
| Written by Tony Sherwood - USC News | |
| Sunday, 16 November 2008 | |
|
Los Angeles, California - The USC School of Theatre has announced the first annual Robert Redford Award for Engaged Artists. The award will be presented to Redford at a gala benefit dinner to be held Nov. 5, 2009 in Los Angeles. Proceeds will benefit the Engaged Artist Scholarships at the USC School of Theatre. The award has been created to honor those who have distinguished themselves in the quality of their work and their commitment to increase awareness of global issues, to inspire and empower young people and to help create a better world. “This award seeks to honor an individual who has used his or her fame to increase public awareness of issues that are of vital importance to us all,” said USC School of Theatre Dean Madeline Puzo. “Robert Redford truly embodies all that an Engaged Artist represents: a distinguished actor, an Academy Award-winning director, an ardent conservationist and environmentalist, a man who stands for social responsibility and political involvement and an artist and businessman who is a staunch supporter of uncompromised creative expression. The School of Theatre is thrilled to be able to pay homage to this extraordinary artist by naming this award after him.” Richard Weinberg, School of Theatre board of councilors president and gala benefit chair, said, “Many awards in our society bear the names of the great men and women who inspired them: Alfred Nobel, John Heisman, Eleanor Roosevelt and John Templeton, to name a few. With the new Robert Redford Award for Engaged Artists, USC has joined in recognizing the best that the human spirit has to offer. I am honored that this good friend of mine, and good friend of so many, has once again displayed what it means to be a leader ... a leader dedicated to the preservation and betterment of our world.” Though he has been renowned around the world for some 30 years, Redford remains a private individual. His lifelong passion for nature and issues of justice has resulted in acknowledgement as a dedicated political and environmental activist. He remains determined to make films of substance and relevance as well as to encourage others to express themselves through the arts. Redford has nurtured more than a generation of innovative voices in independent film through his nonprofit Sundance Institute and Film Festival. “Sundance has become to Hollywood what Silicon Valley has been to the high-tech industry,” according to Harvard Business Review. The USC School of Theatre is ranked among the top five undergraduate theatre programs in the nation. The school offers B.A., BFA and MFA degrees, taught by a faculty of theatre artists and scholars working at the highest level of their profession. Visiting guest artists have included some of the most distinguished talents from stage, screen and television, including Tim Robbins, Christine Lahti, Kathleen Turner, Bill Irwin, Sir Peter Hall, Twyla Tharp and Peter Sellars. For more information on the gala, call (213) 821-4262 or visit http://theatre.usc.edu |
| < Prev | Next > |
|---|
