NEWS RELEASE
For Immediate Release
Sept. 25, 2008
FOR MORE INFORMATION, CONTACT:
Ann Dee Lee
Public Information Director
Oklahoma Arts Council
(405) 521-2931
anndee@arts.ok.gov
IRA SCHLEZINGER TO RECEIVE
GOVERNOR’S ARTS AWARD
Oklahoma City, OK -- Ira H. Schlezinger, Oklahoma City, will be honored by Governor Brad Henry at the 33rd Annual Governor’s Arts Awards. Schlezinger will receive the Marilyn Douglass Memorial Award which recognizes an outstanding Arts Council member and was established in 1980, upon the deaths of Marilyn Douglass, a council member, and her husband Rev. Richard Douglass.
Sponsored by the Oklahoma Arts Council, 15 individuals and three organizations will be honored for their contributions to the arts in their communities or throughout the state. The ceremony is scheduled for 4:00 p.m., Thursday, October 23rd in the 4th Floor Rotunda of the State Capitol and is open to the public. Presiding at the ceremony will be Council Chair Jim Tolbert and Oklahoma Arts Council Executive Director Suzanne Tate. A reception on the first floor of the Capitol will follow the 4 p.m. ceremony.
Appointed by Governor Brad Henry, Schlezinger served two terms on the Oklahoma Arts Council from 2002 until 2007. Extensively involved in the arts, he also served on the board of directors of the Canterbury Choral Society, Oklahoma Ballet, the Wanda Bass School of Music, Allied Arts, Untitled [ArtSpace], Dead Center Films, the Civic Center Foundation as well as several other civic organizations.
In his professional career, Schlezinger was Managing Director of Strategic Services for Integris Health with oversight responsibility for Planning, Marketing, Community Development, Mental Health and Telecommunications. Prior to that position, he as Vice President St. Paul Medical Center in Dallas, Hillcrest Medical Center in Tulsa and Executive Director of the Tulsa Area Health and Hospital Planning Council. Since 1971, he has also directed Strategic Consulting Services, a private agency with expertise in the areas of strategic development, program planning, team building and crisis intervention.
Schlezinger earned a Bachelor’s degree from Ohio State University, a Master’s in Public Administration with Honors from the University of Dayton and a Master’s in Organizational Development with Honors from the University of Tulsa.A complete list of Governor’s Arts Awards recipients and their photos are available at www.arts.ok.gov.
For more information, contact Ann Dee Lee, Public Relations Director, Oklahoma Arts Council, (405) 521-2931 or anndee@arts.ok.gov.
ABOUT THE OKLAHOMA ARTS COUNCIL
The Oklahoma Arts Council is a state agency whose mission is to improve lives through the arts by promoting and sustaining the development of a thriving arts environment, which is essential to quality of life, education and economic vitality for all Oklahomans.
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