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
LEAH SIMMONS TO RECEIVE
GOVERNOR’S ARTS AWARD
Oklahoma City, OK -- Leah J. Simmons, Ardmore, will be honored by Governor Brad Henry at the 33rd Annual Governor’s Arts Awards. Simmons will receive the Bill Crawford Memorial Media Award which recognizes members of the media who demonstrate commitment to the arts in Oklahoma through public awareness support and fairness, initiative, creativity and professionalism in reporting.
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.
Simmons has worked her entire journalistic career at The Daily Ardmoreite newspaper, beginning in May, 1987. Soon after, she became the lifestyles editor for the newspaper, covering issues of interest in several areas, including health, fashion, food, culture, arts, entertainment, trends, gardening, recycling, pets and senior issues. Her coverage of the arts in southern Oklahoma has expanded through the years.
She has extensively covered exhibits, shows, theater, dance and instrumental performances at The Charles B. Goddard Center for the Visual and Performing Arts, while at the same time writing articles about the local community theater group, Ardmore Little Theatre, and The Brass Ring Center for the Arts, where young students are trained in vocal and instrumental music, dance and theater. She has also written countless stories about individual artists and their projects, exhibits and competitions, and much attention has been given to coverage of school art programs and performances, including the after-school elementary program, ArtsStart in Ardmore, and summer youth art and theater programs.
Simmons is also is in charge of promoting entertainment and includes national recording artists along with local bands and musicians among her feature subjects. As part of her lifestyles editor duties, she writes reviews of local plays, musicals and performing arts productions, and helps promote fund-raising projects in the arts, such as the Goddard Center’s Centennial Sculpture Garden project.
During her time in Ardmore, Simmons has been an active participant in Ardmore Little Theatre, acting in plays and musicals since 1990, as well as serving several terms on the ALT Board of Directors, two years as vice president and currently as secretary for the organization. She also has participated in performances at The Brass Ring and has been an active member of the Southern Oklahoma Children¹s Christmas Parade Committee since 1991, twice serving as co-chair.
She has received numerous awards from The Associated Press and Oklahoma News Executives as well as a Certificate of Excellence from the Oklahoma Press Association Better Newspaper Contest at the 1999 State Fair of Oklahoma for feature writing. Simmons graduated from The University of Oklahoma with a bachelor’s degree in journalism-news communication. During college, she interned for The Daily Ardmoreite in Ardmore and The Madill Record in Madill, Okla.
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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