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

MIKE TURPEN TO RECEIVE
GOVERNOR’S ARTS AWARD

Oklahoma City, OK -- Michael C. Turpen, Oklahoma City, will be honored by Governor Brad Henry at the 33rd Annual Governor’s Arts Awards. Turpen will receive a Community Service Award which recognizes individuals for significant contributions to the arts in specific Oklahoma communities in the areas of leadership and volunteerism.

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.

Turpen is known for his passion for the arts in Oklahoma, his dedication to arts education and specifically his enthusiasm for Oklahoma City’s Lyric Theatre. As a member of Lyric’s Board of Directors for the past 10 years, Turpen’s hard work and perseverance has raised a significant amount of contributed support and developed countless new patrons for Lyric Theatre. While Chairman of the $10 million Campaign for Lyric Theatre, he was one of the driving forces behind an extremely successful capital fundraising effort to renovate and endow the Plaza Theatre on N.W. 16th in Oklahoma City that has become the principal anchor for the commercial district known as The Plaza District. He used his “hear me now, believe me later” philosophy and relentless persuasion to encourage business leaders and political figures to support the project as well as increase arts awareness. His vision to see the Theatre as not only the “ultimate classroom” where students of the Thelma Gaylord Academy could showcase their talent, but also a unique cultural asset for the community.
         
Since 1987, Turpen has been a partner in the law firm of Riggs, Abney, Neal, Turpen, Orbison & Lewis in Oklahoma City. Previously he was elected Attorney General for the state of Oklahoma and also served as Muskogee County District Attorney. He remains politically active on both television and radio appearing weekly on the award-winning public affairs show, “Flashpoint with Hargis and Turpen” on NBC affiliate KFOR television in Oklahoma City. He has appeared on ABC’s “Politically Incorrect” with Bill Maher twice and was  featured on PBS’s national documentary, “Vote for Me:  Politics in America.”  He had a long-running monthly column, “Turpen Time”, for the Oklahoma Public Employees’ Association monthly newspaper and was a featured columnist for Microsoft’s internet magazine, Slate. A nationally sought after public speaker, he has keynoted the National Association of Attorneys General conference, the  Federal Fourth Judicial Circuit conference banquet, and the National Family and Juvenile Judges’ Association conference. 

Turpen has received numerous awards, honors and appointments.  In 2008, he received the Treasurers for Tomorrow Award from the Oklahoma Health Center Foundation and the Urban Pioneer Award from the Plaza District Association. In 2007, Turpen received the Oklahoma Bar Association’s William Paul Distinguished Service Award and recognition from the Clinton Global Initiative for his work with Burns Hargis for Legal Aid of Oklahoma; the Outstanding Volunteer Fundraiser award from the Association of Fundraising Professionals; and the John F. Kennedy Award for Community Service, given by the Oklahoma City Knights of Columbus. He was appointed by President Bill Clinton to the President’s Advisory Council on the Arts at the Kennedy Center in 1992.

Included among his numerous memberships is the Oklahoma Academy of State Goals, the Rotary Club, the Oklahoma Business Roundtable, the Oklahoma State Fair Board, The Creativity Project the Allied Arts Board of Directors and President-elect of the Lyric Theatre Board of Directors. He is the founder of The Young Men’s Poetry Club. Turpen attended the University of Tulsa in Tulsa, Oklahoma, where he was awarded both a Bachelor of Science Degree in History and a Juris Doctorate Degree.

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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