Weird reason given for not awarding him isn't it?
-----Original Message-----
From: placid [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Sent: Tuesday, September 07, 2004 4:47 PM
To: Robert Taylor; 313@hyperreal.org
Subject: RE: (313) May & Saunderson Win Awards
But no juan.... that's f*&^%d up
p
-----Original Message-----
From: Robert Taylor [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Sent: 07 September 2004 18:46
To: 313@hyperreal.org
Subject: (313) May & Saunderson Win Awards
Saw this on LD:
Governor recognizes Mich. contributors to cultural history
August 30, 2004
BY FRANK PROVENZANO
FREE PRESS STAFF WRITER
Two pioneers of what was once considered underground music will receive
the state's highest recognition for artistic success from Gov. Jennifer
Granholm.
Today, Detroiters Derrick May and Kevin Saunderson, who as DJs and music
producers helped propel techno into a worldwide phenomenon, will be
named recipients of the International Achievement Award as part of this
year's Governor's Awards for Arts & Culture.
While techno has been embraced by the European masses since the late
'80s, it's only been in the past five years that the men who most people
credit as the godfathers of the music have won broad acclaim in their
hometown.
First, there was the Detroit Electronic Music Festival, which brought
hundreds of thousands of music lovers to Hart Plaza for Memorial Day
weekend dance music. Then there was "Techno: Detroit's Gift to the
World," an 18-month-long exhibit that ended this month at the Detroit
Historical Museum, which illuminated their role in putting techno on the
international music map. Then came May and Saunderson's prominent roles
in shaping Movement, the techno music festival in Detroit's Hart Plaza
that replaced DEMF.
The pair joins a Who's Who of Michigan cultural history who have
received the award, including Aretha Franklin, Lily Tomlin, James Earl
Jones, the Four Tops, Elmore Leonard, Arthur Miller and Smokey Robinson.
"Earlier in my career, I would've thought that being part of a tradition
would mean that I was giving up some independence and control, but now,
I see it as part of our legacy," said Saunderson, 39, preparing to leave
Detroit for a concert tour of Holland, Belgium and Germany.
"Everywhere we go around the world, people realize the scene wouldn't be
what it is if it wasn't for our ambition," he said.
In discussing the history of Detroit techno, Juan Atkins is typically
cited along with May and Saunderson as the most important
groundbreakers. Officials say that Atkins was not included because he no
longer lives in Michigan, though other winners had moved before their
awards.
The governor's awards also include patrons Maxine and Stuart Frankel of
Bloomfield Hills for donating $10 million to the University of Michigan
Museum of Art; Dr. C. Robert Maxfield, superintendent of Farmington
Public Schools, for pushing the arts as part of core curriculum classes,
and former Detroit Symphony Orchestra artist-in-residence Michael
Daugherty, who has composed a homage to the city titled "MotorCity
Triptych."
The 19th annual Governor's Awards for Arts & Culture event is
coordinated by ArtServe Michigan, a statewide nonprofit arts advocacy
agency aiming to increase public arts funding and recognition for the
state's artists.. This year's ceremony will be Nov. 18 at the Henry Ford
in Dearborn. Tickets are $50-$300, with proceeds going to ArtServe,
which typically grosses $300,000 at the event.
A call for nominations went out in May. In mid August, a selection
committee sifted through 250 nominations. The final decision was based
on the impact and contributions that the nominees made to a community.
"These choices signify the size, breadth and diversity of our cultural
umbrella," said ArtServe President Barbara Kratchman. "Michigan artists
are on the level of those in New York, Chicago, L.A. and anyplace else.
We need to recognize what we have here."
Like past years, the recipients are from around Michigan. Among the
winners are Latin pop singer Liliana Rokita of Saginaw as Emerging
Artist of the Year; while the award for Cultural Organization of the
Year is shared among Blissfest Music of Petoskey, Grand Rapids Ballet
and the city of Marquette's arts department.
For Rokita, 32, who recently recorded her first CD and often steps from
the stage to dance with fans, the award means immediate credibility.
"Now, when people hear I've won this award, they will stop and say,
'Let's see why,' " said Rokita, who 11 years ago emigrated from Toluca,
Mexico.. "The attention is so important when you live outside large
Hispanic cities, and want to reach the non-Spanish population, too."
With a modest $160,000 budget for arts programming, the city of
Marquette coordinates and provides seed money for a regional symphony,
summer theater company, annual arts show and a mid-winter dog sled race.
"We don't have large corporations up here, so we have to rely on
volunteers and individual donations," said Reatha Tweedie, director of
Marquette's arts department. "People here see the immediate impact of
giving their time and money to the arts, so they tend to give more
readily."
Last year, after cutting arts grants from nearly $23 million to $11.8
million, Granholm addressed those at the awards ceremony and talked
about the vital role of the arts. This year, appeals from arts advocates
for increased funding will be met with a counter appeal from Granholm,
said spokeswoman Mary Dettloff.
"We need perspective," said Dettloff, who noted that there are $1.3
billion in Granholm's proposed cuts of a $8.7-billion budget, none
including arts funding.
"There are many in the legislature who want to do away with arts funding
altogether because they don't think it's a necessity, and only something
to fund in prosperous times."
Yet there's a growing desperation among arts advocates that the time is
at hand to begin fighting.
"If we see the arts as an integral part of the fundamental education
experience, then it's inherently unfair to think only those districts
that can afford the arts should teach the arts," said Farmington
superintendent Maxfield, recipient of the Arts in Education award.
"Getting this award carries a responsibility to be an evangelist for the
arts."
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