Randall Rosenbaum of Rhode Island Honored with 2016 NASAA Gary Young Award

Providence – The National Assembly of State Arts Agencies (NASAA) has named Randall Rosenbaum,
executive director of the Rhode Island State Council on the Arts
http://www.arts.ri.gov/ (RISCA), the recipient of its 2016 Gary Young Award. The
award recognizes an executive director who has made an extraordinary contribution to
public support for the arts at the state, regional and national levels. The award
will be presented on September 17 during NASAA’s annual conference, Assembly 2016,
in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

During his past 21 years in Rhode Island, Rosenbaum has had a significant effect on
the arts and its role in life in the state. He has seen to it that the work of Rhode
Island artists is present in state government’s relationship to its people, from
seeing that original works of art are included as part of state budget documents to
arranging for works to be on display throughout the public and private office spaces
of Rhode Island’s general officers through a loan program established several years
ago. In all of this, Rosenbaum has focused on ways that the arts and RISCA can be
considered close partners and collaborators in the work of the public sector, and
supporters and advocates of the work being done by artists in communities throughout
the state.

Rosenbaum established a gallery in the state’s main administration building that has
become a central focus of his state’s celebration of diverse cultures–as well as
the site of annual shows featuring work by artists with disabilities and
incarcerated prisoners, after-school art programs, and a very popular state
employees art show. Under Rosenbaum’s leadership, RISCA has developed partnerships
with a number of state agencies, including the departments of Health, Environmental
Management, State, Education, Tourism, Film and TV, Elderly Affairs, Veterans
Affairs, and Transportation as well as the Commission on Disabilities and the
Commission on the Deaf and Hard of Hearing. Over the past several years, Rosenbaum
has developed and promoted several programs that will have lasting benefit to his
state, including a sales tax exemption for the sale of art in Rhode Island, a $30
million bond initiative
to support improvements to the state’s cultural infrastructure, and the development
of the Rhode Island Arts & Culture Research Network, a research consortium organized
in cooperation with the state’s independent colleges and universities.

Regionally, Rosenbaum served for 21 years on the board of the New England Foundation
for the Arts. He is serving his second term on the board of the National Assembly of
State Arts Agencies, where his dedicated service at the national level has included
work on the Nominating, Planning & Budget, National Standard Revision and Advocacy
committees. An outstanding advocate in support of public support for the arts,
Rosenbaum has a strong record of engagement with his congressional delegation.

«NASAA applauds Randy Rosenbaum’s receipt of the Gary Young Award, our field’s
highest honor for executive leadership,» said NASAA Chief Executive Officer Pam
Breaux. «The productive collaborations he has orchestrated throughout his state, his
savvy policy leadership, and his dedication to inclusive programming are testament
to his championship of the arts and artists as central to civic well-being.»

The Gary Young Award was established by the New England Foundation for the Arts to
honor the memory of a man who made numerous contributions to the state arts council
movement in the United States, and to provide recognition to those who carry on his
tradition of leadership in this field.

The National Assembly of State Arts Agencies is the membership organization that
unites, represents and serves the nation’s state and jurisdictional arts agencies.
Founded in 1968, NASAA represents their individual and collective interests,
empowers their work through knowledge and advances the arts as an essential public
benefit. To learn more about NASAA and state arts agencies, visit www.nasaa-arts.org
http://www.nasaa-arts.org/.

NASAA’s mission is to strengthen state arts agencies.

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