WHEREAS, On Wednesday, July 10, 2013 President Obama awarded the 2012 National Medal of Arts and National Humanities Medal in the East Room of the White House to Joan Myers Brown and Laurie D. Olin; and
WHEREAS, the National Medal of Arts is the Nation's highest civic honor for excellence in the arts; and
WHEREAS, Joan Myers Brown was recognized for her contributions as a dancer, choreographer, and artistic director; and
WHEREAS, Joan Myers Brown founded the Philadelphia Dance Company (Philadanco) and the Philadelphia School of Dance Arts in 1970. Ms Brown carved out an artistic haven for African American dancers and choreographers to innovate, create and share their unique visions with the national and global dance communities; and
WHEREAS, Joan Myers Brown serves as honorary chairperson for the International Association of Blacks in Dance (IABD), an organization she established in 1991. She also founded the Internal Conference of Black Dance Companies in 1988; and
WHEREAS, Ms. Brown is a Distinguished Visiting Professor at the University of the Arts in Philadelphia, which bestowed upon her an honorary Doctorate of Fine Arts, a member of the dance faculty at Howard University in Washington, DC and has been awarded an honorary Doctorate in Humane Letters from Ursinus College in Collegeville, PA; and
WHEREAS, Across the nation and around the world, The Philadelphia Dance Company (PHILADANCO) is celebrated for its innovation, creativity and preservation of predominately African American traditions in dance through providing world class dance instruction, promoting emerging dancers and choreographers and engaging its many communities through performances and outreach activities; and
WHEREAS, PHILADANCO is recognized for its artistic integrity, superbly trained dancers and electrifying performances; and
WHEREAS, Laurie Olin was recognized for his contributions as a preeminent landscape architect; and
WHEREAS, Laurie Olin is renowned for his acute sense of harmony and balance between nature and design and he has dedicated his energy to shaping many iconic spaces around the world and educating new leaders in his art; and
WHEREAS, Laurie Olin is a practice professor of landscape architecture at the University of Pennsylvania and has worked on everything from private residences to large public parks;
and
WHEREAS, Laurie Olin is a founding partner of the landscape architecture and urban design firm OLIN which has received the Cooper-Hewitt National Design Award for Landscape design and was a part of the winning team in the competition to design the new United States Embassy in London with architects Kieran Timberlake; and
WHEREAS, Mr. Olin is a John Simon Guggenheim Fellow, an American Academy of Rome Fellow, an honorary member of the American Institute of Architects, a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the 1999 Wyck-Strickland Award recipient and a fellow of the American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA); and
WHEREAS, Mr. Olin has written widely on the history and theory of architecture and landscape and received the Bradford Williams medal for best writing on Landscape Architecture; and
WHEREAS, Through receiving the National Medal of Arts and Humanities from President Obama, Joan Myers Brown and Laurie Olin have again highlighted the arts in Philadelphia; now, therefore be it
RESOLVED, BY THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PHILADELPHIA, That we hereby recognize and congratulate Joan Myers Brown and Laurie Olin for being awarded the 2012 National Medal of Arts and Humanities by President Barack H. Obama.
FURTHER RESOLVED, That Engrossed copies of this resolution be presented to Joan Myers Brown and Laurie Olin as evidence of the sincere sentiments of this legislative body.
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