WASHINGTON — The Congressional Black Caucus Foundation, Incorporated (CBCF) announced Wednesday that legendary actors Cicely Tyson and Richard Roundtree and music icon Dionne Warwick will be honored next month during the 20th annual Celebration of Leadership in the Fine Arts.
The awards ceremony, which will take place Sept. 14 at the Sidney Harman Hall, 610 F Street NW in Washington, D.C., from 8 p.m.-10:30 p.m., is organized in cooperation with the Congressional Black Caucus’s Spouses Visual and Performance Arts Scholarship program. The event will mark the start of the CBCF’s 46th Annual Legislative Conference (ALC), one of the nation’s leading public policy conferences.
“With a lifetime of entertaining and educating us, this year’s honorees have also distinguished themselves as remarkable leaders and passionate advocates for the arts and arts education,” said CBCF President and CEO A. Shuanise Washington. “Their outstanding contributions and continuing commitment to the arts make them ideal to help elevate the visibility of the CBC Spouses Visual and Performance Arts Scholarship Program. The awards are conferred on artists whose legacy includes not only extraordinary works but a commitment to cultivating future generations of artists.”
Since 1996, the Celebration of Leadership in the Fine Arts has raised funds to support the CBC Spouses Visual and Performing Arts Scholarship Fund. Twenty scholarships are awarded annually to students pursuing undergraduate degrees in the arts, based on their creative talent, academic excellence, financial need and community service. Two of this year’s scholarship recipients, vocalist Lindsey Reynolds and pianist Justin Syas, will perform during the event.
“We have supported arts education for 20 years through the Celebration of Leadership in the Fine Arts, during a time when arts education has decreased in many schools,” said Dr. Maya Rockeymoore Cummings, a CBC Spouse and chair of the Celebration of Leadership in the Fine Arts. “We will continue to highlight the contributions of great artists while raising money to support aspiring scholarship recipients as it reinforces the importance of art and its impact in our communities.”
The sponsors for this year’s event include Union Pacific Corporation, Heineken USA, Aspire and Up TV.