A round of applause for Americans for the Arts board member Dorothy McSweeny! She is this year'€™s recipient of the National Assembly of State Arts Agencies (NASAA)'€™s Distinguished Public Service Award, which honors an individual volunteer leader whose outstanding service, creative thinking and leadership have had a significant impact on public support for the arts in his or her state and across the country. She will receive her award today during NASAA's annual conference in Washington, D.C.

Dorothy is the immediate past chair of the Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation (MAAF) and chair emeritus, DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities (DCCAH). During her DCCAH chairmanship, she led an effort to increase DCCAH's budget from $1.9 million to $9.3 million. She spearheaded "Party Animals" and "Pandamania," public art projects in which hundreds of blank elephant, donkey and panda sculptures were turned over to local artists, who colorfully transformed them before they were mounted throughout the city. Proceeds from auctions of the sculptures reinvested more than $1 million into DCCAH artist grants and education projects.
 
McSweeny has served on the board of MAAF since 1999 and was its chair from 2009-2012. Using her connections in Washington, she helped to raise significantly the public sector's awareness of the international cultural exchange programs managed by the regional arts organizations, ultimately resulting in increased investment from both the public and private sectors. Elected to the Washington, D.C. Hall of Fame in 2011, McSweeny received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the mayor and was named Washingtonian of the Year with her husband in 1995. She served on Americans for the Arts board of directors since 2008.