Americans for the Arts, the nation’s leading nonprofit organization for advancing the arts and arts education, announced today that it is presenting the 2012 Michael Newton Award to Scott Provancher, president of the Arts & Science Council. Given annually since 1991, the Michael Newton Award recognizes exemplary leadership skills and extraordinary dedication to supporting the arts through a united arts fund, which is a combined effort to raise money on behalf of multiple arts institutions in the community. Provancher will receive his award on June 9 at the Americans for the Arts Annual Convention in San Antonio.

“In a time when financial support for the arts is hurting across all disciplines, Scott Provancher’s continued leadership is truly admirable,” said Robert L. Lynch, president and CEO of Americans for the Arts. “His visionary approach and unwavering commitment to advancing the arts has benefited thousands of people working in and participating in the arts throughout Charlotte and Mecklenburg County.”

Since joining the Arts & Science Council in 2009, Scott has led efforts to successfully complete an $83 million capital and endowment campaign and increased annual giving by more than $1 million to the united campaign through the addition of a fund restricted to restoring education program funding lost through government and private funding cuts. More importantly, Scott’s creativity and understanding of the changing nature of philanthropy has led to efforts to provide a new method for raising dollars for the arts – power2give.org – a web-based platform for giving to cultural projects. Developed under his leadership, power2give was launched in Charlotte in August 2011 and has caught the attention of local arts agencies, state arts agencies and united arts funds across the U.S. To date, power2give has launched in Miami-Dade, Kentucky/Southern Indiana and Greensboro, NC, and plans are underway to launch in three additional cities during the next 90 days. In addition, 14 sites have expressed interest in launching in fiscal 2013. Since launching in August 2011, power2give has raised more than $1 million to date to support cultural projects. It has provided a new tool to connect donors and the arts.

“It is a great honor to be recognized among such a distinguished group of leaders in our field,” Provancher said. “The last three years have been a time of expansive growth for the arts in Charlotte. From the opening of the new Levine Center for the Arts and expansion of arts education funding to the creation of power2give, I am proud of all that we have been able to achieve.”

Americans for the Arts is the leading nonprofit organization for advancing the arts and arts education in America. With offices in Washington, D.C. and New York City, it has a record of more than 50 years of service. Americans for the Arts is dedicated to representing and serving local communities and creating opportunities for every American to participate in and appreciate all forms of the arts. Additional information is available at www.AmericansForTheArts.org.

Contact:
Catherine Brandt
202-712-2054
[email protected]