Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility 30th Arts Awards - Theatre Harrisburg

Join us as we honor

carole desoto 3

Carole DeSoto

Arts advocate and volunteer

sprocketmuralworkslogo

Sprocket Mural Works

Creating beauty, connection and civic pride through vibrant public art.

Debra Yates and Bradley Jones

Save the Date

Date and time

Saturday, JUNE 1, 2024
5:00 PM – 9:00 PM EDT

Pre-show party with cocktails and heavy hors d’oeuvres
Arts Awards Gala Production (7:15 pm –  Sunoco Performance Theatre)
Afterglow Dessert Reception

Elegant Attire • Black Tie Optional

Location

Whitaker Center for Science and the Arts 

222 Market Street, Harrisburg,
PA 17101 United States

About the event

Since 1989, the Awards for Distinguished Service to the Arts in the Capital Region have honored artists and arts leaders, philanthropists and visionaries, educators, organizations, and companies. The Awards are presented in a Kennedy Center Honors-style theatrical gala, with proceeds supporting the work of Theatre Harrisburg, the oldest performing arts organization in the region. The event has become one of the most eagerly anticipated events on the cultural calendar.

ABOUT THE HONOREES

Carole DeSoto, a resident of Dauphin County since 1967, is well known for her support and volunteer efforts on behalf of numerous arts organizations in the Capital Region. Among those benefitting from her philanthropy are Market Square Concerts, Harrisburg Symphony Orchestra, Susquehanna Art Museum, Theatre Harrisburg, Art Association of Harrisburg, Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet, and Gretna Theatre. DeSoto has served on the Boards of the Susquehanna Art Museum and Harrisburg Symphony Association and is immediate past president of the Harrisburg Symphony Society. DeSoto has had a special devotion to Upper Dauphin County, especially Elizabethville, where she lived for many years before moving to Lemoyne. In 2003, she funded the Elizabethville Library Arts Series (now “Lively Minds”), which presents quarterly educational programs for adults, ranging from author visits and gardening classes to performances by musicians. She co-chaired the fundraising campaign and made the lead gift to build the DeSoto Amphitheatre for the Performing Arts at the Ned Smith Center for Nature and Art in Millersburg and was honored with the first Ned Smith Center Visionary Award.

Sprocket Mural Works, founded in 2014 and incorporated as a non-profit in 2019, is a citywide mural project that has a mission to increase community pride and civic engagement in Harrisburg through creative action. Its vision is a world more beautiful because it is covered in art for the community, by the community. Sprocket uses murals as a medium to promote a sense of identity, belonging, and attachment to the communities within the city, not only through the art itself, but also through the process of creating it and exploring it together. Sprocket does its work with the support of local businesses, individual donors, private foundations, and the PA Council of the Arts. Since its inception, Sprocket Mural Works has painted, commissioned, and collaborated on 150 pieces of public art (85 of which are large-scale murals). Its bi-annual festivals attract muralists from across the nation and around the world. Megan Caruso is President and Co-Founder of Sprocket Mural Works. Co-Founder Jeff Corpus has authored a guidebook for organizations to develop their own community projects.

RESERVATIONS & SPONSORSHIPS

Program ads are black and white and should be supplied JPEG, PDF or PNG files. Please send ads to: [email protected]. Questions or information, call 717-232-5501.

  • Event Sponsor – $20,000

    14 Reservations, Event Sponsor recognition in program and all publicity materials. Full-color inside cover ad (8” x 5”) in program. Reserved table at Pre-Show Party. Recognition from stage.

    Price: $20,000

  • Platinum Sponsor – $15,000

    12 Reservations, Platinum Sponsor recognition in program. Full-color back cover ad (8”h x 5”w) or tribute message in the program. Reserved table at Pre-Show Party. Recognition from stage.

    Price: $15,000

  • Gold Sponsor – $10,000

    10 Reservations, Gold Sponsor listing in program. Full page ad (8”h x 5”w) or tribute message in the program. Reserved table at Pre-Show Party. Recognition from stage.

    Price: $10,000

  • Silver Sponsor – $5,000

    8 Reservations, Silver Sponsor listing in program. Full page ad (8”h x 5”w) or tribute message in the program. Reserved table at Pre-Show Party. Recognition from stage.

    Price: $5,000

  • Impresario – $2,500

    6 Reservations, Impresario listing in program. ½ page ad (4”h x 5”w) or tribute message in the program. Reserved table at Pre-Show Party.

    Price: $2,500

  • Producer – $1,000

    4 Reservations, Producer listing in program. ¼ page ad (4”h x 2.5”w) or tribute message in the program.

    Price: $1,000

  • Director – $750

    2 Reservations, Director listing in program.

    Price: $750

  • Honorary Host (Couple) – $600

    2 Reservations, Honorary Host listing in program.

    Price: $600

  • Honorary Host (Single) – $300

    1 Reservation, Honorary Host listing in Program.

    Price: $300

  • Reservation – $200

    1 Reservation

    Price: $200

  • Tribute Message in printed program

    25 words max

    Price: $50

Proceeds benefit Theatre Harrisburg
Theatre Harrisburg is a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization. A copy of the official registration and financial information may be obtained from the PA Department of State by calling toll-free (800) 732-0999.

PAST HONOREES

1989
Larry Newland, Music Director and Conductor, Harrisburg Symphony Orchestra
Lois Lehrman Grass*, Arts Leader & Philanthropist
Mim Warden, Arts Leader and Founder, MetroArts (now Jump Street)

1990
Lucy Miller Murray, Founder, Market Square Concerts
Whitaker Foundation

1991
Carrie Wissler-Thomas, Executive Director, Art Association of Harrisburg
Central Pennsylvania Friends of Jazz

1992
Marcia Dale Weary*, Founder, Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet
Hershey Foods Corporation

1993
Donald Clapper*, Conductor, Harrisburg Choral Society
Mellon Bank, Commonwealth Region

1994
Jane & Edward First, Jr.,* Arts Leaders
Perry County Council of the Arts

1995
Barbara* & Clyde McGeary, Arts Educators & Leaders
The City of Harrisburg, Mayor Stephen R. Reed*

1996
Elsie Swenson,* Arts Leader & Advocate
Harsco Corporation

1997
David Jenkins Morrison, Arts Leader & Advocate
John Crain Kunkel Foundation

1998
Anne & Donald Alsedek & Marianne Fischer, Founders, Open Stage
AMP Incorporated

1999
David Hoffman* & Charles Peguese,* Arts Advocates, Supporters & Volunteers
WITF, Incorporated

2000
Harold A. McInnes, Founding Board Chair, Whitaker Center for Science and the Arts
Allied Arts Fund (Predecessor to Cultural Enrichment Fund)

2001
Nicholas & Ellen* Hughes, Arts Leaders & Advocates
Harristown Development Corporation

2002
Steve Rudolph, Musician and Founder, Central PA Friends of Jazz
Danzante, Multi-Disciplinary Urban Arts Center

Recognition of a Special Achievement
Dr. Thomas Stone
, Founding President, Whitaker Center for Science and the Arts

2003
Marion C. & William H. Alexander, Arts Advocates, Leaders, and Philanthropists
Harrisburg Symphony Association

2004
Robert C. Lau, Ph.D., Composer of Choral Music
Susquehanna Art Museum

2006
Clark & Melissa Nicholson, Founders, Gamut Theatre Group
Capital BlueCross

2008
Robert Stadnycki, Executive Director, Harrisburg Arts Council
Capital Area School for the Arts

2010
Mary Webber Weston, Arts Advocate & Leader
The Wednesday Club

2012
Stuart Malina, Music Director and Conductor, Harrisburg Symphony Orchestra
Rose Lehrman Arts Center & Live at Rose Lehrman

2013
Linda Tedford, Founder & Conductor, Susquehanna Chorale
PA Media Group

2014
Jay and Nancy Krevsky, Actors & Arts Advocates
The Hall Foundation

2015
Bill* and Beverlee Lehr, Arts Leaders, Artist & Philanthropists
PNC

2016
Mike Greenwald, Arts Leader & Advocate
Market Square Concerts

2017
Elizabeth “Bebe” Mullaugh and Jeff Lynch, Arts Advocates
Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet

Recognition of a Special Achievement
Dr. George F. Orthey, Jr.,*
World Renowned Artisan of Handcrafted Autoharps

2018
Chris Baldrige and David Skerpon, Arts Leaders and Advocates
Midtown Cinema

2019
Ronnie Waters*, Jazz Musician and Music Educator
The State Museum of Pennsylvania

2020 (delayed by COVID until 2022)
Jeff Woodruff, Retired Executive Director, Harrisburg Symphony Orchestra
TheBurg Magazine

2023
Peter Sirotin and Ya-Ting Chang, Musicians, Music Educators, Music Presenters
Sankofa African American Theatre Company

*Fondly remembered

Shopping Cart
Scroll to Top