Letter of Recommendation from: David Deming Address: The Cleveland Institute of Art 11141 East Blvd. City: Cleveland State: OH Postal Code: 44106 Country: US Email: ddeming@cia.edu Phone: 216-421-7410 Comments: Approach: nomination Letter for Nominee: Ms. Marsha Dobrzynski Nomination Category: Special Prize What local and national recognition has the nominee or a new project/work by the nominee received? I am pleased to write in support of the nomination of Marsha Dobrzynski for the Cleveland Arts Prize. I have had the true privilege to work in partnership with Marsha for the last few years on the Young Audiences summer workshop programs here in Cleveland. I have personally seen the program grow in both size and quality. Due to Marsha's influence and connections, this program has become a jewel for Northeast Ohio. Because of Marsha and her vision for making Young Audiences an integrated program with over 30 arts, cultural, philanthropic and educational institutions like The Cleveland Institute of Art, this program has significantly impacted many lives. Not only do the students grow and mature while participating in the project-oriented opportunities, but the people who have stepped up and volunteered, as well as paid staff, are all experiencing the joy of seeing these young people gather personal strength and confidence in themselves through their participation and interaction. Everyone involved becomes enlightened by the power of art in our lives. So often throughout an arts community we hear rhetoric about how important the arts are to creating a stronger and vital environment to live and work in. Because of Marsha's energy, commitment and drive, she has become a major force as she can define exactly what it means for a community to come together around the power of creativity in the arts. I fully support the nomination of Marsha Dobrzynski for the prestigious Cleveland

Arts Prize and truly believe that her induction adds to the "Arts Prize" stature. Rationale for recommendation: Why is the nominee and his/her work important? I am pleased to write in support of the nomination of Marsha Dobrzynski for the Cleveland Arts Prize. I have had the true privilege to work in partnership with Marsha for the last few years on the Young Audiences summer workshop programs here in Cleveland. I have personally seen the program grow in both size and quality. Due to Marsha's influence and connections, this program has become a jewel for Northeast Ohio. Because of Marsha and her vision for making Young Audiences an integrated program with over 30 arts, cultural, philanthropic and educational institutions like The Cleveland Institute of Art, this program has significantly impacted many lives. Not only do the students grow and mature while participating in the project-oriented opportunities, but the people who have stepped up and volunteered, as well as paid staff, are all experiencing the joy of seeing these young people gather personal strength and confidence in themselves through their participation and interaction. Everyone involved becomes enlightened by the power of art in our lives. So often throughout an arts community we hear rhetoric about how important the arts are to creating a stronger and vital environment to live and work in. Because of Marsha's energy, commitment and drive, she has become a major force as she can define exactly what it means for a community to come together around the power of creativity in the arts. I fully support the nomination of Marsha Dobrzynski for the prestigious Cleveland Arts Prize and truly believe that her induction adds to the "Arts Prize" stature. In what capacity and for how long have you known the nominee? I am pleased to write in support of the nomination of Marsha Dobrzynski for the Cleveland Arts Prize. I have had the true privilege to work in partnership with Marsha for the last few years on the Young Audiences summer workshop programs here in Cleveland. I have personally seen the program grow in both size and quality. Due to Marsha's influence and connections, this program has become a jewel for Northeast Ohio. Because of Marsha and her vision for making Young Audiences an integrated program with over 30 arts, cultural, philanthropic and educational institutions like The Cleveland Institute of Art, this program has significantly impacted many lives. Not only do the students grow and mature while participating in the project-oriented opportunities, but the people who have

stepped up and volunteered, as well as paid staff, are all experiencing the joy of seeing these young people gather personal strength and confidence in themselves through their participation and interaction. Everyone involved becomes enlightened by the power of art in our lives. So often throughout an arts community we hear rhetoric about how important the arts are to creating a stronger and vital environment to live and work in. Because of Marsha's energy, commitment and drive, she has become a major force as she can define exactly what it means for a community to come together around the power of creativity in the arts. I fully support the nomination of Marsha Dobrzynski for the prestigious Cleveland Arts Prize and truly believe that her induction adds to the "Arts Prize" stature. For a quick review of all online entries you can run the Online Giving Report in your eTapestry database. You may also want to run a Duplicate Donor Report to ensure that duplicate records have not been input. If you have questions please contact eTapestry customer service at support@etapestry.com. Thank you!

This is sent in support of Marsha Dobrzynski’s nomination to receive a Special Prize from the Cleveland Arts Prize Committee. I have known Marsha for 20 years and have seen her singular dedication to arts education transform a small chapter of the national Young Audiences organization into the powerhouse chapter of that agency. Marsha is, without a doubt the community’s leading expert on arts integrated curriculum and she is looked to nationally for her expertise in this area as well. Marsha has developed many programs that are attracting attention nationally including ArtWorks, a summer jobs training program that uses artists to teach life and work skills to young people. The program always has far more applicants than it can ever accept each summer. She also has developed a comprehensive training program for artists who wish to teach in the classroom and oversees a growing roster of teaching artists in greater Cleveland. She is a smart and savvy nonprofit leader who has built a solid organization, taking it through tough times – time and again – and winning the respect of the philanthropic community such that her organization was given stewardship of a unique arts education program developed by a collaboration of local foundations. Foundations continue to fund the program and have given her free rein to change it as needed to respond to changing times and new opportunities. That rarely, if ever happens. Marsha has attracted significant funding to Cleveland from the Ford Foundation and has been the reason that Cleveland was included among just a few other cities in a major, multi-year Ford Foundation Arts Education initiative, which

continues today. Cleveland Public School children, as well as local expert teaching artists and arts organizations have benefited over many years as a result of her efforts in this difficult and demanding cross-sector realm of art and education. Marsha is a supremely gifted collaborator as well, and together with key leaders from other arts organizations, launched the Cleveland Arts Educator’s Consortium, now staffed and housed at Cleveland State University. This is a unique association of the professional education staff employed by our community’s major cultural institutions. Marsha is supremely deserving of recognition for her long years of service to the arts, to artists and to the children of this community. "Artists, like bees, must put their lives into the sting they give." R. W. Emerson Kathleen Cerveny Director, Evaluation and Institutional Learning p: 216-615-7146 e: kcerveny@clevefdn.org b: artsandcultureblog.clevelandfoundation.org The Cleveland Foundation 1422 Euclid Avenue, Suite 1300 Cleveland, Ohio 44115 www.clevelandfoundation.org

Eugene T.W. Sanders, Ph.D. Chief Executive Officer

Board of Education

Denise W. Link Board Chair

Louise P. Dempsey

Vice Chair

Rashidah Abdulhaqq Patricia Crutchfield

Robert M. Heard, Sr. Harvey A. Hopson, Jr.

Willetta A. Milam Natalie L. Peterson

Iris M. Rodriguez

Ex Officio Members Dr. Ronald M. Berkman Dr. Jerry Sue Thornton

Tony F. Sias, MFA Director of Arts Education

The primary goal of the Cleveland Metropolitan School District is to become a premier school district in the United States of America.

1380 East Sixth Street, Cleveland, OH 44114 · 216.574.4954 · Fax 216.858.6476 · www.tony.sias@cmsdnet.net

February 23, 2010 Cleveland Arts Prize P.O. Box 21126 Cleveland, Ohio 44121 To the Members of the Cleveland Arts Prize committee: I wish to support the nomination of Marsha Dobrynski for the 2010 Cleveland Arts Prize, Martha Joseph Prize for Distinguished Service to the Arts. I have known Marsha and been a colleague for fifteen years. As the Executive Director of Young Audiences of Northeast Ohio (YANEO), Marsha embodies the award’s recognition of exceptional commitment, vision and leadership in bringing together over 1,000 ensembles and individual artists and over 200,000 students in eighteen counties in Northeast Ohio annually to experience the arts together. Under her vision and leadership, YANEO has been recognized at the national level as one of the most successful chapters of the Young Audiences organization. YANEO was one of only organizations nation-wide to receive a Ford Foundation grant to support Art IS Education, an arts integration program currently in eight Cleveland Metropolitan School District PreK-8th grade schools. The program provides short and long term residencies, field trips and teacher professional development to support student achievement in and through the arts. The program successfully introduces students to multiple arts disciplines, cultures and art making experiences. Marsha is a leader in community arts education. She founded and served as the first chairperson of what is now the Cleveland Arts Education Consortium with over forty arts, culture, education and philanthropic member organizations committed to developing arts education programs for area public school districts. She is a long time advocate for arts education and the value of the arts in motivating and inspiring students in all aspects of learning. Marsha influences arts education policy at the state and national level and received the Ohio Governor’s Ward for Arts Administration in 2008. I encourage you to award Marsha Dobrynski the Cleveland Arts Prize for her long standing contribution and commitment to arts education in Greater Cleveland. Sincerely,

Tony Sias, Director Department of Arts Education

March 5, 2010 Robert P. Bergman Prize Committee Cleveland Arts Prize Dear Committee Members: I am writing to support the nomination of Marsha Dobrynski for the Robert P. Bergman Prize. I have known Marsha for over 14 years since our daughters were students together in High School. In that venue, quite apart from her life as the driving force of Young Audiences of Northeast Ohio, I was always impressed by her commitment to and support of Lindsey’s interests and activities beyond the traditional school academics. Later I came to know Marsha as the face of Young Audiences in Northeast Ohio. As Artistic Director for the Community Arts department at The Cleveland Museum of Art and creator and artistic director of Parade the Circle our paths have crossed numerous times. Several of the artists who are central to the success of Parade the Circle are also key players in the success of Young Audiences. In recent years Parade and Young Audiences have joined together, pooling our resources to rent the same tent for our programming on Wade Oval in University Circle. As our economy sputters and schools are increasingly under the gun to focus more on academics and reduce spending on all fronts, Young Audiences has become the major link to the arts for so many students throughout greater Cleveland. I have been impressed through the years by Marsha’s focus, emphasizing the importance of the arts in enhancing all areas and levels of learning. She continually promotes the benefits of the arts as a tool to increase students’ abilities to conceptualize, concentrate, pay attention to detail, and problem solve. Marsha has made sure that the arts are not merely seen as a collective of various mediums that some “gifted” individuals are lucky to be born with a propensity for. Under Marsha’s watch Young Audiences of Northeast Ohio has blossomed. The number of artists has increased. The number of students served has multiplied and all the while the financial strength of the organization has flourished. This is tough in any environment and tougher still during our present economic downturn. The fact that she and her staff have been able to captivate so many schools in the Cleveland area to believe in the value of the arts in the academic world is testament to her vision and tenacity. I believe that Bob would be proud to have Marsha as a recipient of this treasured Prize. Sincerely, Robin VanLear Artistic Director Community Arts The Cleveland Museum of Art