Art Star Awards Turns 10!

Much of the credit to the creation of the Art Star Awards a decade ago goes to Sian Poeschland Suzi Chauvel who envisioned an Academy Awards for the Arts. They formed a committee and began the “Artsy Oscars” to celebrate and recognize those who’ve made outstanding contributions to the arts. [seven-degrees] owners, Dora Wexell and Mark Orgill, have hosted the event annually and generously fund a $5,000 Inspiration Grant for an artist to develop and advance their art form over the course of the ensuing year. Over the years there have been a variety of themes and guest speakers like Rita Rudner, Joe Mantegna, and high energy performances by Lee Rocker. It’s always an amazing evening full of poignant moments and aside from honoring artists, it’s also an opportunity to inspire patrons and thank countless of hard working volunteers.

This year’s 10th Annual Art Star Awards began with an award bestowed upon Louis Longi, whose artistic excellence for the last 10 years has created one-of-a-kind bronze sculptures as the award trophies. His inspiration stems from the heart and his “Louie’s” reflect that. His 30+ years in sculpture has always been figurative; abstracting from the human form. A “Louie” is art in and of itself, to be displayed as opposed to a generic trophy propped on a shelf. One year his trophies were so large winners struggled to carry them!

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