ArtsFairfax Announces The 2023 ArtsFairfax Awards Honorees

The 2023 ArtsFairfax Awards will celebrate visionary contributions to arts and culture in Fairfax County on Thursday, October 26, 2023. The fundraising event will honor the Workhouse Arts Center with the Jinx Hazel Award, Lola Reinsch with the Philanthropy Award, Inova Schar Cancer Institute in partnership with Smith Center for Healing and the Arts with the Impact Award, and The Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at George Mason University with the Education Award.

"The 2023 ArtsFairfax Awards honorees all demonstrate how the arts revitalize communities, improve our wellbeing, and spark creativity in unexpected places. We're thrilled to celebrate each of these awardees for enriching the lives of Fairfax County residents," says Linda Sullivan, ArtsFairfax President & CEO.

Held annually to raise the visibility of arts and culture throughout Fairfax County and the Cities of Fairfax and Falls Church, the ArtsFairfax Awards attract more than 300 guests, including local, state, and federal elected officials, as well as private supporters, business professionals, and arts and community leaders.

"Reston Community Center is delighted to be a Visionary Sponsor for the 2023 ArtsFairfax Awards. The arts are the heartbeat of all truly great communities, and we can't envision any world in which the arts aren't central to what makes us human," said RCC Board Chair Beverly Cosham. "The arts play a central role in Reston's neighborhoods and Fairfax County has embraced their vital importance to building vibrant places to live and learn. ArtsFairfax is the catalyst for these successful efforts."

Proceeds from the ArtsFairfax Awards help sustain the critical services, resources, and support the nonprofit provides for the local arts sector and the broader community. As Fairfax County's local arts agency, ArtsFairfax serves more than 200 arts and culture nonprofits by distributing County funds to the arts, connecting artists and arts organizations to each other and to other sectors, and promoting arts and culture activities for approximately 1.2 million County residents.

2023 ArtsFairfax Awards Honorees

ArtsFairfax Jinx Hazel Award: Workhouse Arts Center

The Jinx Hazel Award is ArtsFairfax's premier award recognizing an individual or organization whose vision and commitment has helped shape the cultural life of Fairfax County.

Workhouse Arts Center, which is operated by the Workhouse Arts Foundation, is the 2023 recipient of the ArtsFairfax Jinx Hazel Award, the premier arts and culture award for Fairfax County.

As the only multi-disciplinary arts center in south Fairfax County, now known as Potomac Banks, Workhouse Arts Center in Lorton, Virginia, is home to a vibrant arts community that offers engaging opportunities and inspiring experiences through visual and performing arts, education classes, historical perspective, community engagement and personal enrichment.

Workhouse Arts Center curates and presents art exhibitions from local, regional, and national artists, and provides studio space for nearly 65 resident and associate artists. Attracting an audience of 100,000 patrons annually, Workhouse artists present more than 70 art shows, 300 performing arts events, and over 300 education classes, in addition to special events such as the annual Fireworks in July. One of their most impactful programs is the Workhouse Military in the Arts Initiative, a free arts access and art therapy program for military service members, veterans, and their families to participate in quality arts programming that is sensitive and responsive to their unique experiences.

Housed on 55 acres of the DC Correctional Complex's former campus, Workhouse Arts Center recognizes the site's important history and envisions a legacy that honors the past while celebrating the robust cultural contributions at present and in the years to come. To that end, Workhouse strives to reflect the diversity of the region it serves through its art forms and audiences, creating equitable and inclusive programs, initiatives, and environments so that every Fairfax County resident can access artistic opportunities in south Fairfax. Visit https://www.workhousearts.org/.

ArtsFairfax Philanthropy Award: Lola Reinsch

The Philanthropy Award recognizes an individual, corporation, or foundation that has provided leadership funding or long-term monetary support to the arts.

Lola Reinsch is the 2023 ArtsFairfax Philanthropy Award honoree. President, Owner, and CEO of the Reinsch Companies, a residential housing and golf course community developer and owner of real estate entities, including multifamily housing communities in Virginia, North Carolina, and Florida, Ms. Reinsch is an avid supporter and patron of healthcare, education, and the arts.

She founded the Reinsch Pierce Family Foundation in 2010 and has a long history of supporting many of the region's arts and culture organizations. Through her family foundation, and before that, the Emerson G. & Dolores G. Reinsch Foundation, Ms. Reinsch has strengthened many Northern Virginia nonprofits, including 1st Stage, Arlington Community Foundation, Arlington Philharmonic, Tysons McLean Orchestra, Museum of Contemporary Art Arlington, Synetic Theater, Signature Theatre, and Wolf Trap Foundation for the Performing Arts, among others.

Most notably, Ms. Reinsch has been an invaluable supporter of Virginia Chamber Orchestra and McLean Project for the Arts. She has served on the Orchestra's Honorary Board for 29 years and has significantly increased annual giving as their "match donor" for the past seven years. At McLean Project for the Arts, where she has been a donor for nearly 30 years, Ms. Reinsch recently made a leadership and matching gift in support of their future Art and Education Center at Clemyjontri, which will include galleries, studios for working artists, classrooms, a cafeì for artists and visitors, and a courtyard for outdoor learning and community engagement.

Ms. Reinsch's support in Washington, DC, includes membership in the National Gallery of Art, National Portrait Gallery, National Archives, Studio Theatre, Shakespeare Theatre, and her naming of The Costume Shop at Arena Stage.

Proving that "People's Wellness" is an art, she has named the lobby pavilion of the new Outpatient Facility of Virginia Hospital Center, VHC Health-Arlington and is fully funding the Cardiomyopathy Program in all Inova Hospitals.

Ms. Reinsch holds Silver Status in the Tiffany Circle of the American Red Cross and is a member of both the James Smithson Society of the Smithsonian Institution and the Life Guard Society of Historic Mount Vernon.

She has become a dedicated servant to her hometown area of Northern Virginia.

ArtsFairfax Education Award: The Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at George Mason University

The Education Award recognizes an artist or arts organization for providing exceptional arts education opportunities and experiences.

For over 30 years, The Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at George Mason University (OLLI Mason) has been committed to providing educational, cultural, and social opportunities for adults in their retirement years, and they are the recipient of the 2023 ArtsFairfax Education Award.

A nonprofit affiliate of George Mason University, OLLI Mason offers over 600 courses each year on a broad spectrum of subjects, as well as numerous clubs, social events, and excursions.

Volunteer-run and member-driven, all classes and activities are designed and taught by OLLI members, Mason faculty, and regional experts. By offering creative arts, music, writing, and poetry, among other courses, OLLI Mason sparks the creativity and interests of its intellectually curious and active senior membership.

Originally created in 1991 by the Fairfax County Commission on Aging, OLLI Mason has grown from 100 members to over 1,200 members across three campuses in Northern Virginia. Recognized at the local, state, and federal levels for its contributions to the quality of life for area residents ages 50+, OLLI Mason received the 2016 Jack Wood Award from George Mason University and commendations from the City of Fairfax, Fairfax County Board of Supervisors, Virginia General Assembly, and U.S. Congress on its 25th anniversary in service to older Americans in Northern Virginia. Explore OLLI Campuses and learn about the OLLI community at https://olli.gmu.edu/.

ArtsFairfax Impact Award: Inova Schar Cancer Institute

The Impact Award recognizes an artist, arts organization, program, or activity that has provided significant engagement in the Fairfax community.

Commended for their Arts and Healing Program, the Inova Schar Cancer Institute, in partnership with Smith Center for Healing and the Arts, is the 2023 ArtsFairfax Impact Award recipient.

A state-of-the-art cancer center in the Washington, DC, metro area designed to bring healing and hope to every patient, Inova Schar gives patients unmatched logistical, clinical, and emotional support. A key component of that support is the Arts and Healing Program, which is 100% funded through philanthropy.

Through a robust permanent art collection, a rotation of ongoing exhibitions often featured in the Joan Hisaoka Healing Arts Gallery at Inova Schar, performing arts events, and Artists-in-Residence, the Arts and Healing Program is designed to minimize suffering and restore wellbeing for all who visit the Inova Schar Cancer Institute, including patients undergoing treatment and recovery, caregivers, family members, and visitors, as well as Inova physicians and team members.

Since 2018, Inova Schar has partnered with the Smith Center for Healing and the Arts to create an Artist-in-Residence program where professionally trained local artists work directly with patients, caregivers, and clinicians to create opportunities for stress reduction, relaxation, and healing. This program consists of 20 diverse professional artists including visual artists, musicians, poets, and textile artists as well as a dancer and a storyteller-all working to help patients express and process their emotions as they undergo treatment.

At work in all Inova Schar facilities throughout the region, the Arts and Healing Program has also been recognized with a Hamilton International Arts in Health Award in the "Arts Transforming Environments" category by the National Organization for Arts in Health. Learn more about this impactful program at https://foundation.inova.org/artsandhealing/.

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