Fund for the Arts president and CEO Barbara Sexton Smith will receive one of six annual arts leadership awards this week from Americans for the Arts, a national nonprofit organization dedicated to the arts and arts education. Sexton Smith will be presented with the Michael Newton Award Saturday at the organization's annual conference in Pittsburgh. In a release, Americans for the Arts president and CEO Robert Lynch said all six honorees, which include leaders from New York, Los Angeles, San Antonio and West Monroe (La.), represent the best partners and colleagues to the arts in America. "The awardees are all trailblazers who are each implementing innovative and transformative programs to strengthen the communities they serve and thus building recognition for the important work of the arts," he said. The Michael Newton Award recognizes exemplary leadership and dedication to supporting the arts through a united art fund, such as Fund for the Arts. Sexton Smith is being recognized for raising the average gift amount from workplace donations, the percentage of overall dollars raised from employee contributions and for the creation of the Fund's NeXt! leadership development program.
