Young and Martynuk honored

Cleveland foundations award Oberlin professors with Cleveland Arts Prize

Out of the four Cleveland Arts Prize winners awarded for 1999, Oberlin can claim two as their own. Theater and Dance Department Chair Nusha Martynuk was given the first dance prize since 1995. English Department Professor David Young was honored for his most recent books, including Seasoning, A Poetıs Year: With Seasonal Recipes. The Womenıs City Club of Cleveland and the Cleveland Womenıs City Club Foundation, who sponsor the Arts Prize, call the award ³an annual celebration of creative achievement.²

Professor Martynuk was given the award in honor of her lifetime achievement. She has been an artist in residence in the Ohio Arts Councilıs Artist in Education and she has received three fellowships for choreography by the Ohio Arts Council. In addition to performing in nationally-recognized dance troupes, Martynuk manages Partners/Martynuk/McAdams Dance with her husband, Carter McAdams. Martynuk said she was awarded the Arts prize for ³creating a substantial body of work and sustaining that² throughout her career. For Martynuk, the Arts prize was especially sweet, since recognition on a local level has been hard to come by. ³Itıs hard to be a prophet in your own town. Itıs almost easier to be admired from a distance,² she said.

For Professor David Young, the Arts prize symbolizes more than being respected for his poetry. The award is not just a prize offered to one individual; it represents the recognition of Oberlin College as a viable creative outlet. According to Young, it is about Cleveland acknowledging that ³weıre a part of the greater Cleveland art scene.² Like Martynuk, Young was pleased to be praised on the local level. ³Since Iım a bio-regionalist in my writing, recognition of my work is very gratifying,² he said.

Martynuk and Young are not the only prize winners with connections to Oberlin College. Prize winner Dr. Margaret Brouwer OCı62 and Special Citation winner Majorie Witt Johnson OCı35 also represented Oberlin.

Martynuk, Young and the other award winners will be recognized at a ceremony on Tuesday, September 21 at the Cleveland Museum of Art.