YoungArts

The YoungArts Leadership Award, established in 2010, recognizes the recipients’ support of arts organizations and the arts in America. Cultural arts in every city and in every state thrive due to the support and guidance of civic, philanthropic and corporate leaders. Without them, most arts initiatives could not flourish. The Leadership Award acknowledges the vital impact these individuals and their organizations create. This year’s award was created through the collaboration of world class glass sculptor, Terje Lundaas, and YoungArts alumnus, Jonathan Cuba, a 2010 winner in Visual Arts. Together, incorporating Jonathan’s linear, geometric style with Terje’s knowledge and expertise in glass and sculpting, the Leadership Award was created.

2012 YoungArts Leadership Awardee: Robert L. Lynch

Robert L. Lynch is the president and CEO of Americans for the Arts, the nation’s leading organization for advancing the arts and arts education in people’s lives, schools and communities. He was Executive Director of the National Assembly of Local Arts Agencies for 12 years, and managed the successful merger of that organization with the American Council for the Arts to form Americans for the Arts in 1996. In 2005, Mr. Lynch oversaw the merger of the Arts and Business Council, Inc. into Americans for the Arts. In the same year he also created the Americans for the Arts Action Fund and its connected political action committee to engage citizens in advocating for the arts and arts education to ensure arts-friendly public policies. With more than 30 years of experience in the arts industry, Mr. Lynch is motivated by his personal mission to empower communities and leaders to advance arts and arts appreciation in society. Under his 25 years of leadership, the services and membership of Americans for the Arts has grown to over 50 times its original size. He has personally reached audiences in over 1,000 locations spanning 49 states and more than a dozen nations, ranging from Native American tribal gatherings to the U.S. Armed Forces in Europe to the President of the United States. Mr. Lynch currently serves on the board of the Craft Emergency Relief Fund, the Arts Extension Institute, and the University of Massachusetts-Amherst College of Humanities and Fine Arts Board. He is a member of the Executive Committee for United Voices for Education and is on the Advisory Council of the National Museum for Children in the Arts. Mr. Lynch plays the piano, mandolin and guitar, and lives in Washington, DC.

Past Recipients

2011 / Michael Kaiser, President, John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, and Adrienne Arsht, Philanthropist, were the joint recipients of the 2011 YoungArts Leadership Award. With the leadership of Kaiser and the financial support of Arsht, they have created Arts in Crisis: A Kennedy Center Initiative, a program designed to provide emergency planning assistance to struggling arts organizations throughout the United States.

2010 / Alberto Ibargüen, President and CEO of the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, has shown a true commitment to the arts, in our community and throughout the nation. He was the former publisher of The Miami Herald and has served as board chair of PBS and Florida Philharmonic. We were honored to celebrate his accomplishments and those of the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation.