On Wednesday, October 21, 2009, the Princess Grace Foundation–USA hosted the Princess Grace Awards Gala at Cipriani 42nd Street in New York City and presented 22 Princess Grace Awards, 10 Honoraria, seven Special Project Grants, two Works in Progress Residencies at the Baryshnikov Arts Center and two Statue Awards. Every year, the Princess Grace Foundation-USA (PGF-USA) proudly awards these grants at its annual Awards Gala to support its mission of providing crucial support to emerging artists in America. This year, Tony® and Emmy® Award winning actor Mandy Patinkin received the coveted Prince Rainier III Award for his outstanding contribution to the arts. It was presented to him by Tony® and Emmy® Award winning actress Elaine Stritch. The Gala took place in the presence of HSH Prince Albert II of Monaco.
The Princess Grace Foundation-USA is a not-for-profit, publicly-supported foundation headquartered in New York City founded more than 25 years ago by Prince Rainier III of Monaco in honor of his wife, Princess Grace [Kelly]. The Foundation's mission, that mirrors Princess Grace's in Her lifetime, is to support emerging artists in theater, dance and film through the awarding of scholarships, apprenticeships and fellowships. Since its inception, the Foundation has bestowed more 650 awards totaling more than $7 million in grants. This year the Princess Grace Foundation-USA awarded more than $750,000 to Awards recipients in the forms of scholarships, apprenticeships and fellowships.
Chairing the Gala were Tommy and Dee Hilfiger. In 2007, Mr. Hilfiger celebrated Grace Kelly’s life in a book called "Grace Kelly: A Life in Pictures" (Pavilion Books, 2007). It was released to commemorate the 25th anniversary of Princess Grace's death and featured a series of 200 never-before-seen public and private images of the princess.
The evening’s emcee was the lovely Maggie Rodriguez, anchor for The Early Show, who also presented the Princess Grace Awards for Film. The Theater Awards were presented by actress Martha Plimpton; the dance awards were presented by Chet Walker (creator and co-choreographer of award-winning FOSSE). Adam Rapp, novelist, filmmaker, and an Obie Award-winning playwright and director and a 2006 Princess Grace Statue Award winner, presented the Statue Awards.
Notable guests at the Gala included: HSH Prince Albert II of Monaco, Charlene Wittstock, Hon. John F. Lehman (Board Chairman, PGF-USA) and Barbara Lehman, Robert O. Marx (Vice-Chairman, PGF-USA), Toby Boshak (Executive Director, PGF-USA), Celia and Silas Chou, Hon. Maguy Maccario-Doyle (Consul General of the Principality of Monaco), Frederic Fekkai and Shirin von Wulffen, Marie-Claire and Robert Gladstone (Madison Equities), Mariska Hargitay and Peter Hermann, Tommy and Dee Hilfiger, Ara and Rachel Hovnanian (Trustee, PGF-USA), Alex McCord and Simon Van Kempen (Real Housewives of New York City), Yves Piaget, Martha Plimpton (presenter of Princess Grace Theater Awards), Adam Rapp (presenter of Princess Grace Statue Awards) Maggie Rodriquez (anchor, The Early Show; Gala Emcee), Laura and Harry Slatkin, Elaine Stritch (30 Rock), Dr. Jon Turk (Trustee, PGF-USA) and Carolyn Gusoff, Chet Walker (choreographer/director – Fosse, Sweet Charity) and Lynn Wyatt (Board of Trustees, PGF-USA).
|
