LEGISLATIVE RESOLUTION commending the Brooklyn Arts Council upon the
occasion of celebrating its 50th Anniversary and paying tribute to this
year's honorees on May 3, 2016

WHEREAS, It is the intent of this Legislative Body to commemorate those
events of historical significance which add strength, vigor and inspira-
tion to the cultural diversity and quality of life in the communities of
the State of New York; and
WHEREAS, Attendant to such concern, and in full accord with its long-
standing traditions, this Legislative Body is justly proud to commend
the Brooklyn Arts Council upon the occasion of celebrating its 50th
Anniversary at a Alive with Art Gala on Tuesday, May 3, 2016, at 26
Bridge, Brooklyn, New York; and
WHEREAS, In addition, Suzan-Lori Parks and Ben Lovett will be recog-
nized for their lasting contributions to arts, culture and education for
the local community; and
WHEREAS, For five decades, Brooklyn Arts Council (BAC) has fostered
the cultural life of Brooklyn; founded in 1966, in the basement of Flat-
bush resident Charlene Victor, BAC's first event was a small film
festival held that same year in Prospect Park; and
WHEREAS, Today BAC offers the residents of Brooklyn a wealth of arts
programming and support services in education, professional development,
grant-making, fiscal sponsorship, film and media arts and
folk/traditional arts; and
WHEREAS, A graduate of Mount Holyoke College, Suzan-Lori Parks was a
resident at New Dramatists, a non-profit organization which gives play-
wrights time and space, in the company of gifted peers, to create work,
realize their artistic potential, and make lasting contributions to the
theatre; and
WHEREAS, Named one of TIME magazine's "100 Innovators for the Next New
Wave," Suzan-Lori Parks became the first African American woman to
receive the Pulitzer Prize in Drama for her Broadway hit
"Topdog/Underdog"; and
WHEREAS, A MacArthur "Genius" Award recipient, Suzan-Lori Parks was
awarded grants by the National Endowment for the Arts, the Rockefeller
Foundation, the Ford Foundation, the New York State Council on the Arts
and the New York Foundation for the Arts; and
WHEREAS, In addition, this remarkable woman is the recipient of a
Lila-Wallace Reader's Digest Award, a 1996 CalArts/Alpert Award in the
Arts (Drama), and a Guggenheim Foundation Grant; and
WHEREAS, Suzan-Lori Parks' outstanding book adaptation of the
Gershwin's "Porgy and Bess" helped the show earn the 2012 Tony Award for
Best Revival; in 2007, her play, "365 Plays/365 Days" was produced in
over 700 theaters worldwide, creating one of the largest grassroots
collaborations in theater history; and
WHEREAS, In addition, this talented author has written several screen-
plays, and was the author of the 2003 novel, GETTING MOTHER'S BODY; she
also acted in a fictional-documentary "...Plus One" which premiered at
the Cannes Film Festival in 2009; and
WHEREAS, Suzan-Lori Parks' projects include her Ray Charles musical,
"Unchain My Heart," scheduled to premiere on Broadway, and she's working
on a new musical, the next installments of Father Comes Home, and a
project for television; and
WHEREAS, A talented musician, Ben Lovett composed the music for "The
Signal", an Independent Spirit Award nominee and enduring cult favorite
which was showcased at the Sundance Film Festival; and

WHEREAS, Ben Lovett then went on to write and perform original scores
for a wide range of theatrically-released feature films which include
"Black Rock", a Sundance hit written starring Kate Bosworth and Lake
Bell produced by the Duplass Brothers; the critical favorite and
Gotham-Award nominee "Sun Don't Shine" from director Amy Seimetz; Dan
Fogler's psychedelic cult comedy "Don Peyote"; and the action thriller
"Isolation" starring Stephen Lang, Dominic Purcell, and Tricia Helfer;
and
WHEREAS, A prolific film composer, Ben Lovett's luminous career began
with the film "Last Goodbye" starring Faye Dunaway and the late David
Carradine, a film that debuted to praise at the Tribeca Film Festival in
2005, and "The Last Lullaby", a noir-drama starring Tom Sizemore, which
captured the Award for Best Original Score at the 2009 Brooklyn Interna-
tional Film Festival; and
WHEREAS, Ben Lovett was awarded Best Original Score for the short film
"Ghost Of Old Highways" at the Madrid International and the Charlotte
Film Festivals and received widespread praise for his work on the recent
science fiction dramas, "Synchronicity" and "The Reconstruction Of
William Zero"; and
WHEREAS, A man of many talents, his work seems to cross every genre
while remaining distinctly modern and untraditional; in addition to
writing scores, Ben Lovett has composed complete works for multiple
television films such as MTV's "My Super Psycho Sweet Sixteen" trilogy,
and underscored music for various network programs like Cartoon
Network's "Toonami" and "Adult Swim"; as well as custom branding music
for clients ranging from VH1 to H&M to Disney; and
WHEREAS, A true musical genius, Ben Lovett has been the recipient of
multiple awards and worldwide recognition for numerous collaborative
musical and visual projects; and
WHEREAS, It is most fitting that we take time to celebrate the arts of
our Nation, to honor artists, such as Suzan-Lori Parks and Ben Lovett,
and to express our appreciation to everyone who patronizes the arts; and
as we celebrate the arts, we celebrate and give thanks to our American
freedom, the only atmosphere in which artists can truly create and in
which art is truly the expression of the soul; now, therefore, be it
RESOLVED, That this Legislative Body pause in its deliberations to
commend the Brooklyn Arts Council upon the occasion of celebrating its
50th Anniversary and paying tribute to this year's honorees on May 3,
2016; and be it further
RESOLVED, That copies of this Resolution, suitably engrossed, be tran-
smitted to Suzan-Lori Parks, Ben Lovett, and Charlotte Cohen, Executive
.SO DOC S R4416 RESO TEXT 2015
Director, Brooklyn Arts Council.