Announcing the 2023 Birmingham Bloomfield Cultural Arts Awards Honorees
Our 28th Year
Stephanie Pizzo,
2023 Birmingham Bloomfield Cultural Arts Award
Dancer, Collaborator, Educator
Stephanie Pizzo joined the Eisenhower Dance Company (EDD) as a founding member in 1991. At various points in her dance career she served as Resident Choreographer, Associate Artistic Director, and Co-Artistic Director. Ms. Pizzo now leads the company into her 7th season as Artistic Director. She focuses on collaborating with the highest quality national and international artists and creating strong ties within the metro Detroit community through the art of dance, using the art of contemporary dance both as a means to present beautiful, athletic, and engaging repertory, and as a vehicle to reflect on and explore issues of social significance.
Under Pizzo’s leadership, education plays a major role in the company: a new state of the art dance complex, funded by the Strum Allesee Foundation opened this past January in Bloomfield Hills, allowing for world-class dance education and fitness opportunities. Jurors were particularly impressed by Pisso’s educational community outreach and work with schools of all socio-economic groups.
Kegham Tazian,
Special Lifetime Achievement Award
Artistic Expression of Humanity
A Special Lifetime Achievement Award honors both Kegham Tazian’s tremendous body of artwork, as well as his impact on thousands of art students during his 47-year tenure as Professor of Fine Arts at Oakland Community College. As educator and artist, he has continually pushed the conventional boundaries of creative expression. the “Best in Show” prize at OCC’s annual student art show is otherwise known as the Kegham Tazian Art Prize and is funded, in part, by the Tazian family. In 2011, Mr. Tazian and his family established the Kegham Tazian Endowed Scholarship to further promote the pursuit of fine arts at OCC. Tazian’s sculptures and paintings are globally renowned, and his works can be found in public and private collections worldwide, including various corporations, municipalities, churches, embassies, and museums. The City of Birmingham, where Tazian resides, is fortunate to have been gifted one of his bronze sculptures, Pyramid Earth, which is installed in Linden Park.
The Community House,
2023 Partners with the Arts Award
The Community House is being honored for its 100 years serving the Birmingham Bloomfield community with enrichment through arts and events that promote togetherness and strengthen the community. This award is given directly by the Cultural Council to honor a business, non-profit or organization in our community that supports the arts in a distinguished manner.