2009 Governor's Arts Awards Recipients

Distinguished Arts Award: Chuck Comeau, Hays and Plainville

Internationally recognized furniture and textile design manufacturer Chuck Comeau designs upscale furniture, including chairs, benches, tables, ottomans and sofas. Chuck Comeau was born, raised and educated on the open plains of western Kansas. He is co-founder, co-owner, CEO, CFO and creative and marketing director of Dessin Fournir Company Holdings, a holding company based in Plainville, Kansas, that owns and manages six nationally and internationally regarded home furnishing design and manufacturing firms for the wholesale trade market. The firms have been recognized in publications such as Better Homes and Gardens, Homestyle, Victoria, Country Living and Country Home. Dessin Fournir Company Holdings also owns C. S. Post & Co., a highly regarded retail concept store located in the historic downtown of Hays, Kansas. In addition, Comeau is the president and founder of Liberty Group, Inc., the primary developer charged with the renovation and management of over 20 buildings in the Chestnut Street District of Hays’ historic downtown. He continues to live and build his businesses in the small rural community of Plainville. As Comeau explains, "My family and I have enjoyed the benefits of this community our entire lives; we were raised here and have chosen to raise our own families here, so we feel we have an obligation to the community to help rebuild the economy in any way we can."

Artist: James Rivers, Topeka

For over 40 years, pianist James Rivers has dedicated himself to the arts in his community through teaching and creative leadership. A graduate of the Juilliard School of Music, he made his concerto debut with the Dallas Symphony at the age of 18 and his recital debut at New York City’s Town Hall at the age of 25 when was hailed by the New York Times for his “virtuosic brilliance.” Mr. Rivers has performed solo recitals in throughout North America and Europe, including at the Spoleto Festival and the Oregon Bach Festival, and chamber music concerts with some of the world’s finest artists. He has been a featured guest artist with leading American orchestras, including  the St. Louis Symphony.

Mr. Rivers came to Washburn University in 1968 to chair the piano department, and he was named the first pianist-in-residence at Washburn University in 1972. He is a founding member of the annual Sunflower Music Festival and founded the Washburn Honors Concert Series. His commitment to the music program at Washburn prompted the endowment of three music scholarships for piano, one specifically in his honor. He is a sought-after adjudicator for piano competitions nationwide and has mentored many talented young artists, several of who have won prizes in international competitions such as the Van Cliburn International and hold significant teaching and performing positions throughout the country.

Mr. Rivers has performed hundreds of children’s concerts for over a million children in venues a diverse as concert halls, schools, parks and zoos. He has been a member of the Kansas Arts On Tour Roster since its inception in 1980 and has served on the touring rosters for the Texas Commission on the Arts and Mid-America Arts Alliance. He has recorded seven albums, is the organist for Central Congregational Church in Topeka, and advocates for advancing the arts in Kansas.

Arts Advocate: Dora Mae Timmerman, Wichita

Dora Mae Timmerman has been the consummate arts volunteer in Wichita for over 40 years. In 1948, she became the manager of the Wichita Arts Museum gift shop, and since then has served as the chair of Wichita’s Outdoor Sculpture Committee, the Wichita Arts Advisory Board, of which she was a founding member, and the Ulrich Museum’s Board of Directors, and currently serves on the Wichita Arts Council and the WSU Fine Arts Alliance. She is a charter member of Campbell Castle and the Wichita Volunteers Services Board and is active in the Wichita Sculptors Guild, the Wichita Center for the Arts and the Sedgwick County Historical Museum. She is renowned for her part in creating the USD 259 interactive sculpture project, an ongoing district-wide program designed to acquaint Wichita fifth graders with the arts through lectures, slides, field trips and the creation of artwork for each school in conjunction with a professional artist. Mrs. Timmerman has received multiple awards for her service and continues to inspire others to advocate for the arts in her community.

Arts Community: City of Salina

Photo Credit: Salina Arts and Humanities Commission

The focus on arts and culture in Salina, the seventh largest city in Kansas, was formalized in 1966 when the city established the Salina Arts and Humanities Commission as a department of city government. The Commission now produces the renowned Smoky Hill River Festival, sponsors the Community Art and Design Program, an initiative to integrate art and design into city buildings and public spaces, enhancing tourism, community identity and pride. City support also goes towards dedicated space for artists and artists-in-residencies. Enhancing these efforts was the establishment of the Horizons Grant Program, which provides funding for artists, community projects and organizational efforts in the arts.

Other keystone arts organizations in the city are the Salina Art Center, an accredited art museum and art cinema house; the Salina Community Theatre; the Stiefel Theatre for the Performing Arts; and the Salina Symphony Guild. Over the years, these combined programs have reached over 760,00.

In 2008, Salina’s City Commission unanimously accepted a creative vision and cultural strategic plan to: 1) make the arts culture and heritage offerings welcoming, affordable and accessible to the people of Salina; 2) make the community a beautiful place to live, work and visit, 3) use the arts, culture and heritage as an engine to drive economic development, downtown and community revitalization; 4) make Salina a model community for cultural sector coordination, unity and support; and 5) guide Salina’s cultural development with enthusiasm, skill, excitement and vigor. This effort to integrate the arts into all aspects of the community’s everyday life has earned Salina a reputation both within Kansas and nationally as a city that is on the cutting edge of cultural and community planning. Through coordinated effort and dedication to a cultural vision, the climate of support for the arts in the community reaches beyond city and cultural organizations and is truly integrated into the civic landscape of Salina.

Arts in Education: Lanell Finneran, Lawrence

Photo Credit: Lanell Finneran

For over 30 years, Lanell Finneran has brought the arts into Kansas classrooms for severely emotionally-disturbed special education students as a teacher and certified drama therapist. Infusing all the arts as therapeutic and teaching tools, she has sought and received numerous grants to support her efforts, Projects with her students include creating digital animated movies, creating theatrical productions on bullying for elementary school children, and writing and producing plays. Ms. Finneran has authored or co-authored numerous national publications on the use of art in education and therapeutic classrooms and is in great demand as a trainer by schools, universities, state programs and non-profit mental health organization. She contributes her efforts locally and statewide to Van Go Mobile Arts, Accessible Arts of Kansas City, the Kansas Art Therapy Association, KU Medical Center School of Nursing, KU School of Social Work, the Washburn School of Social Work, the Kansas Counselor’s Association, The Attorney General’s Office – Summit on Violence Prevention and the Kansas Council for Exceptional Children. Ms. Finneran serves on the National Board of Directors for the National Association for Drama Therapy.

Arts in Education: Kathrine Walker Schlageck, Manhattan

Photo Credit: Beach Museum of Art

The Senior Educator for the Beach Museum of Art in Manhattan, Kathrine Walker Schlageck works tirelessly to create quality arts education experiences in her community. She has served with the Beach Museum since before its opening in 1996 and is the driving force behind its education programs. Programs designed and implemented by Ms. Schlageck have been recognized by the National Endowment for the Arts, the Kansas Department of Education and the Kansas Arts Commission for their excellence. She has received numerous awards for her work as an art educator, including being named the Museum Education Art Educator of the Year and the Western Division Museum Education Art Educator of the Year. She crafts programs for groups ranging from families and schoolchildren to college students and senior citizens and has written articles for professional journals as well as the local newspaper. Ms. Schlageck curates educational exhibitions and has presented at workshops for teachers and museum educators and in other professional settings on the value and use of art in educational and community settings.

Arts Patrons: Dr. and Mrs. Dennis Ross, Wichita

Ann and Dennis Ross are long-time and significant donors to many Wichita area arts organizations and were instrumental in the campaign to establish funding for arts organizations from the City of Wichita. Growing up in rural Nebraska, both used music to occupy their time, and music eventually became a mainstay in their lives through the pursuit of dual medical careers; Dennis as a doctor, Ann as a nurse. They have supported the Wichita State University School of Music, where they are among the largest single donors to the school and endowed a Faculty of Distinction Professorship in Organ; the Wichita Grand Opera, which they have served in many leadership capacities, established the Ann Ross Resident Artist Program and provide housing for the Opera’s Young Artists Program. They support the music programs of Holy Cross Lutheran Church are were the single donor of a purchase of a Rudolf von Beekerath organ and the donor of funds to build the church’s  Carillon Bell Tower. They have commissioned an original musical composition and enjoy making music themselves as singers and instrumentalists.