Blunt receives arts award

Gov. Matt Blunt has been chosen as the the latest recipient of the Americans for the Arts' National Award for Public Leadership, according to Cristina Garcia, executive director of Missouri Citizens for the Arts.

Americans for the Arts, a not-for-profit arts advocacy group, gives the award each year to a governor that has heightened public visibility of the arts.

The last Missouri governor to win the award was Mel Carnahan in 1999.

Blunt's nomination was supported by both Missouri Arts Council and Missouri Citizens for the Arts board member Sharon Beshore and Missouri Citizens for the Arts President Janette Lohman.

In their nomination letter Beshore and Lohman cited Blunt's restoration of funding for the Missouri Cultural Trust and the Missouri Arts Council, the DREAM Initiative and its impact on the arts in program communities and his frequent public acknowledgment of the importance of the arts to education and quality of life.

For more information visit www.americansforthearts.org.