2024 Cultural Arts Award winners announced

By Lisa Brody

The Cultural Council of Birmingham Bloomfield, a non-profit 501c-3 that promotes and supports the cultural life in the community, has announced the 2024 Birmingham Bloomfield Cultural Arts Award winners, which will go to Hedy Blatt, Gary Wasserman and the Village of Beverly Hills.

This year, their awards ceremony will take place on September 13, at the Cultural Council's partner, Birmingham Bloomfield Arts Center (BBAC), from 5:30-7:30 p.m.

Hedy Blatt will receive the 2024 Cultural Arts Award, as an “advocate for arts education.” Blatt is the newly retired part-time Fine Arts Consultant for Oakland Schools (OS). She has been an ardent liaison and tireless worker connecting the 28 school districts in Oakland County to universities and to the many community and regional cultural institutions throughout the metro Detroit area. During her 20-year tenure as Oakland Schools’ Fine Arts Consultant and 20 previous years as the Director of Fine Arts for the Troy School District, Hedy’s impact in arts education has had far-reaching influence throughout Oakland County and the state, supporting thousands of band, orchestra, choral music, theater, visual arts, and dance teachers and, thereby, students.

Gary Wasserman will receive a Special Lifetime Achievement Award as a “creative visionary.” A Bloomfield Township native, Gary Wasserman is a global business owner, cultural producer and philanthropist who is committed to excellence across a diverse range of organizations and affiliations. As CEO of Allied Metals Corporation, he is a leader in the technology of high purity materials for the aerospace and energy generation industries. Long involved in the cultural and civic community, Wasserman led the revitalization of the cherished America's Thanksgiving Day Parade in Detroit and served on the boards of Detroit Opera, Detroit Symphony Orchestra and Cranbrook. Other affiliations include the boards of The Detroit Eastern Market, The Knights NYC Orchestra, Ojai Music Festival, M:X Miami, The Wolfsonian FIU, Cleveland Orchestra Miami, presenter of The Big Apple Circus, and more recently, The Lincoln Center Chamber Music Society of Miami.

Wasserman's passion for Detroit led him to reinvest in the city with the founding of Wasserman Projects, a hybrid of exhibition space and art gallery, in the tradition of a kunsthalle which facilitates and promotes the work of outstanding visual artists, musicians and spoken word performers who inspire creativity in the Detroit community and beyond.

The Village of Beverly Hills is being honored for “supporting a kaleidoscope of artistic activities.” The community is an involved one, with an active and vibrant parks community. It hosts Java and Jazz, Concerts In the Park, Disc Golf, Food Truck Mondays, movies and reading in the park, Halloween Hoot, Memorial Day Parade and Carnival and Fun Run/Walk, and has numerous sculptures offering public art.

The Cultural Council of Birmingham Bloomfield works to illuminate the many cultural activities and resources available across the Birmingham-Bloomfield area.