Dayton area has 7 governor’s arts awards winners by Terry Morris for Dayton Daily News, May 10, 2011

The Dayton area will play a leading role for the third consecutive year when the 2011 Governor’s Awards for the Arts are presented in Columbus today.

The seven winners include Michael Kenwood Lippert of Dayton, director of the Muse Machine’s elementary education program, who will be honored in the arts education category; and the law firm Freund, Freeze & Arnold, for business support of the arts.

Winners will receive original framed works from the “Forces of Nature” series by Dayton photographer Francis Schanberger.

The awards are sponsored by the OAC and the Ohio Citizens for the Arts Foundation.

Lippert, a native of Toledo, came to Dayton more than 20 years ago as an actor with The Human Race Theatre.

Other Miami Valley residents and organizations nominated for the 2011 awards included the Dayton Visual Arts Center, Dr. Michael Ervin and Mike Elsass, Neal Gittleman, Michael Bashaw, John and Linda Lombard, Judy Mott, Benjamin Schuster, Stivers School for the Arts, Vectren Corp., Piqua Arts Council, Virginia Ritan of Middletown, J. Chris Moore of Springfield and Rebecca Burnett of Union City.