The Cultural Alliance of Western Connecticut will celebrate arts from around the region at the 12th annual awards breakfast on Oct. 11 at the Amber Room Colonnade in Danbury.
The Cultural Alliance, which supports artists and the arts community with marketing, collaboration and education, will present four major awards to businesses, nonprofits and individuals.
The Business Supports the Arts Award goes to Makery Coworking on Bank Street in New Milford.
Makery Coworking began as a business incubator, a space for entrepreneurs to start-up outside of their home. The space has quickly become a go-to community center for the arts, offering open mic nights, plays, comedy, dance, film and video, visual art exhibits and studio space for photographers and videographers to create. Makery Coworking founder Tony Vengrove said his mission “is to instigate creativity and build an entrepreneurial community that catalyzes innovation and change in the greater New Milford community. We are bullish on our community and believe if we bring the right people together to collaborate, we will ultimately spur innovation and change -- the kind of change that empowers entrepreneurs, stimulates business growth and creates more jobs.”
The Arts in the Community Award goes to Perry Salvagne Jr., president of Hodge Insurance Agency on Main Street in Danbury. Salvagne is also vice president of the CityCenter Danbury Board of Commissioners and is known as a long-time community advocate for vibrancy on Main Street. Salvagne was also the former local leader for YES Danbury (Young Energetic Solutions). YES is a statewide initiative seeking to empower young people to create a vibrant Connecticut.
The Heart of the Arts Award will be given posthumously to Mary Rindfleisch of Sherman.
Rindfleisch supported the arts in several communities while working at the Ridgefield Library for more than 20 years. Known to all as completely selfless, she was also a former member of the Cultural Alliance Board of Directors and executive director of the Sherman Chamber Ensemble.