2019 Arts Hall of Famers Announced

Margo Sawyer accepting her Artist of the Year honor at the 2015 Austin Critics Table Awards ceremony (Photo by John Anderson)

The Austin Critics Table has named the 18th group of individuals to be inducted into the Austin Arts Hall of Fame, honoring leaders in dance, theatre, and arts philanthropy.

As with the previous inductees, the four Austinites being honored this year have made significant contributions to the community over many years – some as artists, some as educators, some as both, but all as friends of and advocates for the arts. The 2019 class of inductees includes:

• Toni Bravo (Diverse Space Dance Theatre, Violet Crown Players) – company founder, dancer, choreographer, educator

• Billy Harden (Spectrum Theatre Company, Austin Playhouse, Zach Theatre, Pro Arts Collective) – company co-founder, actor, educator, producer

• Girard Kinney (Kinney & Associates Architecture, Scenic Austin, Austin Design Commission) – architect, arts advocate

• Margo Sawyer (University of Texas) – visual artist, educator

For the first time since the establishment of the Austin Arts Hall of Fame, the informal association of arts writers has paired the announcement of the new inductees with the announcement of some other honors that have traditionally been kept secret until the night of the Critics Table Awards: the winners of the John Bustin Award, given to an artist showing "conspicuous versatility," and the Deacon Crain Award, given for outstanding work by students. The Critics Table also named five projects from the past year that it deemed worthy of Special Recognition.

Deacon Crain Award for Student Achievement:
Mariela Denson and Matthew Kennedy

John Bustin Award for Conspicuous Versatility:
Delanté G. Keys

SPECIAL RECOGNITION AWARDS

Considering Matthew Shepard, Conspirare live-stream from the National Cathedral

Leonard Bernstein: Mass, Merick Strategies

Vincent Valdez: “The City,” Blanton Museum of Art

“Vaudeville!” Ransom Center

Palace Theater, Georgetown

The new Hall of Famers will be recognized at the 2018-19 Austin Critics Table Awards ceremony, to be held on Monday, June 3, 7pm, at Cap City Comedy Club, 8120 Research. The ceremony is free, and the public is welcome.

The Critics Table – an informal affiliation of writers who cover culture for publications and websites in Central Texas – will release the nominations for the year's most outstanding achievements in dance, classical music, visual arts, design, and theatre next week.