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WILKES-BARRE – The Board of Directors of the Fine Arts Fiesta announces that Gina Prokop-Malsky is the 2016 winner of the Friend of the Arts Award.
Prokop-Malsky has been an integral part of the artistic fabric of Wyoming Valley for over 30 years as an organizer, volunteer, participant and teacher, according to a news release.
She has a Bachelor of Arts with a concentration in Dance/Classical Ballet from the prestigious Point Park University. Some of her accomplishments include: former board member and chairman of the 60th Fine Arts Fiesta Gala, Children’s Director at the Wilkes-Barre JCC, Professor of Dance, Misericordia University, owner & instructor of; Dance Theater of Wilkes-Barre, Working of Art Learning Center, Exeter, and Downtown Arts, Wilkes-Barre. Many of her former students have gone on to highly successful and professional careers in the arts.
The Fine Arts Fiesta Board of Directors will honor Prokop-Malsky and her accomplishments by presenting her the “Howard B. Fedrick Friend of the Arts Awards” for 2016 on May 19 at noon during the annual festival opening ceremonies on the main band shell, Public Square, Downtown Wilkes-Barre.
Initiated in 1997 by the Fine Arts Fiesta Board as suggested by then board member Howard B. Fedrick, the “Friend of the Arts Award” was designed to honor an individual or organization for their longstanding commitment and/or generous support of the Fine Arts Fiesta in addition to their general contributions to the cultural and artistic life of the local and regional community.
With Fedrick’s passing in February 2011, the board of directors, in his honor and memory, renamed the award the “Howard B. Fedrick Friend of the Arts Award,” which is now sponsored by his widow, Mary Ann Fedrick.