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R-MC President Robert R. Lindgren presents Alexander L. Nyerges, director of the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, with the college's Achievement in the Arts Award on behalf of the Randolph-Macon Arts Council. |
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9/13/12
On September 13, 2012, Randolph-Macon College awarded Alexander L. Nyerges, director of the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, the R-MC Award for Achievement in the Arts. The award was established by the college's Arts Council to recognize individuals who have made extraordinary contributions to Virginia's cultural landscape. The award ceremony took place in the Ballroom of the John Marshall Hotel in Richmond, Virginia.
"Alex Nyerges' leadership at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts embodies an exceptional faithfulness to creativity and innovation," says R-MC President Robert R. Lindgren. "Alex has ensured that VMFA is accessible to all Virginians, not only through the welcoming architecture of the beautiful new building, but through a diverse array of exciting exhibitions and programs, and by making general admission free."
The R-MC Arts Council is comprised of alumni and friends, who in tandem with Professor Joe Mattys, chair of the Arts Department, aim to demonstrate to students the importance of the arts in a Liberal Arts education. Past recipients of this award include the late Nancy Witt, a renowned painter, William Troxell, music educator, and Mark Russell Smith, former director of the Richmond Symphony Orchestra.
The Arts Council, co-chaired by Maria Wornom Rippe and Peter Rippe, selected Nyerges as this year's award recipient because of his enthusiastic leadership during the renovation of the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts and in expanding the presence of art well beyond the VMFA's Richmond borders. The VMFA is now open every day of the year and, under Nyerges' enthusiastic stewardship, has become a modern, comprehensive center for students of all ages.