Art Benefactor Award
Every year since 1995, Alpine Artisans, Inc. honors a member of the community who has made a major contribution to the arts in the Seeley-Swan Valley.
Rohrer Named 2012 Art Benefactor Recipient
Article and photo ©Seeley Swan Pathfinder, February 16, 2012
In the weeks leading up to the festive annual Wine & Chocolate Social hosted by the Alpine Artists, a committee meets to determine a worthy recipient for the Annual Art Benefactor Award.
The award, which is given each year to members of the community who have made major contributions to the arts in the Seeley-Swan and Blackfoot Valleys, has a varied and unique list of former recipients who have helped establish the area as an impressive and welcoming home to a talented, diverse group of artists.
For a relatively small community, the choice is complicated. Each year, numerous communitymembers and artists dedicate manyhours and varied skills to ensurethat music, art, literature and dramaflourish here.
In that long list of enthusiastic art lovers, Jenny Rohrer is this year’s standout, and she is the very deserving winner of the 2012 Art Benefactor Award.
A talented documentary filmmaker herself and once a partner in the Hoop Dreams production company, Kartemquin Educational Films, Jenny Rohrer founded her own production company, Rohrer Film & Video in 1991. She has 37 years of experience producing award-winning, nationally-broadcast documentary films for public television, not-for-profits and advocacy organizations.
When she moved to Montana from her home in Washington, DC, she found her way to the Seeley- Swan area and once here, she found many ways to donate her talents, her energy, her boundless enthusiasm, and her time to many of the artistic endeavors in the community.
For the Alpine Artisans, Jenny has served as President, Treasurer for the Crown of the Continent division, and as a Board Member to help the organization run smoothly. She has traveled to the state capital on numerous occasions to make the case for grant funding for AAI activities, and she has personally written numerous grants for additional monies from other sources.
As a result of her leadership roles and her grant-finding talents, AAI and its cultural arts corridor has been the recipient of thousands of dollars in funding.
Because of her love of film (and her chagrin that the area does not have a movie theater), Jenny single-handedly obtained funding to create the Crown of the Continent movie series that is now in its second year of serving the community with engaging, provocative and entertaining films.
Jenny was named the 2012 Art Benefactor Award recipient at the 17th annual AAI Wine & Chocolate Fundraiser, which raises money for AAI's Senior Scholarship and Youth Grant Awards, provides a venue for artists to show and sell their work and brings in funds for AAI operational costs.
Past Recipients of the Art Benefactor Award
1995 - Geri Netherton
1996 - Marilyn Peterson
1997 - Bill and Ramona Holt
1998 - Gary Noland and Mille Jette Noland
1999 - Bob and Ruth Korn
2000 - Cindy Torok
2001 - Charlie and Marian Burmeister
2002 - Alan Taylor
2003 - 1st Valley Bank
2004 - Doris 'Petie' Luckman with special recognition to Bob Stefczak
2005 - Don and Joyce Bissell
2006 - Rolly and Peggy Meinholtz
2007 - Stan and Colleen Nicholson with special recognition to Jeanne Moon
2008 - Larrine and Russ Abolt
2009 - Bill and Pam Peabody
2010 - Bud and Chris Jewett