Samuel Hummel will receive the 2019 O.Henry Lifetime Award for his extraordinary contributions to the cultural development of Greensboro
ArtsGreensboro together with the Greensboro Chamber of Commerce will award the coveted 2019 O.Henry Lifetime Award to Samuel D. Hummel. The award was announced at a private holiday reception at the home of ArtsGreensboro Board Vice President, Victoria Carlin-Milstein and her husband Ron Milstein. The O.Henry award will be presented to Hummel at the Greensboro Chamber of Commerce’s annual dinner on Thursday, January 24th.
The O.Henry Award honors individuals who have made an extraordinary contribution to the cultural development of Greensboro over the course of their lifetimes. For more than 40 years, Sam Hummel has been deeply immersed in the arts and culture of our city. He has served on numerous boards and commissions connected with the arts in Greensboro, most notably as president of the Arts Council, and on the Carolina Theatre Commission as well as on the boards of the Greensboro Historical Museum, Guilford’s Battleground Company, O.Henry Festival Board and the Crescent Rotary club.
One of Hummel’s key contributions to the arts landscape in Greensboro was leading the planning effort to acquire the Carolina Theatre for a performing arts center which also resulted in the creation of the Greensboro Cultural Arts Center as a companion facility. The City Council agreed to rehab and operate the property at 200. N. Davie Street as a cultural center for galleries, studios, offices and meeting spaces for community arts groups if the Arts Council could buy and uplift the Carolina Theatre as a performance space. Sam’s diligence helped the United Arts council raise $500,000 to fulfill this monumental achievement.
“Sam has worked tirelessly through time, talents and treasures to ensure that the theatre will be enjoyed by all for generations to come.” Says Brian Gray, Carolina Theatre’s Executive Director. “Sam is one of those rare individuals that identifies a need, covers the cost and then helps to make sure it gets done.”
