NEW YORK, July 25, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- The Princess Grace Foundation-USA (PGF-USA) has announced the winners of the 2017 Princess Grace Awards.  The Annual Gala will continue the legacy of Princess Grace (Kelly) of Monaco, who helped emerging artists pursue their artistic goals during Her lifetime.  In total, the Foundation is awarding over $1 million to artists in theater, dance, and film.  In the presence of Their Serene Highnesses The Prince and The Princess of Monaco, this year's Gala will be held at The Beverly Hilton in Beverly Hills on October 25, 2017. The evening will be chaired by co-chairs Wallis Annenberg and Sidney and Katia Toledano and major Gala supporters include: Christian Dior Couture as Presenting Sponsor and the Annenberg Foundation and Karen and Rod Gancas as Crown Sponsors.

Toby E. Boshak, Executive Director of the Princess Grace Foundation-USA shared, "This marks the most joyous time of year for the Foundation as we welcome the next group talented and emerging artists into the Princess Grace Awards family.  Each year, we are captivated by a new generation of exceptional Award winners whose work will influence the artistic landscape.  It's a privilege to be a part of their artistic growth in the same way we have watched this year's Statue Award winners, Bridget Carpenter and Dormeshia Sumbry-Edwards, evolve.  We are incredibly proud of all of them."

For the ninth year in a row, celebrated artist Alex Soldier, known for his mastery of precious miniatures, has created an objet d'art to represent the Princess Grace Awards.  The Award symbolically combines the three art forms lauded by the Foundation: theater, dance, and film by using precious metals and Swarovski crystal accents.  Presented as a distinctive sculpture to the Prince Rainier III Award honoree, this creation is transformed for each recipient to wear as a pin, a special reminder of their Award for the world to see.

Past winners of the Awards for theater, dance and film, who distinguish themselves in their artistic disciplines since receiving their initial Princess Grace Award, are eligible for the Foundation's Princess Grace Statue Award. This year Emmy Award-nominated writer Bridget Carpenter (Friday Night Lights, Westworld, and Hulu's 11.22.63) and Bessie Award-winning tap dancer and choreographer critically acclaimed as the "mastress of her generation," Dormeshia Sumbry- Edwards will each receive Princess Grace Statue Awards. In addition to a $25,000 unrestricted cash gift, Bridget and Dormeshia will be presented with bronze statues of Princess Grace created by the Dutch artist Kees Verkade. To date, sixty-five artists have received this Award.

This year's Princess Grace Award winners are: 
Theater and Playwriting:
Mikael Burke/DePaul University (Theater Scholarship), Delaney Feener/DePaul University (Theater Scholarship, Robert and Gloria Hausman Theater Award), James Udom/Yale School of Drama (Theater Scholarship, Grace Le Vine Theater Award),  Camille Hayes/California Shakespeare Festival (Theater Apprenticeship, Pierre Cardin Award), Christopher Annas-Lee/Gala Hispanic Theatre (Theater Fellowship, Fabergé Theater Award), Kristina Valada-Viars/Steppenwolf Theatre Company (Theater Fellowship, Gant Gaither Theater Award), Donja Love/New Dramatists (Playwriting Fellowship).

Dance Performance and Choreography: Mikaela Kelly/The Juilliard School (Dance Scholarship), Jacquelin Harris/Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater (Dance Fellowship), Miriam Miller/New York City Ballet (Dance Fellowship, Chris Hellman Dance Award), Gian Carlo Perez/ The Washington Ballet (Dance Fellowship), Lyvan Verdecia/Ballet Hispanico of New York (Dance Fellowship), Bryan Arias/Charlotte Ballet (Choreography Fellowship), Gemma Bond/The Washington Ballet (Choreography Fellowship), Raja Feather Kelly/Ririe-Woodbury Dance Company (Choreography Fellowship).

Film:  Malik Ford/Hampshire College (Undergraduate Film Scholarship, John H. Johnson Film Award), Pamela Guest/Pacific Northwest College of Art (Undergraduate Film Scholarship), Daniel Chein/ San Francisco State University (Graduate Film Scholarship), Huay-Bing Law/University of Texas at Austin (Graduate Film Scholarship) Megan Rossman/Hunter College, CUNY (Graduate Film Scholarship), Reed Van Dyk/ UCLA (Graduate Film Scholarship, Cary Grant Award); Honoraria:  Amanda Bonaiuto/California Institute of the Arts, Emily Drummer/University of Iowa, Maleny Lopez/School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Sadie Schiffman-Eller/Bard College.

Special Project, Works in Progress Residencies at the Baryshnikov Arts Center, and the Choreography Mentorship Co-Commission (CMCC) Awards are grants available to past Princess Grace Award and Honoraria recipients for uniquely significant projects that advance their artistic development.  This year's winners are:  
Special Project Awards: Chinonye Chukwu, Michael John Garces, Andrea Miller, Iva Radivojevic, Ian Soroka and Susan Youssef. 
Works in Progress Residencies: CarlosAlexis Cruz, Sarah Cameron Sunde and Dustin Wills.  
Choreography Mentorship Co-Commission (CMCC) Award: Zoe Scofield. 

ABOUT THE PRINCESS GRACE FOUNDATION – USA  
The Princess Grace Foundation-USA is a non-profit, publicly-supported foundation, headquartered in New York City and founded 35 years ago by Prince Rainier III of Monaco to honor his wife, Princess Grace's [Kelly] legacy. The Foundation's mission is dedicated to identifying and assisting emerging talent in theater, dance, and film by awarding grants in the form of scholarships, apprenticeships, and fellowships.  Since the Foundation's inception, nearly 800 recipients have been awarded more than $14 million. Some notable Princess Grace Awards recipients in Film include: Emmy winner Cary Fukunaga, director of "True Detective," Jane Eyre and Beasts of No Nation; Greg Mottola director of Superbad, and Keeping up with the Joneses; Stephen Hillenburg, creator of SpongeBob SquarePants. Theater recipients include: Tony Award winner for Best Direction of a Play, Anna D. Shapiro; Pulitzer and Tony Award winning playwright Tony Kushner; Emmy and Golden Globe Award winner Oscar Isaac; and Academy Award winner Eric Simonson.  Dance/Choreography recipients include: Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater Artistic Director Robert Battle; American Ballet Theatre's Gillian Murphy and Isabella Boylston and New York City Ballet's Tiler Peck and Maria Kowroski; as well as choreographers Kyle Abraham and Michelle Dorrance.

For more information about the Princess Grace Awards program, please visit www.pgfusa.org 
Media Contact: Lauren Auslander/ Luna Entertainment/ lauren.auslander@luna-ent.com

SOURCE The Princess Grace Foundation-USA

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http://www.pgfusa.org