56 | SEPTEMBER 12 • 2024 J N H edy Blatt and Gary Wasserman do not know each other, but they expressed similar feelings of sur- prise when individually learning about being chosen as recipients of this year’s Birmingham Bloomfield Cultural Arts Awards. It is the 29th year of community recognition for artists, patrons, volun- teers and boosters. While Blatt was recognized for leading educational arts initiatives in Oakland County, Wasserman was cited for various lifetime achieve- ments that reached inside Michigan and outside to California, Florida, Israel and beyond. The honorees, who will each receive a specially designed plaque and a personalized bracelet, will have their names placed on a permanent plaque affixed on the wall of the Birmingham City Hall. Awards will be given at a reception scheduled by the main sponsor, Cultural Council of Birmingham/Bloomfield, for Friday, Sept. 13, at the Birmingham Bloomfield Art Center. Honorees were chosen after formal nominations were reviewed by a jury. “I was absolutely surprised and hon- ored, ” said Blatt, who retired this June as fine arts consultant for Oakland Schools, where she connected teachers and students with community arts organizations to enhance programs in music, theater and the fine arts. “It’s wonderful to be recognized, but even more important, it’s wonderful to have the arts recognized in such a meaningful way. We are one of 56 enti- ties throughout the state of Michigan, generally county-wide, that assist schools and provide services to schools on a variety kind of basis. “My work has often focused on teacher training and offering confer- ences to teachers and thereby reaching their students. We’ve partnered with all of the major cultural entities in Metro Detroit. ” Blatt, who lives in Bloomfield Township and whose family holds membership in Temple Israel, became interested in the arts through piano music she studied at Interlochen Arts Academy for eight weeks when she was 8 years old. She began her 40+ years of an arts career as a music teacher. “I, at first, felt it was my job to have parents come to concerts to entertain them, ” she said. “Now, I would look at it differently. When I was fine arts director in Troy, overseeing all of the art, I became enamored with visual art because I can’t do it. “I saw what was happening in the art classroom that nobody saw. In some cases, they didn’t do art shows or public displays of student art, and that started me down the road to getting it out of the classroom and into the public domain so that people could see phenomenal, talented kids that may or may not have been in the mainstream. ” Blatt, who plans to give more time to playing golf and studying cake decora- tion arts, has a message for parents. “It’s my hope that parents advocate for quality arts education in their schools, ” she said. “That is what a quality district should have. It offers students so much, especially students who might be struggling. ” Wasserman, CEO of Allied Metals Corp. centered in Auburn Hills, has two current Metro Detroit arts con- nections. They include Wasserman Projects in the territory of Eastern Market, which is a presentation space for different talents. Also important to him is Detroit Opera. Board member- ships have reached from the Detroit Symphony Orchestra to Cranbrook. With service to many types of orga- nizations, Wasserman can trace his interest in the arts back to his teen years after receiving a small inheritance from a grandmother. “I thought I should do something with the money so I always think of her, ” Wasserman said. “I bought a Steuben crystal object that was a gold mouse on crystal Swiss cheese. That was my first art purchase, and that is still on my desk today, which is plus-60 years. ” A fine arts collection started in his 20s. “The arts have brought me a great deal of inspiration and stimulation because of the contact with people who are creators and thinkers and often live outside of conventional thinking, ” he said. “I truly enjoy the beauty and the underpinnings of it. ” Wasserman said that his favorite outreach has been supporting the annual America’s Thanksgiving Parade, conducted in Detroit with television broadcasts. His direct involvement, helping the parade overcome some difficult issues, was between 1988 and 1998. Wasserman’s business takes him to locations in other cities and countries so he maintains several residences. As his son joins him in that business, he makes time for activities linked to Jewish-based arts organizations. Reaching outside Michigan, those include the International Institute for Secular Humanistic Judaism based in Israel and Miami New Drama based in Florida and founded by Venezuelan Jewish refugees who had to leave their country because of antisemitism. With Reboot, centered in New York and having work set in other cities, he is supporting a theater project that involves productions about antisem- itism, and he hopes to bring produc- tions into Michigan. “ Artistry is an essential part of the fabric that creates a vibrant part of community, ” Wasserman said. “It brings a certain intellectual and emo- tional investment to a community that strengthen that community. “In Detroit, in its most dire days, it was the cultural infrastructure that held the city together such that it provided the nodes that were able to generate the beginnings, maintain the interest and anchor the creation of the new urban experience that today Detroit has become. “It has been a wonderful way for me to engage with a community and people that I otherwise would not have known, and I feel that I am contrib- uting something of myself over and above just monetary contributions. ” ARTS&LIFE ART Two Jewish community members recognized with Birmingham Bloomfield Cultural Arts Awards. Art Honorees Art Honorees SUZANNE CHESSLER CONTRIBUTING WRITER Gary Wasserman Details The Birmingham Bloomfield Cultural Arts Awards will be presented 5:30-7:30 p.m. Friday, Sept. 13, during a free program at the Birmingham Bloomfield Art Center, 1516 S. Cranbrook Road, Birmingham. (248) 644-0866. culturalcouncilbirminghambloomfield. org. Hedy Blatt