Ives to be Posthumous Recipient of 2010 Hartgen Award April 16
Contact: Daniel Williams, 581-5100
ORONO — The University of Maine Patrons of the Arts will present this year’s Vincent A. Hartgen Award posthumously to Edward “Sandy” Ives, a UMaine English and anthropology professor from 1955-1999 and founder of the Maine Folklife Center.
The ceremony will be Friday, April 16 at 6 p.m. at Wells Conference Center. Keynote speaker for the event will be Tulane University Folklore professor Nick Spitzer, who produces and hosts “American Routes” on National Public Radio.
Spitzer is serving as honorary chair for fundraising in support of the Maine Folklife Center. He was a colleague of Ives and once hosted Ives for several days on a folklore tour of Louisiana, which Ives enjoyed very much, according to Spitzer. Ives and Spitzer
agreed on the “mysterious magical aspects of the encounter in conversation with people who are highly orally literate,” Spitzer says.
Performers at the awards ceremony will include professional storyteller Joan Radner, emeritus professor of folklore from American University and former president of the American Folklore Society, Old Grey Goose, a Maine group that often features songs Ives collected in Maine and the Maritimes, and Jeff “Smokey” McKeen, a former student of Ives and a member of Old Grey Goose.
“It is fitting that the Hartgen Award go to a man who spent his whole life teaching students the value of collecting the songs and stories of the people of Maine and the Maritimes,” says Pauleena MacDougall, Maine Folklife Center director. “Sandy’s legacy resides in the hearts of his students and the people in the communities whose artistic talents he appreciated as well as in the archival collection he left for future researchers.”
Ives died last year at age 83. His wife Bobby will accept the award.
The Hartgen award is given in recognition of outstanding contributions to the advancement of the arts at the university. Contact Danny Williams at 581-5100 for information.