The Deborah Salzer Excellence in Arts Education Award

Can you name a teacher who touched your life?  Someone who inspired you to see something in yourself that you had never dared to imagine? For many of us that magical connection to learning was inspired by an arts educator.  Thousands of students in San Diego can credit their “Voila!” moment to Playwrights Project founder Deborah Salzer.  In recognition of Deborah's inspirational contribution to arts education in San Diego, a group of Playwrights Project long-time donors banded together to create the Deborah Salzer Excellence in Arts Education Award. The tribute was awarded to Deborah in 2008, and each year the award is presented to an exemplary arts educator in the San Diego region.

Award nominees:

• Demonstrate outstanding achievement in arts education;
• Exemplify high standards and risk taking in their artistic field;
• Connect classroom instruction with professional artists on campus and/or brings students to experience the arts in professional settings;
• Are recognized as superb educators;
• Are advocates for arts education; and
• Have made a personal impact on students’ lives.

The inaugural Deborah Salzer Excellence in Arts Education Award ceremony took place at The Neurosciences Institute in La Jolla in fall of 2008. Playwrights Project alumna and Board President Lisa Kirazian introduced the award and described how her life and artistic career were impacted by Deborah's guiding hand. Fellow alumni Claire Cox, Annie Weisman Macomber, and Josefina Lopez also gave voice to their heartfelt appreciation for the mentoring and nurturing provided by Deborah and Playwrights Project.  Karen Hartman, another former playwright, was unable to attend, but sent a musical tribute to the tune of If I Were A Rich Man, sung by the talented Linda Libby.

Josefina Lopez, Deborah Salzer and Annie Weisman (Photo by Randy Rovang)

The Award was presented to Deborah by San Diego theatre critics Pat Launer and Ann Marie Welsh, who brought a lifetime of memory and appreciation for the 108 world premiere plays developed as part of Plays by Young Writers from 1985 to 2008. Read Pat Launer’s article about the event: “A Fitting Tribute.”

In 2009, the second annual Deborah Salzer Excellence in Arts Education Award was bestowed on Courtney Flanagan, Drama Teacher at The Bishop's School. The Award was presented by Playwrights Project Founder Deborah Salzer. Playwrights Project playwright and The Bishop's School alumnus Matt McKenna ('97), Playwrights Project Teaching Artist and The Bishop's School alumna Amanda Cooley Davis ('92), friend and colleague Gideon Rappaport, and Deborah Salzer lauded Courtney's inspirational and unflinching approach to teaching, her inspired artistic vision and an expectation of mutual respect that turned many of her students into lifelong friends. Current students from The Bishop's School's Drama Club performed a lively improvisation to honor Courtney.

Deborah Salzer and Courtney Flanagan (Photo by Ken Jacques)

On November 6, 2010 at Playwrights Project's the third annual Deborah Salzer Award will be awarded in memoriam to Craig Noel, Playwrights Project Board Emeritus and Founding Director of the Old Globe. Craig spent a lifetime nurturing young people. He was instrumental in starting Junior Theatre, he created the MFA partnership between the Old Globe and USD, inspired Teatra Meta, and welcomed Playwrights Project's annual festival of Plays by Young Writers to the Cassius Carter stage at the Old Globe for 14 years. The last play Craig staged in the Cassius Carter was Henry Wants a Renaissance written by Jason Connors, produced as part of our Plays by Young Writers festival.

Jason Connors and Craig Noel (Photo by Charlie Riendeau)