Wayne State University will celebrate the 27th Anniversary of the WSU Arts Achievement Awards at 4:00 p.m. on Friday, October 3, 2003.

Six outstanding alumni will be recognized for their artistic achievements and dedication to the arts. In addition, the University will recognize the University Cultural Center Association for its years of dedicated service to Southeast Michigan.

Each year, the university recognizes alumni from several departments, including Art and Art History, Art Education, Communication, Dance, Music and Theatre. In addition, WSU gives the distinguished Arts Advocate Award to an individual or group demonstrating a deep commitment and leadership to the Detroit area art community.

This year's recipients include:

* Annette Alexander Frank (Art Education) ME '99, BS '80. Currently serves as the Art and Video teacher at Lowrey Middle School in Dearborn, coordinates the Student Animation Workshop, a weekend residential training for gifted young artists and serves as the director of Focal Point, a film/video workshop for adults. In 1999, she received the Michigan Film/Video Teacher of the Year award.

* Jerry Flint (Communication), BA '53. Flint is one of the most respected automotive business writers in the country, having covered the automotive industry for the Wall Street Journal and New York Times. Currently a columnist for Forbes Magazine, Flint was ranked one of the 100 most prominent business journalists of the 20th Century by the Business News Reporter.

* Ruben Santiago Hudson (Theatre), MA '81. Tony Award winning actor Ruben Santiago Hudson has appeared in movies, such as The Devil's Advocate and Shaft; on television, in such shows as Law and Order and The West Wing; and on Broadway, including Jelly's Last Jam and Seven Guitars for which he won a Tony Award. In addition, he is also a noted playwright, recently receiving an OBIE Award for his play Lackawanna Blues.

* Cary Loren (Art and Art History), BA '80. An internationally active writer and photographer, Loren owns and operates the independent bookstore: Book Beat. Nationally recognized, Loren's work was selected for the 2003 Whitney Biennial and included in the SOHO Guggenheim Museum.

* Professor John Macurdy (Music), A respected opera singer (bass), Macurdy has taken part in over 1,800 performances worldwide, including performing with the Metropolitan Opera for 39 consecutive seasons. A member of the MET since his debut there in 1962, Macurdy has also been a frequent guest to some of the world's finest theatres. Inducted into the Academy of Vocal Arts Hall of Fame, Macurdy is presently the only American to be listed in the Wagnerian Annals for singing all the Bass Roles in the Ring Cycle.

* Linda Cleveland Simmons (Dance), BA '70, MA '82 - an Assistant Professor in Dance and Director of the WSU Dance Company, Cleveland-Simmons is president of the WSU Dance Alumni Association. Last year, Cleveland Simmons won top honors for artistic direction and choreography during the Concorso Internationale Dance Grand Prix Italia in Cesena, Italy.

* Arts Advocate Award
University Cultural Center Association (UCCA) - The UCCA is a consortium of more than fifty cultural, academic, medical, service, business and neighborhood organizations, formed to enhance and promote development in the University Cultural Center. Among other things, the UCCA is responsible for producing the annual Detroit Festival of the Arts.

The Arts Achievement Awards will take place in the Spencer M. Partrich Auditorium, located in WSU's Law School. The award ceremony will be followed by a reception in the Law School's East Atrium. Both the ceremony and the reception are free and open to the public. A dinner will take place that evening on the campus of Wayne State University.