Winners are honored at the Perry F. Kendig Awards ceremony held at Roanoke College.
The first Perry F. Kendig Awards ceremony since COVID-19 put our lives on hold was full of surprise, drama and rich satisfaction at Roanoke College’s Olin Hall Tuesday evening.
The Kindigs are the most respected arts awards in the region and are presented yearly … until 2020 when COVID-19 said “no!”
Kendig got even this year, presenting two winners in each of the three categories:
- Todd Ristau of Hollins University and Pat Wilhelms of PB&J Theatre (and formerly Mill Mountain Children’s Theatre and Roanoke Children’s Theatre as individual artists.
- Roanoke College’s Olin Galleries and Smith Mountain Arts Council in Arts and Cultural Organizations.
- Don and Barbara Smith (posthumous) and Shelby and Jason Bingham in Individual or Business Arts Supporter.
Perhaps the surprise of the night was Wilhelms’ selection in a jam-packed category that included blues musician/singer Kerry Hurley and much-honored journalist Dwayne Yancey. Wilhelms has been the queen of children’s theater in the Roanoke Valley for decades, but she was fired in artistic disputes by both Mill Mountain Theatre and RCT, only to found wildly successful competing children’s theaters each time.
Ristau was the immediate beneficiary of the Kendigs’ decision to finally include employees of Roanoke College and Hollins University. There had been a groundswell of support for that inclusion growing over the past few years because of the wealth of artistic talent at the two liberal arts schools.
Ristau is the director of the Hollins Playwright Lab and has been a vital cog in the growth of nationally-recognized theater in the Valley over the past 20 years. He and recently-retired Ernie Zulia (who won a Kendig before the ban on employees winning) built a powerhouse at Hollins where the theater program is highly ranked nationally, and that success spread over the Valley.
Hosts for the awards were Roanoke College’s retiring president Mike Maxey and Hollins University’s new president Mary Dana Hinton. One going, one coming. Perry F. Kendig is the late president of Roanoke College who was deeply involved in the arts.
About the Writer:
Dan Smith is an award-winning Roanoke-based writer/author/photographer and a member of the Virginia Communications Hall of Fame (Class of 2010). He has authored eight books, including the upcoming novel out in Summer 2022, NEWS! He is founding editor of a Roanoke-based business magazine and a former Virginia Small Business Journalist of the Year (2005).
