The Santa Fe Family Life Center will honor three local philanthropists at the John F. Kennedy Community Service Awards gala this week.
Elite gymnast Maggie Nichols and local nonprofit advocate Marnie Taylor will receive the Kennedy Service Awards this year, and business leader John Kennedy will receive the Mark Ruffin Lifetime Achievement Award, a news release noted.
The gala will be Tuesday in the Meinders Hall of Mirrors at the Civic Center Music in Oklahoma City.
The awards celebrate Oklahomans whose philanthropy has served the community in effective ways and are named for the former president in recognition of his call to service during his inaugural address in 1961. Proceeds from the gala benefit the Santa Fe Family Life Center’s programs as a nonprofit health and wellness center serving disadvantaged youth and people with disabilities in Oklahoma City.
The business career of lifetime achievement award winner Kennedy has spanned four decades and includes a legacy of service and investing in Oklahoma’s next generation. The gymnast Nichols is a former member of the U.S. National Team and former OU gymnast and was among the first to speak out about misconduct and sexual abuse by the USA gymnastics team doctor. Taylor has served as president and CEO of the Oklahoma Center for Nonprofits since 2011 and is considered an Oklahoma leader in governance, the release noted.
Sponsors for this year’s event include the Chickasaw Nation, Clara Luper Sit-In Plaza, Irish Realty, Jennifer and Lew McGinnis, American Fidelity, BancFirst, Catholic Foundation of Oklahoma, Delta Dental, the Oklahoma Council of the Knights of Columbus, the Mark Ruffin family, Deanya and Brad Taylor, Bethany Children’s Health Center, First United Bank, Frontier State Bank, Robyn and Chuck Duginski, Jones PR, Polly and Larry Nichols, Peter Pembroke, Realtor – Lime Realty, Rischard Elder Law, David Rainbolt, and Cathy and Frank Keating.
For information, go to sfflc.com/jfk-award.
Sea change
Science Museum Oklahoma has a new exhibit focused on the ocean in its smART Space galleries. The museum celebrated the opening of “Currents: Turning the Tide on Ocean Conservation” with a reception Thursday night.
It’s a colorful and interesting art exhibit that will make you think. Much of the art item comes directly from the trash found in the world’s oceans, and all involve how the five participating artists address ocean conservation through their artwork and sculptor. See it through April 2024 in Oklahoma City.
Artists are Jason deCaires Taylor (Kent, United Kingdom), known for his submerged works; Vanessa Barragão (Albuferia, Portugal), who studied fashion design and works with textiles; Steve McPherson (Kent, United Kingdom), who uses plastic objects washed ashore in his work; Aurora Robson’s (Hidden Valley, New York), who works with discarded plastic debris and turns them into sculptures that look like beautiful bouquets; and Nick Pumphrey (St. Ives, Cornwall, United Kingdom), a photographer who documents the sea’s changing moods.
Alyson Atchison, SMO’s director of SmART Space, is curator for this exhibit.
For information, go to sciencemuseumok.org.
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