Politics & Government

Mayor Kautz Awarded for Arts Activism

Mayor Elizabeth Kautz was one of three elected officials to be honored by Americans for the Arts and the U.S. Conference of Mayors.

Mayor Elizabeth Kautz has one more feather to put in her cap: She was one of three elected officials honored with the 2012 Public Leadership in the Arts award — a distinction conferred by the United States Conference of Mayors and Americans for the Arts, a non-profit organization dedicated to advancing arts in public life and education.

Thursday night, Kautz was honored at a meeting of the Conference of Mayors in Washington D.C., along with fellow honorees Illinois Governor Pat Quinn and Frank Ortis, mayor of Pembroke Pines, FL.

Americans for the Arts praised Kautz's work on Burnsville's Heart of the City, Art and All That Jazz and the Burnsville Performing Arts Center, a controversial $20 million complex opened in 2009. According to the organization, Kautz is "thoughtfully using the arts to spur economic development" and "enhancing the quality of life" in their communities, said Robert L. Lynch, president and CEO of Americans for the Arts.

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In a press release from the City of Burnsville, Kautz said she was "thrilled" to receive the honor.

"I have been blessed to work with so many business and community leaders who make the arts in all forms a priority. I share this award with them," Kautz reportedly said.

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