To mark Women’s History Month, Gazelle introduces you to six remarkable women who will be honored at the 2022 Saint Louis Visionary Awards ceremony in April.
The award – one of the most prestigious in the local arts community – recognizes the many contributions of women who work in and support the arts in St. Louis.
Among the honorees is Hassie Davis, who will receive the Outstanding Teaching Artist award. Davis, a St. Louis-based performing and teaching artist, has worked with various theatre companies across the country, including TheaterWorks/USA, during which she performed at the Kennedy Center. As an arts educator, she has utilized her skills in art integration with programs at The Muny, Gitana Theater and The Canvas Project.
GAZELLE: How do young people benefit from knowledge and appreciation of the arts?
HASSIE DAVIS: The arts help young people to get in touch with who they are and inform them as to how to process their feelings, thoughts and ideas about what is happening in their world. The arts frees them to be creative and thus tap into their unique authentic selves, giving them the confidence to examine and problem-solve in a creative way in every aspect of their lives. Just having an appreciation of the arts gives the young person a new and deeper realization of the world and the social and political concepts therein, creating avenues for a deeper understanding and exchange of thoughts, ideas and feelings that can be shared around the world to bring about a realization that we have more commonality than differences.
GAZELLE: What are some of the ways teaching has positively impacted you?
HASSIE DAVIS: Never having had any children to come through me, teaching has given me a whole host of children to love, guide and through whom I can impart my legacy of my love for the arts. It has shown me that if you are sincere in your desire to teach, there will always be a student/someone who wants to learn and receive the gift that you have to give to them. Finally, the gift of experiencing/being a part of a young person learning something and having it affect them deeply and genuinely for the first time is a wonderfully spiritual experience that I have been truly fortunate to have.
GAZELLE: What does this award mean to you?
HASSIE DAVIS: It validates my ability to impart knowledge that will positively affect my community. It demonstrates that a ripple you make in your immediate community can reverberate into the broader community and has the potential, through myself and those I’ve taught, to touch people across the country and around the world. It is also a physical manifestation of the love I have for my craft and my community and affirms that positive intention nets positive rewards.
In addition to Davis, this year’s Visionary Awards recipients are: Andrea Hughes (Community Impact Artist), Dianne Isbell (Outstanding Working Artist), Mee Jey (Emerging Artist), Emily Rauh Pulitzer (Lifetime Achievement) and Pam Trapp (Major Contributor to the Arts).
An awards ceremony and program, followed by a reception, begins at 6 p.m. on Monday, April 25, at the Sun Theatre in Grand Center. Cheree Berry and Dr. Eva Frazer are the co-hosts for the evening.
For tickets and additional information, visit the Saint Louis Visionary Awards website.
