Local voices earn Cultural Arts Awards

BIRMINGHAM — Influential members of the community are being honored in the 27th annual Birmingham Bloomfield Cultural Arts Awards.

The Cultural Council of Birmingham-Bloomfield, along with community partners The Community House, Hometown Life, the Birmingham Bloomfield Art Center and Bloomfield Cablevision, has announced John W. Rutherford, Howard Hertz and The Village Players as this year’s honorees.

The honorees of the 27th annual Birmingham Bloomfield Cultural Arts Awards represent people who have had an exceptional impact on the cultural life of the community.

The winner of the 2022 Birmingham Bloomfield Cultural Arts Award, Rutherford, is a director and a high school teacher. Rutherford received the honor “for nurturing artistic voices.”

Rutherford is entering his 23rd year of teaching at Birmingham Groves High School. He teaches theater, public speaking and English. He also directs the high school productions.

His directing work goes beyond Birmingham Groves High School as he is also the artistic/educational director of Village Youth Theatre and runs the independent theater company, Barebones Theatre Productions.

“What I love about directing particularly is the opportunity to tell stories in an emotional and dynamic way that helps audiences build empathy and understanding,” Rutherford said.

Rutherford said that while his job as a high school theater director can be wonderful, it also comes with some limitations in regard to the content and production style of work he is directing.

To further fulfill his creativity, he began Barebones Theatre Productions, which allows him to work with adult actors, direct more mature content and even direct original productions.

For several years they have chosen to support local playwrights by performing original scripts, including piloting a play that he worked on with his students at the high school level.

Rutherford said the emphasis on Barebones Theatre Productions is to strip the theater of other elements that make it fully realized, such as elaborate costumes and sets, and instead focus on the literature and the acting to tell the story.

“Barebones is not out of anywhere, it is out of wherever my car is,” Rutherford said.

He has produced plays in Birmingham, Beverly Hills and more, as well as over Zoom.

When the pandemic hit in March 2020, Rutherford recalls telling his high school students he did not know how long it would last, so they planned to continue with regular rehearsals over zoom until they were back in person. However, they did not end up going back in person at that time.

Since he did not want to give up on the production, Rutherford figured out how to make it happen over Zoom.

He got permission to get into the school, and he collected props and costumes to safely distribute to students.

From there, Rutherford and his students problem-solved to turn rooms at their homes into virtual sets and used techniques to mimic an in-person play.

“We did everything we could to make it work,” Rutherford said.

This experience was rewarding to Rutherford as well as the students because it made them feel like they had a little touch of a normal routine.

Entertainment lawyer Hertz has been honored with the Special Lifetime Achievement Award for being a “champion of artistic freedom.”

Since 1976, Hertz has been practicing media and entertainment law, as well as intellectual property law. He is being honored for the additional volunteer work he has done throughout his career, which has had a significant impact on Michigan and beyond.

Over the last 40 years, he has helped artists of all types — whether it’s music, film, television or book publishing — achieve their goals.

“One of the ways that I felt I could help artists, aside from being a lawyer, is to work in various nonprofits in the arts that would contribute to the artist’s ability to grow and to network with other artists in order to be more successful in the long run,” Hertz said.

Hertz has been the president of the Detroit Music Awards for about 25 years.

“Our goal and our mission is to recognize Detroit-area musicians that are working locally, regionally and globally and nurture their music and help them create a way to network with each other and across genres,” Hertz said.

Hertz was a member and advisor of the board of governors of the Recording Academy Chicago Chapter, Grammys, for 10 years. He is still on the advocacy committee, where they advocate for legislation in Washington that will help musicians to increase their royalties.

Bringing back the film industry in Michigan is one of Hertz’s missions. He is on the Michigan Film Industry Association board to help renew tax incentives in Michigan for films.

Creating jobs, especially for recent college graduates, is one of the main reasons it is important to have a strong film industry in Michigan.

Hertz has also been a board member of the Sphinx Organization for over 10 years.

“The mission of Sphinx is to transform lives through the power of diversity in the arts,” Hertz said.

Twenty-five years ago, the Sphinx Organization was started to raise the level of performance and participation by Black and Latino young people with a focus on classical stringed instruments.

The Village Players will receive the Partners with the Arts Award for ‘One hundred years of vibrant community theatre.’

The Partners with the Arts Award is given to one of the community’s  businesses, nonprofits or organizations that have shown great support for the arts.

A limited, in-person event was planned for Oct. 14 at the Birmingham Bloomfield Art Center to celebrate the honorees. The event will be available on culturalcouncilbirminghambloomfield.org.