The Volusia County Cultural Alliance (VCCA) will honor Dr. Dallas Weekley for his service to Arts and Culture at its Annual Celebration and Awards Ceremony on Feb. 28, 2024 from 6 pm to 8 pm at The Marine Discovery Center 520 Barracuda Blvd., New Smyrna Beach.
This annual event recognizes individuals who have given extensively of their time, treasure and talent in support of Volusia County’s arts, culture and history organizations. Weekley, who recently retired after a long tenure heading the Daytona Beach Symphony Society’s Artistic Advisory Council, will be the 17th recipient of the prestigious Tippen Davidson Award for the Arts.
This award, named for the former Daytona Beach News-Journal Publisher and arts advocate, was established to recognize leadership and long-standing support for cultural endeavors in Volusia County. Past honorees have included Cici and Hyatt Brown, Rene & Larry Sands, Nancy and Lowell Lohman, Sally Mackay, Dr. Hiram Powell, and Pat Northey, along with many others. Dr. Weekley will be recognized again in the Fall when his name will be added to the honoree wall outside Council Chambers at the Thomas C. Kelly Administration Center in DeLand.
In addition to his work with the Symphony Society, Dr. Weekley has had an international career as a duo pianist. He and his wife, Nancy Arganbright, have spent a lifetime concertizing, teaching (University of Wisconsin), and editing and publishing a vast quantity of piano duets with the Neil. A Kjos Music Co. Concert tours have included the major cities of England, Ireland, Austria, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Russia, Korea, China, Taiwan and with the Minnesota Orchestra and the Dublin Symphony, among others. U.S. tours have included Carnegie Recital Hall and the Kennedy Center in Washington. After his retirement to the Daytona Beach area in 1997, Dr. Weekley turned his attention to volunteering with Volusia County arts organizations including the Daytona Beach Symphony Society and Seaside Music Theater. He has worked tirelessly for the promotion of classical music in general, helping bring the world class orchestras, opera and dance that comprise the Daytona Beach Symphony Society’s programming to Volusia County.
The February dinner will also honor Cheryl Faber with the Brady-Coolidge Arts Ambassador Award. This award recognizes extensive ground-level work in local arts and culture in Volusia County. It is named after Ann Brady and Jennifer Coolidge, the long-time Executive Directors of the Atlantic Center for the Arts and the Museum of Art DeLand, respectively. A native of Pennsylvania, Faber trained as an actor at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, Virginia. When she moved to New Smyrna Beach in 1978 with her husband and two children, she became involved with the Daytona Playhouse and IMAGES, A Festiva} of the Arts. Her involvement with IMAGES led to her serving for three years on the founding Board of Trustees of the Atlantic Center for the Arts. She joined Artists’ Workshop, the oldest arts organization in New Smyrna Beach (chartered in 1958) and, for the last five years, she has served as President for AWI, leading a successful partnership between her organization and the Marine Discovery Center. She has also served on the boards of FUTURES and Bert Fish/Florida Hospital/Advent Health Hospital Foundation.
This event is an important part of the annual ArtsWeek Volusia, which recognizes and highlights arts and cultural organizations and events throughout the County. Tickets and more information about the Annual Celebration are available at https://volusiaculture.org/dinner.html. Tickets are $35 for VCCA members and $40 for nonmembers. Admission price includes heavy hors d’oeuvres, beer & wine, live performances and art exhibits.
The event is sponsored in part by The Marine Discovery Center, Halifax Magazine and the Atlantic Center for the Arts.
The Volusia County Cultural Alliance is a non-profit network of community cultural organizations, individual artists and local businesses, committed to the development of the arts in the Volusia County and focused on the enhancement of the quality of life for our county’s residents and visitors. VCCA is a membership organization that advocates for cultural and arts issues and resources, serves as a liaison between government and civic groups, recognizes cultural leaders, provides forums and workshop and encouraging cultural awareness.
 Media Release: Volusia County Cultural Alliance, Julia TruiloÂ
