March 19, 2014: Dee Denton (left) congratulates Joan Sappington on her receiving the Lakewood Center-Kay Vega Arts Champion Award at the Lake Oswego Chamber of Commerce Annual Dinner.

The event honors those who have made a positive impact in our community. Joan was honored by Lakewood Center for her 40+ years in supporting artists and arts education in our community, region, and state. Joan now volunteers her time with the Festival as Lakewood’s Director Emeritus and Advisor for the LO Lake Oswego Festival of the Arts and we’re proud to have her help! Congrats Joan for all that you do.

Her accomplishments and association with many art forms is remarkable. A few, and only a few, include:

•  In the 1950s she assisted in founding The San Francisco Players’ Guild in San Francisco where she also worked as a performer and technical director.
• In the 1960s, when she moved to Lake Oswego, she jumped into the business community as manager of Kingsbury Ltd. She soon became the Chamber’s 2^nd female president and worked with Dee Denton on what has become a 40+-year love affair with the annual Lake Oswego Festival of the Arts
• In the 1980s she served on the Lakewood Center Board and when the Festival came under the Lakewood’s umbrella, she stepped off the board and became the Festival’s first paid director. Notable Festival accomplishments included: the establishment of the Special Exhibit focusing on cultures, countries and various art mediums and the FESTIVA Awards which recognized arts achievement by high school students in the region.
• For the City of Lake Oswego she helped develop a master plan for the arts, and helped establish and serve on the first board of the Lake Oswego Arts Foundation, which evolved into what is today the Arts Council of Lake Oswego.
• In Clackamas County she was a founding board member and officer of the Clackamas County Arts Alliance. She did such a great job that the Clackamas Co. Commissioners asked her to continue her service as a resource on the Arts Action Alliance Advisory Board. She serves in the same capacity for Lakewood Center on its President’s Advisory Committee.
• For the metro area she helped shape arts policy as a board member of RACC (the Regional Arts and Culture Council) and worked tirelessly on their grants committee to distribute money to help fund the arts.
• For the state of Oregon she was instrumental in working with the Oregon Cultural Trust to help found the Clackamas County Cultural Coalition to help bring needed dollars for arts in rural communities.

She currently volunteers her “spare” time as Lakewood’s Director Emeritus and Advisor for the LO Festival of the Arts. She is also a member of the Lakewood President’s Advisory Committee as well as a continuing member of RACC’s Advisory Board.

She is the remarkable grand dame of the arts, JOAN SAPPINGTON.

Pictured (left to right): Mike Chrisman, manager of Columbia Bank; Andrew Edwards, Exec. Director Lakewood Center for the Arts; Kay Vega, Exec. Producer, Lakewood Center for the Arts; award recipient Joan Sappington; Keith Dickerson, Chamber interim CEO