2009 ACE Awards to be handed out Thursday

CHAMPAIGN – The 40 North 88 West Champaign County Arts, Culture and Entertainment Council will hand out its 2009 ACE Awards at 6 p.m. Thursday at the Highdive, 51 E. Main St., C.

The doors will open at 5:30 p.m. Tickets are $20 each and available at Krannert Center for the Performing Arts, Cinema Gallery, Heartland Gallery, Wind, Water and Light Gallery, online at www.40north.org and at the door. Discounts are available for group purchases; call 351-9841 for information.

The event, sponsored by Dreamscape Design and Buzz, will feature complimentary beverages and hors d'oeuvres by English Hedgerow, and live music by sitarist Indrajit Banerjee, tabla player Subrata Bhattacharya and vocalist Sri Nirmalya Roy.

This is the fifth annual ACE (Arts, Culture and Entertainment) awards presentation. The awards recognize and celebrate outstanding contributions to the cultural life of Champaign County. A panel of independent judges selected winners in seven categories: arts education, media, advocacy, spotlight, creative community service, business and lifetime achievement.

The names of the winners and the judges will be released at the ceremony. However, the winners know who they are because brief video interviews with them about their work are shot beforehand and then shown at the ceremony.

The presenters of the 2009 ACE awards will be Brian Hagy, Ian Wang, Patrick Harness, Scott Schwartz, Donna Greene, Chris Shroyer and Mike Ross. All are past ACE Award winners. Eric Robeson, a past ACE Award judge, will reveal the names of the judges.

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