Bridge Builders Award (St. Louis, MO)
Richard D. Baron, Co-Founder and CEO, McCormack Baron Salazar, Inc. and Stephanie Riven, Executive Director, Center for Contemporary Arts for their efforts towards creating The Center for Contemporary Arts, which has become an exemplary site for affordable arts and education programs for youth and family in the St. Louis community. Special recognition will be extended to Mr. Baron for his 30-year commitment towards using culture and heritage as a bridge for community improvement in residential and commercial development of mixed income neighborhoods.
Take a summer class called Who Dunnit At Hogwarts?, cook a culinary masterpiece, or steal the spotlight on stage. Individuals of all ages can now enjoy an appreciation in the arts with programming that appeals to a wide variety of tastes. At the Center of Contemporary Arts (COCA), 75,000 area residents from all walks of life can enjoy education, gallery, theater, dance and urban arts programs -- this includes those who cannot pay tuition.
COCA’s founder and developer is Richard Baron, President of McCormack, Baron Salazar Inc. After witnessing the burning of Detroit with the riots of the 1960’s, Baron became a legal aid lawyer representing public housing tenants and later formed a development company. Thirty years later, Baron and his company still possess the spirit of rejuvenating troubled neighborhoods and triumphing over obstacles. In addition, this rebuilder of America has the fire of a true pioneer. Not only does Baron recognize the value of education and culture in every sense, but incorporates this value into his projects by supporting programs that foster learning and unite a community.
Baron asked Riven to join COCA in 1987 and combined, with the evident success of Riven’s leadership, the two are a dynamic duo. Both have made it a point to bring arts education to underserved groups resulting in fundraising to develop new programs and provide scholarships. Today 345 students are on scholarship and $650,000 of the center’s $3.6 million annual budget is appropriated for outreach in city schools.
National grants tout COCA’s effectiveness in arts education while awards for COCA speak volumes. COCA has received the Missouri Arts Award, the presidential Coming Up Taller Award, the World of Difference Community Service Award, the William Randolph Hearst Foundation Endowment Award and the St. Louis Arts & Education Award for Excellence in the Arts.
Both Baron and Riven are entrepreneurial. Unafraid to take a challenge, they have provided the St. Louis area with a wide variety of affordable arts education programs that benefit all ages and members of the community.