Alice L. Smith, Booker T. Scruggs II to be honored
The Ruth Holmberg Arts Leadership Award was created by ArtsBuild in 2014 to recognize an individual who has made significant contributions to the arts in Chattanooga and is actively engaged in the cultural life of the community.
ArtsBuild, the local agency that seeks to strengthen the community through the arts, will honor Alice L. Smith and Booker T. Scruggs II during the 2018 Ruth Holmberg Arts Leadership Award presentation on March 13.
“Both Alice Smith and Booker Scruggs have demonstrated exceptional leadership and have made lasting contributions in our community,” says ArtsBuild President Dan Bowers.
“ArtsBuild is thrilled to be able to honor these two outstanding leaders in the arts with this award.”
The award was created by ArtsBuild in 2014 as the Arts Leadership Award to recognize an individual who has made significant contributions to the arts in Chattanooga and is actively engaged in the cultural life of the community. The first award honored Holmberg, who died in 2017, for her support of the city’s arts and cultural community over the past 70 years. The award has borne Holmberg’s name since that first year.
ArtsBuild will host the March event at the Hunter Museum of American Art.
Smith is an active arts advocate and community volunteer who has been active in many causes, especially the Chattanooga Theatre Centre. Her board service in the 1980s and ’90s culminated in leading a capital campaign that funded the theater’s multimillion-dollar expansion and renovation.
The project included a new scene shop, costume room and dressing room, plus additional offices and education space, allowing the Theatre Centre to broaden its programs. Smith also has been active onstage at the CTC, appearing in numerous shows including “Noises Off,” “Lettice and Lovage” and “Doubt.”
She also served on the city’s Public Art Committee and as a board member of the Lyndhurst Foundation, ArtsBuild and the Center for Mindful Living. She has continued her support of the arts through her family’s Footprint Foundation.
She and her husband, Alfred, also support other arts organizations, including the Hunter Museum, the Chattanooga Symphony & Opera and the Southern Lit Alliance.
James O. Kennedy, board president of the Chattanooga Theatre Centre, nominated Smith for the award. “Arts advocacy takes many forms. Just about all of them can be found in Alice Smith. Patron, poet, actress, board member, funder and fundraiser, she has worn all these hats with distinction,” Kennedy said.
ArtsBuild will bestow a special posthumous award this year to honor Scruggs, who died this past summer.
Scruggs was a wellknown educator, musician, philanthropist and arts advocate in Chattanooga. A native of Chattanooga, he graduated from Howard High School and received bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Clark College in Atlanta. Scruggs was the director of the Upward Bound program at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga for 36 years and an adjunct sociology professor at UTC.
Scruggs also had a career as a jazz musician and played in the Chattanooga Clarinet Choir, the Chattanooga Gospel Choir, Spectrum Jazz Band and the Maxtiam Trio. Through sales of his CDs, he raised more than $10,000 for student scholarships.
Scruggs also was active in community organizations such as the NAACP, Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity and served as a board member and volunteer for the Southern Lit Alliance. Additionally, he produced and hosted a long-running television program, “Point of View,” which addressed community issues such as arts and education.
The 2018 Ruth Holmberg Arts Leadership Award is sponsored by First Tennessee Bank. For more information visit www.artsbuild.com or call 423-756-2787. Tickets for the event will be available beginning in mid-January.