Community Foundation Awards Poetic X 2011 G. Scott Griffin Award

Community Foundation Awards Poetic X 2011 G. Scott Griffin Award

Award honors artists that have overcome diversity and support local community

Shreveport, La (August 4, 2011) – The Community Foundation has named spoken word artist Hugh Hamilton, who is better known as Poetic X, as its 2011 G. Scott Griffin Award. The award is given annually by The Foundation to a local artist, in any media, who has overcome adversity to make a contribution to the community in the execution of his or her art. Poetic X was also given a $1000 cash prize as part of the award.

The award is named in honor of G. Scott Griffin, who was a multi-disciplinary, multi-media artist with accomplishments in musical composition, multi-instrumental performance, photography, videography, digital enhancement of art and cinematography. Because of these achievements, few people recognized that Griffin had to overcome adversity, coping from childhood with congenital nystagmus (a visual handicap), in the performance of his art. After Griffin died of complications related to cancer on October 7, 2007 at the age of 45, the G. Scott Griffin Award was created to keep his memory alive and to honor those artists who approach their art and life with the same passion and persistence as him.

"Despite facing many challenges, Poetic X has become one of the most promising emerging artists in our community,” said Paula Hickman, executive director of The Community Foundation. "Poetic X not only overcame the circumstances of an abusive home life and physical injuries to produce art, but used his art as the means by which to overcome. These are all key attributes of a G. Scott Griffin Award recipient.”

A panel comprised of representatives from The Community Foundation, the Arts community and Scott Griffin's family and friends selected Poetic X for the 2011 award, as a continuing tribute to Griffin, who not only recognized potential but whose work and life saw its realization. Growing up, Poetic X faced many challenges that made for an uneasy childhood, such as poverty, violence and the serious illness of a close family member. He himself would eventually face serious health issues, including learning to walk again after a tragic auto accident destroyed his kneecap at age 15.

"The panel believed that by recognizing the potential of Poetic X through this award, we would give tribute to Scott's collaborative spirit and determination to overcome adversity, and perhaps inspire others to become mentors, as Scott was, for a new generation of artists,” added Hickman.

Poetic X's unique talent for delivering spoken word poetry has been recognized by the NEA and SRAC, and has been accepted into the Louisiana Touring Directory. He has also produced two albums of his distinctive poetry and has performed at a number of venues in Louisiana and east Texas.

Last year's award winner was the local poet Carlos Colón, who was born with four congenital heart defects and experienced later medical problems including pulmonary disease and a warning stroke. In 2009, local blues legend Buddy Flett received the award after overcoming major challenges after being stricken with viral encephalitis. The award's inaugural winner in 2008 was Bobby Darrow, executive director of the Shreveport Little Theatre, recognized for his significant contributions to community theater despite chronic illness.

Individuals can learn more about the G. Scott Griffin Award by visiting The Community Foundation's website at http://www.nlacf.org/?page=GriffinAward.

About the Community Foundation of North Louisiana

Established in 1961, the Community Foundation of North Louisiana's mission is to strengthen communities through philanthropy. By bringing together fund donors, their financial advisors and nonprofit agencies, the Foundation is a powerful catalyst for building charitable giving and effecting positive change in our area. Through the generosity and vision of our family of donors, both past and present, the Foundation has granted more than $40,000,000 to vital nonprofit organizations since our inception. In our shared endeavor to build a more robust, vibrant community, we fund a variety of critical initiatives, including education, health, arts and culture, and poverty alleviation. Through integrity and sound financial practices, the Foundation has successfully stewarded the philanthropic interests of past donors and is poised to lead the next generation of givers to address the challenges facing our region.

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