judges for the 52nd kentuck festival of the arts
American Visionary Art Museum Director Emeritus & Former Florida Secretary of State to Judge 2023 Festival
Kentuck Art Center is excited to welcome Rebecca Hoffberger and The Honorable Glenda E. Hood as judges for the 52nd Kentuck Festival of the Arts on October 14-15, 2023 at Kentuck Park in Northport, Alabama.
Judges award a total of $12,200 to exhibiting artists at the Kentuck Festival of the Arts. On Saturday, October 14, Judges will numerically score exhibiting artists based on quality, originality, design, composition, technique, and overall presentation.
Photos by Chris Myers
rebecca hoffberger
Founder, Director Emeritus of American Visionary Art Museum
Rebecca Alban Hoffberger is the Founder and Director Emeritus of the American Visionary Art Museum (AVAM). A life-long devotee of the power of intuition and fresh thought, Hoffberger was accepted into college at age 15, though chose instead mime Marcel Marceau's personal invitation to become his first American apprentice in Paris. By 19, she had co-founded her own ballet company and by 21, was a sought-after consultant to a broad spectrum of nonprofits, including research and development scientific companies. At 25, Hoffberger was awarded the title of “Dame” for her work to establish medical field hospitals in Nigeria. She studied alternative and folk medicine in Mexico. Returning to the States, Hoffberger served on the Board of the Elisabeth Kubler-Ross Center in Virginia and worked as Development Director at the Sinai Hospital Department of Psychiatry for People Encouraging People, where she first conceived her unique national visionary museum/education center.
In recognition of distinguished achievement in the museum field, Hoffberger was awarded the 2011 Katherine Coffey Award by the Mid-Atlantic Association of Museums. Hoffberger has received Honorary Doctorates from the Maryland Institute College of Art, Stevenson University, Pennsylvania College of Art and Design, and McDaniel College, as well as awarded Loyola College's Andrew White Award—the school’s highest civic honor—the College of Notre Dame Sarah's Circle Award, and selected as Franklin & Marshall College's Conrad Nelson Lecturer. She is an inductee into the Maryland Women's Hall of Fame, a winner of the Urban Land Institute's National Award for Excellence, Israel Bonds' Golda Meir Award, and the first recipient of the Sir Arthur C. Clarke Vision and Imagination Award. Among many honors in recognition of her human rights activism, Hoffberger has won the On Our Own mental health national anti-stigma Visionary Award, the Urban League's Whitney M. Young, Jr. Honoree for Outstanding Community Involvement & Support for Equal Opportunity, Maryland YWCA President's Award, and was principal curator celebrating playwright's Eve Ensler's BIG LOVE New Orleans 10th Anniversary of “The Vagina Monologues” that had raised $50 million to help global women anti-violence programs. Hoffberger's Seven Education Goals provided the founding mission for the young activist organization, The Lower Eastside Girls Club, New York City. She has been an international keynote conference speaker at the Tate Modern and at India's Rock Garden.
Of her more recent honors, they include the prestigious Visionary Award from the American Folk Art Museum in 2017, the 2019 Images and Voices of Hope Journalism Award, induction into the Baltimore Jewish Hall of Fame, and the 2019 Roger D. Redden Award from the Baltimore Architecture Foundation for her “significant role and many accomplishments in advancing Baltimore’s built environment and cultural community through the American Visionary Art Museum."
The titles to Rebecca's exhibitions sum up beautifully both her personal philosophy and passion: "ALL FAITHS BEAUTIFUL: From Atheism to Zoroastrianism, Respect for Diversity of Belief," "The Marriage of Art, Science & Philosophy," and "Race, Class & Gender: Three things that contribute '0' to CHARACTER, because being a schmuck is an equal opportunity for everyone!”
glenda hood
President of Hood Partners LLC
The Honorable Glenda E. Hood is President of Hood Partners LLC, a strategic consulting firm focused on civic innovation serving the business, government and independent sectors.
Hood served as Florida Secretary of State from 2003-2005 and Mayor/CEO of the City of Orlando from 1992-2003. Before being elected Orlando’s first woman Mayor, she was a City Councilmember for 10 years and president of her own public relations business.
As Mayor, Hood was a strong advocate of growth management and smart growth principles to build safe, livable neighborhoods, a revitalized downtown and a strong local economy. Under her leadership, the City’s land area grew by 50 percent; older and historic in-town neighborhoods were revitalized; compatible new mixed-use infill was constructed; the city’s largest parks initiative developed new parks and refurbished existing ones; unprecedented partnerships in education were established; transportation alternatives were championed; Orlando became a high-tech center and competitive world market; and the arts became a civic priority.
Hood spearheaded the redevelopment plan for the Orlando Naval Training Center, the most ambitious economic development project in the City’s history which has been recognized as one of the country’s best examples of reuse of former government properties and a model for incorporating all elements of smart growth and civic engagement. She has been a key advisor on domestic security and disaster preparedness for the State of Florida and federal Department of Homeland Security.
The Orlando Sentinel has referred to Hood as a “tireless visionary” with “marketing savvy”, “tenacity and experience”.
As Secretary of State, Hood was responsible for the Department’s Divisions of Administrative Services, Corporations, Cultural Affairs, Elections, Historical Resources, and Library and Information Services; and was instrumental in crafting the State’s Strategic Plan for Economic Development and leading numerous international business initiatives.
Hood has served as President of the National League of Cities, the Florida League of Cities, and Chair of the Florida Chamber of Commerce. She has been a Trustee of the Urban Land Institute (ULI) and active participant and chair of more than 20 ULI Advisory Services and Daniel Rose Center for Public Leadership panels; a Fellow of the National Academy of Public Administration; and long-standing board member and Past Chair of Partners for Livable Communities.
Hood serves as a corporate board member of Delta Apparel (NYSE: DLA), Baskerville-Donovan, Inc., and chairs both the SantaFe HealthCare, Inc. and Axiom Bank, NA, boards. She chairs the Small Business Council and is a board member of the Florida Chamber of Commerce and is also on the board of the Orlando Land Trust, Alabama’s Kentuck Art Center and Festival,
and the regional organization, South Arts, in partnership with the National Endowment for the Arts and State Arts Agencies to advance Southern vitality through the arts.
Hood received her BA degree in Spanish from Rollins College after studying in Costa Rica and Spain. She attended the Harvard University Kennedy School of Government Executive Program, and participated in the Mayor’s Urban Design Institute at the University of Virginia and the Society of International Business Fellows.
A fifth generation Floridian, Glenda and her husband, Charles, have been married for 51 years and are blessed with three married children and eleven grandchildren.