The USITT Award recognises a lifetime of distinguished contribution to the performing arts or entertainment communities in any capacity. The nomination notes that, in the case of J.R. Clancy, "the USITT Award recognises not just a lifetime but several generations of distinguished contributions to the performing arts and entertainment community".
The award nomination continues, "During this period, they have generously and willingly supported the Institute in many of its endeavours.... Their most recent support came in the way of funding for an initiative to enable secondary schools throughout the country to have their rigging systems inspected to ensure that students are learning in a safe environment. Forward thinking such as this is just one example of the contributions that J.R. Clancy has made to the benefit of the industry."
The award went on to recognise Clancy's contributions to the industry through the recent digitization of 126 years of printed catalogues, which "promises great reward for future scholars interested in the production history of the various branches of the field serviced by Clancy...The Clancy gift of their digitized catalogues will provide similar fodder for future researchers. USITT should consider this singular gift as emblematic of the long tradition of J.R. Clancy in serving the greater entertainment community with their production products."
"On behalf of past and present associates of J. R. Clancy, we are honoured to accept this award and continue our association with USITT's past, present, and future members," said Murphy. "J. R. Clancy has been a member of USITT since 1962, and we see significant value in the organization and its work on behalf of theatre education. We are proud to play a supporting role in this important work."
(Jim Evans)
