Jorma Kaukonen’s Fur Peace Ranch Recognized with Governor’s Award
COLUMBUS, Ohio – Eight award recipients have been announced by the Ohio Arts Council in recognition of their impactful and visionary leadership in Ohio’s creative sector and sustained dedication to promoting artistic excellence. One of the recipients is Jorma Kaukonen’s Fur Peace Ranch of Meigs County. The awardees will be honored at a luncheon and ceremony on Wednesday, March 25, 2020, at 11 a.m. at the Columbus Athenaeum in downtown Columbus.
Jorma Kaukonen’s Fur Peace Ranch was initially built in 1989 as “a ranch that grows guitar players,” but it has since transformed into so much more. Founded by Jorma and Vanessa Kaukonen, the former of whom performed with Jefferson Airplane and still performs regularly with Hot Tuna, Fur Peace Ranch is an immersive music camp, conference center, concert venue, and art gallery located in Meigs County. Designed as a place where musicians can come together and draw inspiration from their creative surroundings, the ranch hosts students who stay in cabins, participate in group jam sessions, and attend music classes. Beyond the connections created over the course of music-filled weekends, Fur Peace Ranch also unites the broader community with outreach and engagement efforts taking place throughout Southeast Ohio.
Guided by the belief in the power of music to promote peace and change lives for the better, Fur Peace Ranch supports local artists, farmers, and businesses; brings national recording artists to local audiences through a recurring concert series that is simulcast on WOUB’s “Live from Jorma Kaukonen’s Fur Peace Ranch” every Friday; and promotes the reach of the arts throughout Southeast Ohio and beyond.
Other recipients are:
- ARTS ADMINISTRATION – Lora Lynn Snow is the founder and executive director of the Ariel-Ann Carson Dater Performing Arts Centre in Gallipolis, home of the Ohio Valley Symphony
- ARTS EDUCATION – Nigel Burgoine, artistic director of the Ballet Theatre of Toledo, is a classical ballet instructor and choreographer
- ARTS PATRON – The Charles H. Dater Foundation was founded in 1985 to make grants to organizations in the Greater Cincinnati area that carry out projects benefitting young people in the areas of arts and culture, education, healthcare, social services, and other community needs
- BUSINESS SUPPORT OF THE ARTS – Nicolettecinemagraphicsis a two-person digital media business based in Columbus that has supported the arts in myriad ways since it was founded by filmmakers Nicolette and Matt Swift in 2006
- COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT & PARTICIPATION – Joan Perch began her career as an arts educator and owner of several successful art galleries in downtown Cleveland
- INDIVIDUAL ARTIST – Jesse Ayers, DMA, is an award-winning composer and a professor of music at Malone University in Canton, Ohio
- INDIVIDUAL ARTIST – Andy Snow has worked as a professional photographer for more than 40 years after becoming fascinated with photography while finishing his philosophy degree at Princeton University