A living professional in the arts who
has contributed significantly to the arts, who was born
in the St. Louis area or spent formative or creative years
in the St. Louis area, and whose accomplishments or contributions
have had a local, national or international impact on our
cultural heritage.
2006
As one of the strongest supporters of the Best Performance
Awards, ARTS FOR LIFE is proud to honor Mary Strauss,
Art Historian, teacher, Broadway producer, philanthropist
and by far one of the most dominant forces in St. Louis
promoting the Arts. Mary Strauss is best known to St.
Louis audiences as the woman who saved the Fabulous Fox
Theatre and helped establish Grand Center, St. Louis’
arts and entertainment district. As one of the co-owners
of the Fox Theatre and Fox Theatricals, she has won three
Tonys and produced a half dozen Broadway shows.
Mary is the founder and president of Art Access, Inc whose
sole mission is to promote classical music. She produced
its first project Eroica!, a documentary film which aired
nationally on PBS and Film Festivals across the country.
A lifetime of promoting and supporting the Arts in St.
Louis, Mary currently serves or has served on countless
Boards which includes the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra,
Dance St. Louis, COCA, National Society of Arts and Letters,
League of Historic American Theatres, Forest Park Forever,
St. Louis University, St. Louis Art Museum, St. Louis
International Film Festival and many, many others. We,
in St. Louis, are truly fortunate to have this outstanding
lady further our culture through her generosity to the
Arts and our community.
Larry Marsh was born and educated in Macon, Missouri and
attended Truman State University where he earned degrees
in History and Political Science. He also earned a Masters
degree in German Literature at New Hampshire University
and studied further as an exchange student at the University
of Goptingen. Afterwards, he served as a Fulbright teacher
at University of Heidelburg. An outstanding educator,
Larry taught History, the Humanities and German at McCluer
North High School in Florissant for thirty-four years.
He was a finalist for Missouri Teacher of the Year in
1985. He has enjoyed tremendous success in conducting,
directing and designing over 80 productions, as well as
serving on the Hawthorne Players Board of Directors. He
has conducted the Northwinds Concert Band for twenty-five
years. Under Larry’s direction, Northwinds enjoyed
a very rewarding concert tour to Germany last summer to
participate in the Lindenburg/Allgaeu Music Festival.
Larry recently retired from teaching at McCluer North
High School, and now teaches German and is the German
Culture Center Coordinator at UMSL. Larry has been director,
conductor, teacher, mentor and friend to thousands of
students and adults. We are thrilled that he has been
selected to receive AFL's Lifetime Achievement Award.
