The 2008 Russel Wright Award Luncheon and Auction was held from noon until 3:30 on Sunday, October 5 at The Garrison in Garrison, NY.
2008 RUSSEL WRIGHT AWARDS RECOGNIZE Lara Hedberg Deam, Anne and Constantine Sidamon-Eristoff.
Since 2000, Manitoga's Russel Wright Award has recognized individuals, institutions and companies that carry forward Wright's legacy in modern design, landscape design and environmentalism.
Lara Hedberg Deam, visionary founder of Dwell magazine, will receive the Russel Wright Award for setting a new standard of excellence in communicating both environmental and modernist principles and the creative concepts that reflect Russel Wright's design philosophy, Good Design is for Everyone.
Dwell, launched in 2000, champions an aesthetic in home design that is modern, idea-driven and sensitive to social and physical surroundings. In founding Dwell, Deam hoped to support collaboration between architect and client so that the art of architecture can have greater influence in our culture. Dwell works to help minimize the impact of housing on the environment by making information about green projects and smaller homes more widely accessible.
Rob Forbes, founder of Design Within Reach and 2003 Russel Wright Award winner, will present the 2008 Award to Lara Deam.
Anne and Constantine Sidamon-Eristoff will receive the Russel Wight Award for their extraordinary contributions to environmental conservation in the Hudson Valley and throughout the nation.
Anne has served as chairwoman of the American Museum of Natural History and the New York Community Trust and as secretary of the World Wildlife Fund/US, three organizations with continuing traditions of leadership in environmental science and protection. Locally, she is on the boards of Black Rock Forest, Highland Falls Library, and Storm King Art Center.
"Connie" Sidamon-Eristoff is an environmental attorney who served as Environmental Protection Agency Regional Administrator under William K. Reilly during the senior Bush Administration. He is currently chairman of Audubon New York and on the Board of National Audubon.
Carol Ash, Commissioner of NY State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation, previously Director of Palisades Interstate Park Commission, and 2005 Russel Wright Award winner, will present the 2008 Award to Anne and Connie Sidamon-Eristoff.