Suzanne Magaziner’s service to the Rhode Island arts scene is rooted in a longtime appreciation for the state’s award-winning repertory company.

“I have loved Trinity Rep since my husband and I moved to Rhode Island as newlyweds nearly forty years ago,” wrote Ms. Magaziner, a Bristol resident, in an emailed statement. “At that time, I was captivated by the plays that Adrian Hall and his company of resident actors produced on stage, but over time I came to realize that Trinity Rep was so much more than that.”

As a longtime patron and current board chair, Ms. Magaziner has had a direct hand in the many ways Trinity has been able to make the arts accessible to the broader Rhode Island community. She cited Trinity’s landmark Project Discovery, which has introduced nearly 1.5 million students to the magic of live theater; the Trinity Rep Active Imagination Network, which serves more than 850 students on the autism spectrum or those with physical or cognitive disabilities; as well as arts integration programming which has served several hundred students in Providence Public Schools.

She also noted that for the past three summers, Trinity has brought live bilingual theater to the city’s parks and public spaces as part of their free Teatro en el Verano program.

In addition to Ms. Magaziner, honorees include artist and creator of WaterFire Barnaby Evans and Rhode Island Latino Arts founder Marta V. Martínez, who will each receive a Rhode Island Pell Award for Excellence in the Arts. The Pell Award for Outstanding Leadership in the Arts will go to Trudy Coxe, executive director of the Preservation Society of Newport County.

Trinity Rep’s Pell Awards were established in 1997 to honor the legacy of Sen. Claiborne Pell and recognize artistic excellence in Rhode Island and the New England region as well as on the national level.

“For 24 years, Trinity Rep has honored Senator Claiborne Pell’s visionary dedication to the arts and humanities by recognizing remarkable arts leaders and practitioners across the nation and in Rhode Island,” said Curt Columbus, Trinity’s artistic director. “Suzanne, Marta, Barnaby, and Trudy have made an enormous impact on our state, demonstrating the significant impact that a life spent in dedication to creativity, community, and philanthropy can make.”

“I am deeply honored to be this year’s recipient of the Charles Sullivan Pell Award for Distinguished Service to the Arts,” Ms. Magaziner continued. “Helping Trinity’s incomparable management, artists and staff produce their magic has been a great privilege these past several years. I look forward to continuing to be of service to this great cultural and educational institution, especially as we reflect back on the lessons we will have learned during these unprecedented times. I have no doubt that Trinity Rep will play an important role in those conversations and stories to come.”

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