Basque Museum Director to be Honored
Basque Museum Director Patty A. Miller to be honored by Idaho Humanities Council Friday, February 19th
The IHC will honor Basque Museum and Cultural Center Director Patty A. Miller with IHC’s Award for “Outstanding Achievement in the Humanities” at a dessert reception and award presentation ceremony on Friday, February 19th, 8:00 p.m., at the Basque Cultural Center, 6th and Grove Streets, in Boise.
The award, presented to Miller for her longstanding commitment to the public humanities and her work to promote greater public understanding of Basque history and culture, carries with it a $1,000 honorarium.
A third-generation Idahoan of Basque ancestry, Patty was a founding board member of the Basque Museum in 1985, and was asked to be the Executive Director of Boise’s Basque Museum & Cultural Center in 1993. Over the years, she’s been instrumental in helping to develop the Basque Block as a cultural jewel for the City of Boise. Her work has strengthened the Basque community in so many ways—from preserving buildings and teaching the Basque language, to developing interpretive exhibits that enhance greater awareness, appreciation, and understanding of Idaho history and Basque culture in particular. She has been involved over the years in the Oinkari Basque Dancers (1976–1987), Biotzetik Basque Choir (1986-2004), and Gaupasa Basque Folk Band (1996-2006). At the heart of every organization is someone who inspires it to be all it can be. For the Basque Museum and Cultural Center, that person is Patty A. Miller.
What Patty has done for the Basque Museum has been instructive as well to members of the Idaho Association of Museums, which elected her President of the organization in 2006. A graduate of Boise High School and the University of Idaho, she has devoted her life to the Basque community. In the words of Bishop Kelly President and IHC Board Member Dave Lachiondo, in addition to her accomplishments, Patty is “wonderfully kind, relentlessly upbeat, incredibly humble . . . and a fantastic ambassador for the Basque community, the City of Boise, the State of Idaho, and the human race.”
Community activist and fellow IHC board member Alice Hennessey, Boise, concurs: “I want to emphasize Patty’s work ethic,” Hennessey says. “She has never worried about the wording of her job description. She’s endlessly generous with her time and experience in helping other museums in the state to learn to grow. Sharing is essentially her middle name. She welcomes groups to the Basque Museum and Cultural Center with the same warmth and hospitality that she would show visitors to her own home.”
On the evening of the award ceremony, several colleagues will speak about Patty’s work in the humanities, and then she will say a few words about her work over the years.
“Patty Miller has done tremendous service for the public humanities in Idaho,” says IHC Chair Jeff Fox, Executive Vice President and Chief Academic Officer at the College of Southern Idaho, Twin Falls. “The Basque Museum has done some great work over the years, but we want to be clear that this is an award to Patty herself, and the IHC looks forward to honoring her among her family and friends on February 19.”
The Idaho Humanities Council has presented its award for “Outstanding Achievement in the Humanities” annually since 1986. Previous recipients of the award have included University of Idaho Law Professor Dennis Colson, independent historian Keith Petersen, Twin Falls anthropologist James Woods, former Governor Robert E. Smylie, College of Idaho Professor Louie Attebery, State Historian Merle Wells, Idaho State University English Professor Brian Attebery, Moscow writer Mary Clearman Blew, Idaho poet William Studebaker, historian Arthur Hart, Nez Perce elder Horace Axtell, former Lewis-Clark State College English Professor Keith Browning, Idaho State University History Professor Ron Hatzenbuehler, and others.
For More Information: http://idahohumanities.org/?p=news_item&id=79 |
