Anthony Caponi, the sculptor and retired Macalester College art professor who founded Caponi Art Park in Eagan in 1987, is one of the winners of the 21st annual Sally Awards. Caponi, who also is an environmentalist and writer, was honored Monday night in St. Paul for his commitment, one of five categories in the awards named for philanthropist and civic leader Sally Ordway Irvine.

The awards are administered by the Ordway Center.

"When I was getting the sculpture park going, I was being an honest person, doing something that I believed in and practicing what I preached," Caponi, 92, said Monday. "You can find beauty in anything and anywhere. My park stresses that, and that's something I've learned over these 92 years."

Theater co-leaders Faye Price and Noël Raymond, of the 22-year-old Pillsbury House theater and neighborhood center, won the Sally for initiative. They were cited for their integration of theater with social services such as affordable day care and after-school programming. They serve more than 24,000 people annually.

Arts leader David J. Fraher and Arts Midwest, the organization he has headed for 36 years, were given the award for arts access. Arts Midwest sponsors and organizes tours of first-rate concerts and artists to underserved communities.

Painter Jimmy Longoria was given the award for vision. Texas-born Longoria founded a youth mentoring organization, Mentoring Peace Through Art, that is partly a way to diminish graffiti by offering colorful art in urban neighborhoods.

Noël Raymond

The Hillcrest Community School of Bloomington, which won the education award, was cited for its use of the arts in learning.

Rohan Preston • 612-673-4390