[Congressional Record Volume 152, Number 48 (Thursday, April 27, 2006)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E651]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




          TRIBUTE TO ELIZABETH O'NEILL VERNER AWARD RECIPIENTS

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                         HON. JAMES E. CLYBURN

                           of south carolina

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, April 27, 2006

  Mr. CLYBURN. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to congratulate one of my 
constituents and a South Carolina government agency for winning the 
prestigious 2006 Elizabeth O'Neill Verner Governor's Award for their 
contributions to the arts.
  Mr. David Sennema of Columbia, South Carolina has been selected to 
receive a Lifetime Achievement Award. It is hard to have lived in South 
Carolina in recent years and not have been touched by Mr. Sennema's 
talent and leadership. In his capacity as the first general manager of 
the Columbia Music Festival Association, he developed and directed the 
South Carolina Philharmonic. As the Executive Director of the South 
Carolina Museum Commission, he was instrumental in planning and 
developing the South Carolina State Museum. Mr. Sennema also served as 
the first Executive Director of the South Carolina Arts Commission. His 
career has taken him around the country to universities and to arts 
organizations, including the National Endowment for the Arts. In his 
retirement, Mr. Sennema continues to impact the arts in South Carolina 
by serving on boards and commissions and writing and performing.
  The South Carolina Department of Mental Health has been chosen for 
the Elizabeth O'Neill Verner Governor's Award in the Government 
category for its Art of Recovery program. This innovative program 
enables South Carolinians living with mental illness to exhibit and 
sell their artwork. More than 350 artists, who receive care from the 
South Carolina Department of Mental Health, have benefited from Art of 
Recovery during the five years since its inception. This program has 
helped erase the stigma of having a mental illness, and provided 
participants with a sense of pride and accomplishment.
  Mr. Speaker, I ask you and my colleagues to join me in thanking Mr. 
Sennema and the South Carolina Department of Mental Health for their 
commitment to the arts. As an individual or an agency, we learn through 
these Elizabeth O'Neill Verner Governor Award recipients that art has 
the power to inspire, to teach and to heal.

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