[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 156 (2010), Part 12]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages 17377-17378]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                      HONORING ANN MANRY RYNEARSON

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. RUSS CARNAHAN

                              of missouri

                    in the house of representatives

                     Wednesday, September 29, 2010

  Mr. CARNAHAN. Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor Ann Manry 
Rynearson, recently retired Sr. Vice President for Culture and 
Community at the International Institute.
  Ann has spent the bulk of her career building bridges across the 
increasingly diverse cultures of St. Louis. Most notably, Ann co-
founded both the International Folkfest, which was held annually from 
1992 to 2004, and the Festival of Nations, which is now in its 11th 
year.
  Ann has focused on the arts in building those cross-cultural bridges. 
Even though she spent three years directing the Festival of Nations, 
she is actually best known as the Arts Director of both International 
Folkfest and Festival of Nations.
  Her goal has always been to present the very best art forms of each 
culture. She has

[[Page 17378]]

worked to seek out or develop artists and performers who represent 
their own cultural heritages. Over the years, Ann has spent countless 
hours attending arts events around our region. By doing so, she was 
able to identify new and emerging ethnic talent to invite to the 
Institute's festivals.
  Ann's contributions to the ethnic arts and to cultural preservation 
have extended beyond the Institute's annual and truly spectacular 
festivals. She has organized mini-festivals around town, art exhibits, 
and built an extensive database of artists to share with other 
organizations seeking talent for their programs. She is beloved by so 
many in our ethnic communities who have been her colleagues, partners, 
and even her students when she taught English classes at the Institute 
in her early career.
  Therefore, it is with great pleasure today that I formally recognize 
Ann's achievements in front of an audience that is benefiting from her 
dedication to the mission of sharing the very best of our community's 
ethnic arts. Ann has established relationships with ethnic artists and 
their communities that will ensure the festival's continued success and 
that will continue to build and reinforce bridges of cross-cultural 
understanding in our community for many years to come.

                          ____________________