Huntington Arts Council Chapin Awards 2024

Please join us for the Chapin Awards 2024 as we celebrate our 61st Anniversary. The Huntington Arts Council will be recognizing two outstanding community leaders, each of whom are acclaimed in their own right for their dedication to the arts. The multimedia celebration will encompass the presentation of Chapin Awards, honorees, distinguished guests, live performances, and raffle prizes.

Following the VIP cocktail hour, we will welcome our general admission audience to open the event. Each honoree will be celebrated with a personalized, not-to-missed performance, that honors their dedication to the arts and humanities.

Please join us for this very special evening celebrating our 61st anniversary and these amazing individuals at the Chapin Awards 2024.

Click here to download the sponsorship and ticket information PDF.

Vip Cocktail Reception 6:00 pm
General Admission 7:00 pm
Screening of South Shore 7:30 pm
Intermission 8:00 pm
Presentation of Chapin Awards with Tribute Performances 8:30 pm
Post Awards Mix and Mingle 9:30 pm  
Evening Concludes 10:00 pm

LESLIE RAMME, Former Executive Director, Harry Chapin Foundation
Chapin Arts and Humanitarian Award

For the past 34 years Leslie has been the Executive Director of the Harry Chapin Foundation whose mission is to support organizations that have demonstrated their ability to dramatically improve the lives and livelihood of people by helping them become self-sufficient. One focus of the Foundation is to support Arts in Education programs along with grassroots art programs that bring the arts into underserved communities. This mission perfectly aligns with the Huntington Arts Council’s mission to enrich the quality of life on Long Island with programs and services that address the needs and interests of artists, cultural organizations and the community. The Huntington Arts Council has been one of the many outstanding organizations that the Harry Chapin Foundation has had the honor to support and fund for many years.

A lifelong resident of Northport, Leslie and her husband have been married 51 years, have 2 children and 6 grandchildren. A graduate of St. Leo University with a degree in Psychology, she was a psychiatric social worker in the Veterans Administration Hospital. Leslie has served as a former Board member of the Junior Welfare League of Huntington and held various, meaningful volunteer positions.

JEREMY DENNIS, Artist & Shinnecock Indian Nation Enrolled Tribal Member 
Chapin Cultural Connector Award

Jeremy Dennis is a contemporary fine art photographer, an enrolled Tribal Member of the Shinnecock Indian Nation in Southampton, NY, and lead artist and founder of the non-profit Ma’s House & BIPOC Art Studio, Inc. on the Shinnecock Reservation. In his work, he explores Indigenous identity, culture, and assimilation.

SOUTH SHORE is a short film inspired by Joseph Conrad's 'The Secret Sharer', about a reclusive live-aboard sailor who comes face to face with the young man who may have killed his son; written and directed by Dexter Strong Buell and produced by Kevin Lopez and Justine Lucas, in association with Aubin Pictures.

Kevin Lopez, a creative force behind several award-winning short documentaries is a recent HAC, NYSCA SCR Grant recipient for the documentary “South Shore”. Kevin has made his mark in independent cinema, producing powerful social dramas like “The Inquisition of Camilo Sanz”, “The Hudson Tribes”, “Paradise City” and the HBO acquired documentary, “Primera”. His documentary work includes “Mind Up”, “Sharing The Stoke”, and “The Mortician Magician”. Kevin passionately advances film and media arts education. As the Founding Principal of Motion Picture Technical High School in Queens, Kevin is uniquely positioned to create enduring pathways between CTE classrooms and the expansive world of Film & Television.

Dexter Strong Buell is known for his work in the feature films The Hudson Tribes and Paradise City as well as numerous award-winning shorts. He's also appeared as Monkey Man in Great Falls by Lee Blessing, and recently performed the role of Claudius in Ophelia’s Ocean, a work for film and stage by Maya Milenovic Workman, funded by the Guggenheim Foundation. Dexter also holds a Certificate in Arts Education from Pratt Institute and was the founding teacher of the Film and Media Studio at the Frank Sinatra School of the Arts where he and Kevin began their creative collaboration.