Five to Receive the First Los Angeles Honors for Lifetime Arts Achievements

The first Los Angeles Honors for lifetime achievements in the arts will be presented at the Beverly Hilton Hotel today to arts luminaries Eli Broad, Gordon Davidson, Ernest Fleischmann, Bella Lewitzky and Robert Wise.

Every big city hands out arts honors “and it’s time we got on that level,” said Jacqueline Kronberg, executive director of the Los Angeles Arts Council, which is presenting the awards. The Los Angeles Honors replace the Armand Hammer Award, which the council has given to philanthropists for the last nine years.

Visual-art recipient Eli Broad in 1984 used his personal art collection to establish the Eli Broad Family Foundation, which lends works from the last quarter of the 20th Century to 100 museums and university galleries worldwide.

Theater recipient Davidson is the artistic director of the Center Theatre Group/Mark Taper Forum and producing director of the Center Theatre Group/Ahmanson.

Recognized in the category of music is Fleischmann, executive vice president and managing director of the Los Angeles Philharmonic Assn, while dance recipient Lewitzky is artistic director of the Lewitzky Dance Company.

Cinema recipient and director Wise has 38 motion pictures (including “West Side Story” and “The Sound of Music”) to his credit, but Kronberg said he is being honored for his service to the industry, noting Wise’s posts as former president of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, former president of the Directors Guild of America and current vice chairman of the board of the American Film Institute.

Mayor Tom Bradley was originally scheduled for recognition in the community service field, but because schedule conflicts prevent him from attending today’s luncheon, he will receive his award next year, Kronberg said.

Each Los Angeles Honors recipient will receive a foot-tall crystal sculpture, designed by Kronberg, depicting the Los Angeles skyline, the ocean and a palm tree.