Art Everywhere Founder Richard Reed Awarded the 24th Montblanc de la Culture Arts Patronage Award

LONDON, June 26, 2015 /PRNewswire/ --

The Award Recognizes the Outstanding Contributions of Modern Day Patrons in 11 Countries

Last night Richard Reed was honoured at the prestigious Montblanc de la Culture Arts Patronage Award, held at the Getty Images Gallery in recognition of his founding and support of Art Everywhere, which for the last two years transformed the nation's streets into outdoor galleries. Dr Stephen Deuchar, Director of the Art Fund, Vanessa Branson, Caroline Collier from the Tate and Gemma Clarke of ArtsMediaPeople were just a few of the guests who joined Richard to celebrate the success of the project. Interstellar actor David Gyasi and Fortitude star Nicholas Pinnock also attended the evening in support of Art Everywhere and Richard's achievement.

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Reed said, "I'm proud to accept this year's Montblanc Award on behalf of the team at Art Everywhere, the global arts movement that exists for the sole aim of flooding our streets with art, celebrating the artistic legacy of each country. Art is for everyone and that's why we want to see it everywhere."

Richard Reed received the award from Chairman of the Montblanc Cultural Foundation Mr. Lutz Bethge. As the winner of the Montblanc de la Culture Arts Patronage Award, he received €15,000 that he has chosen to donate to the Art Fund, to help further their mission to keep great works of British art in the UK and in public collections and to First Story for their brilliant work in sending successful novelists into tough inner city schools to help children find their voice and confidence through creative writing classes. In addition to this, he was presented with a Limited Edition Patron of the Arts Montblanc fountain pen specially designed and created for the 11 winners of the twenty-fourth edition of the award.

This year, the Montblanc Patron of Art Luciano Pavarotti Limited Edition is a writing tribute to the great opera icon who not only made opera fascinating for broader audiences, but also proved himself as a committed humanitarian, and patron of the arts. Away from the limelight of world stages, Pavarotti dedicated much of his time to nurturing young up-and-coming singers with free private singing lessons.

The Montblanc de la Culture Arts Patronage Award was established in 1992 to honour and support patrons of the arts who have made exceptional contributions to artists and their work. Every year, a select group of winners are chosen from a shortlist by an international jury of artists and art influencers. The jury, a sophisticated and passionate network of the art world's most creative individuals, is brought together by the Montblanc Cultural Foundation to share thoughts and carefully evaluate the candidates in each country before casting their votes. The winning patrons must demonstrate a history of personal commitment to the arts and a concern that the wider public should benefit from cultural projects. Past recipients of the award include HRH The Prince of Wales, Russian maestro Valery Gergiev, American musician Quincy Jones, Italian architect Renzo Piano and Japanese artist Yoko Ono.

About Montblanc  

For over 100 years, Montblanc has embraced the traditions of lasting value and exquisite craftsmanship. The Maison's uncompromising principles of design, style, quality and workmanship have allowed it to create heirloom collections that are passed from generation to generation. The iconic Montblanc Emblem is a symbol of excellence - the pinnacle of luxury writing instruments, timepieces, leather, accessories, fragrances and sunglasses - and the Maison has made an enduring commitment to encourage excellence through cultural advancement. Montblanc has its roots in writing culture and therefore sees a particular obligation to its own cultural commitment. Through various international activities, the Maison makes a creative contribution to modern cultural life: Montblanc itself writes a small piece of cultural history.

Richard Reed is being honoured for founding and supporting the Art Everywhere project, which is the world's largest art show. Art Everywhere transformed Britain's streets into the world's biggest open air gallery, with 30,000 sites, including public transport, displaying 25 works of art selected by the public via the project's website. The project was subsequently successfully rolled out nationwide in the U.S.A. and has had interest from a number of other countries around the world including Australia who would like to mirror the initiative locally.

For further information please contact:

Anita Borvankar
PR Manager - UK & Ireland
Anita.Borvankar@montblanc.co.uk
+44(0)208-332-4574

SOURCE Montblanc