Maureen Wheeler AO and Tony Wheeler AO were awarded Melbourne Theatre Company’s 2018 Lifetime Patron Award last night at a special preview event for the Company’s 2019 Season.
In presenting the award MTC Executive Director & Co-CEO Virginia Lovett said, ‘Maureen and Tony are amongst our most dedicated and passionate supporters and we are delighted to present this award in recognition of their role in making MTC the company that it is today.
‘They have been long time supporters of MTC, as audience members, donors and champions of Australian work. It is their philanthropic leadership that helped make our NEXT STAGE Writers’ Program a reality and it is their continued advocacy, generosity and vision that makes them an inspiration to us all.’
Maureen Wheeler said, ‘Tony and I have had a long involvement with MTC, and have watched it grow and become an ever more significant part of the cultural fabric of Melbourne. It is a huge honour to be given this award, it feels somewhat undeserved, but to be recognised by an institution which has given us both so much pleasure over so many years, is incredibly humbling.’
In recognition of their invaluable contribution to MTC, Maureen and Tony were presented with a handmade gold lapel pin compliments of Kozminsky.
In 2015, the MTC Foundation introduced the Lifetime Patron Award to acknowledge and celebrate MTC’s most loyal and extraordinary supporters, and their astonishing generosity that has enriched the arts throughout Victoria and Australia.
MTC’s Season 2019 will be announced to the public on Tuesday 4 September at a launch event at Hamer Hall.
Published on 23 August 2018