GO Art!’s annual award winners include 2 from Orleans
Lynne Menz to get Lifetime Achievement award, while Albion group supporting Bullard Park named “Organization of the Year”

Photos by Tom Rivers: Lynne Menz speaks on Sept.7, 2019 during a dedication ceremony for a bronze statue and memorial to the soldiers who trained at the Medina Armory, which is now a YMCA on pearl Street in Medina. Menz’s late father, Bill Menz, had the vision for the monument and pushed to get it done.

Provided photo: This lamppost was made from old, discarded steel from the lift bridge in Albion. Bill Schutt turned it into a lamppost that is now at Albion’s Erie Canal Park between the two lift bridges.
The Genesee-Orleans Regional Arts Council has announced the winners of the annual Genean Awards for artists, cultural supporters and organizations in Genesee and Orleans counties.
Lynne Menz of Point Breeze will receive a Lifetime Achievement Award for her many years with the Orleans County Tourism Department, and as a very active volunteer with the Oak Orchard Neighborhood Association, Friends of the Orleans County Marine Park, Oak Orchard Lighthouse Association and Medina Sandstone Society.
Menz helped her father, the late Bill Menz, make a bronze statue of a soldier a reality outside the YMCA in Medina, which formerly was used as the Medina Armory to train soldiers.
GO Art! has named Bill Schutt of Basom, Genesee County as its “Individual Artist of the Year.” One of his projects was creating a lamppost in Albion that was made from old discarded steel from the Main Street lift bridge. He makes art from recycled metal.
The Greater Albion Community Recreation and Events Inc., a not-for-profit organization, will be honored by GO Art! as its “Organization of the Year.”
G-ACRE runs the annual Rock the Park – Albion Summer Music Festival, featuring about a dozen bands and performers over two days in August. G-ACRE also has been a fundraising arm for recent improvements at the park, including new basketball and pickleball courts.
The Genean Awards will be presented at 6 p.m. on March 28 at GO Art!, 201 East Main St., Batavia.
The awards include:
- Lifetime Achievement in Orleans County: Lynne Menz
- Lifetime Achievement in Genesee County: Maryanne Arena
- Supporter (of the Cultural Sector) of the Year: Raeann Engler
- Individual Artist of the Year: Bill Schutt
- Honorable Mention: Lily Renz
- Organization of the Year: Greater Albion Community Recreation & Events, Inc. (G-ACRE)
- Volunteer of the Year: Andrea Hofmaster

Basketball players try out the new courts in Albion on Oct. 26, 2023, the day the courts opened. The Greater Albion Recreation Committee and Events Inc. secured the funding for the project.


















