MILLVILLE, NJ – Wheaton Village has announced that Board of Trustee member, Shirlee Brown, will receive the 2005 Paul Aiken Encore Award at the 10th Annual Encore Awards, May 12, at Caesars Hotel and Casino in Atlantic City, NJ. The event, sponsored by the South Jersey Cultural Alliance (SJCA), honors individuals and organizations that have made significant contributions in support of the arts and cultural heritage community and the member organizations of SJCA.

Wheaton Village president, Susan Gogan, states, “Mrs. Brown has been a member of the Wheaton Village Board of Trustees since 1998. She has provided consistent leadership, commitment and support for the Village and its growing impact on local, regional and national audiences. As an exemplary community leader, she has guided Wheaton Village with her expansive vision combined with a grounded commitment to South Jersey as our home. This Encore Award is being presented to Shirlee by the entire Board and staff, with our heartfelt gratitude for her dedication and support of Wheaton Village.”

Brown serves on the Wheaton Village Board of Trustees Development Committee and the Creative Glass Center of America (located at Wheaton Village) Advisory Board. She was also a founding chair of the Wheaton Village Golf Classic.

The Vineland, NJ resident, Brown describes herself as a dedicated homemaker, who is actively involved in charitable, cultural, community, social, and religious affairs. She is president of Vineland Construction Company, Vineland, NJ.

In 2002, Brown was invited to join Columbia University’s Department of Ophthalmology Advisory Board of the Edward S. Harkness Eye Institute in New York. In 2003, she was appointed to serve on the George P. Luciano Family Center for Public Service and Leadership Advisory Board at Cumberland County College, Vineland, NJ. Brown and her husband co-chair Cumberland County College’s “School Counts” Scholarship Endowment Campaign to fund the college’s scholarships for deserving high school students.

In  2004, due to her many interests in education, community and civic affairs, Brown was awarded an Honorary Associate in Arts Degree from Cumberland County College. It is the highest honor the college can bestow upon an individual. In addition, Dr. Ken Ender, Cumberland County College president, recently invited her to serve on the newly developed committee that will oversee the construction of the long-planned Student Center.

SJCA is a non-profit service organization with over 125 members from the arts, history, and cultural community. The New Jersey State Council has named it a Major Arts Service Organization. SJCA serves non-profit cultural organizations, as well as individual artists located throughout Atlantic, Burlington, Camden, Cape May, Cumberland, Gloucester, Ocean, and Salem Counties. Funding for the SJCA comes from the New Jersey State Council on the Arts, The Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation, membership dues, and private donors.

Wheaton Village is the home of the Museum of American Glass featuring the most comprehensive collection of American glass in the country. The Village includes Glass and Craft Studios, the Down Jersey Folklife Center, Creative Glass Center of America, and five museum stores. For more information, call 800-998-4552 or 856-825-6800, or visit on the web at www.wheatonvillage.org.

Wheaton Village strives to ensure the accessibility of its exhibitions, events and programs to all persons with disabilities. Provide two weeks notice for special accommodations.

Funding has been made possible in part by the New Jersey State Council on the Arts/Department of State, a Partner Agency of the National Endowment for the Arts, and the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation.