PHILADELPHIA, PA.- The 2009 Visionary Woman Awards will honor two exceptional women who will leave an enduring mark on Philadelphia: Nancy Kolb and Billie Tsien.

The awards will be held on Wednesday, October 7, 2009 from 6:00 pm to 9:00 pm at Moore College of Art & Design.

Since 2003, the Visionary Woman Awards has become a widely recognized event that honors women whose work and leadership have had a powerful influence on the visual arts.

As president and CEO of the Please Touch Museum , Nancy Kolb has brought new life and energy to a section of Fairmount Park by restoring historic Memorial Hall. As one of the architects of the new Barnes on the Parkway, Billie Tsien will create a transformative milestone in the cultural life of the Philadelphia.

Nancy Kolb
President, Please Touch Museum
Nancy Kolb is president and CEO of the Please Touch Museum , the only children’s museum in the region. She recently directed the museum’s relocation and significant expansion into Memorial Hall. Kolb inspired support from all over the community to renovate and restore Memorial Hall, one of the first Beaux Arts style buildings in the United States and the largest remaining building from the US Centennial of 1876.

Kolb previously served as assistant executive director for the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission and on the board of the Greater Philadelphia Cultural Alliance. She received her undergraduate degree in history and biology from Bucknell University and is a graduate of the Getty Museum Management Institute.

Billie Tsien
Architect
Billie Tsien is an internationally recognized architect whose firm Tod Williams Billie Tsien Architects has been selected to design the new building for the Barnes Foundation on the Parkway. Tsien’s firm is known for award-winning work that bridges art and architecture.

Tsien and Williams have designed major projects that have won National AIA Honor Awards, including the natatorium at the Cranbrook School and the Neurosciences Institute in La Jolla, CA . Their design for the American Folk Art Museum received the Arup World Architecture award for Best Building in the World in 2002. Tsien received her undergraduate degree in Fine Arts from Yale in 1971 and her Master in Architecture from UCLA in 1977. She has taught at Parsons, Yale, Harvard Graduate School of Design, the University of Texas at Austin and the University of Pennsylvania. She shares with Tod Williams the Louis I. Kahn Chair at Yale.