On Friday, during the Southern Cultural Heritage Foundation’s annual meeting, the Landy Teller Champion for Culture and the Arts Award was presented.

Last year, an anonymous gift was made in memory of Teller, who was a founding member and on the Board of Directors of the SCHF. The gift’s intent was to start an endowment that would fund an award to be presented to an individual who contributes to culture and the arts in Vicksburg.

This year, Karen Biedenharn was presented with the award.

“You will never know how much this means to me, especially in this place at this time,” Biedenharn said.

“This is the place that built me. The sisters really saw an artist in me and they let me do crazy things. They also taught me how to inspire children and I am a product of that,” she said.

Teller’s son, Blake Teller presented the award to Biedenharn and said, “Karen is truly a champion of the culture and arts here in Vicksburg.

Biedenharn graduated from St. Aloysius High School and received an elementary education degree from Mississippi College, where she specialized in math, science, special education and art.

Blake Teller said Biedenharn has been involved in the arts locally for many years.

She worked in the Vicksburg Warren School District for 20 years as a teacher and art instructor and is a member of the Vicksburg Art Association and Mississippi Art Education Association, he said.

In 1999, Biedenharn began helping with the SCHC’s River City Kids Free After School program, Blake Teller said, and has since helped expand the children’s programs to include summer art camps.

Prior to the award presentation, Blake Teller reiterated the success of the SCHC and how his father had been intent on giving back to the community he loved.

The president of the SCHF Board Nancy Bell said in a press release that Landy Teller had been instrumental in SCHC.

“In the early days when there were just a few who believed that you could turn a block of old buildings into a cultural center that could support, Teller had been a “rock,” Bell said.

“He believed that it needed to be done and could be done and because his counsel was so well respected, he was able to encourage those people who we needed in order to make the project a success, to get on board. Landy was always available to answer legal questions, to write contracts, or to provide whatever support he could to all of our directors. He always had an encouraging word for our staff. We would not be where we are today without the leadership of Landy Teller,” Bell said.