{"id":22956,"date":"2024-08-07T15:51:16","date_gmt":"2024-08-07T19:51:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/?p=22956"},"modified":"2024-08-07T15:51:17","modified_gmt":"2024-08-07T19:51:17","slug":"legal-support-of-arts-community","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/legal-support-of-arts-community\/","title":{"rendered":"Alum Hits the Right Notes With Legal Support of Arts Community\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Kalamazoo College Trustee Emeritus Ralph Wellington \u201968 recently received the 2024 Philadelphia Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts (PVLA) Award for Exceptional Service. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In addition to providing pro bono legal services for artists and small arts organizations in the Philadelphia area for many years, Wellington served on the PVLA board from 1993\u20132003, including two years as president, and from 2020\u20132024. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Wellington received the award during PVLA\u2019s annual benefit celebration, The Arts Affair 2024, on June 5 at the University of the Arts in Philadelphia.\u202f <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt was very moving,\u201d Wellington said. \u201cI\u2019m not the only person who has donated a lot of time over the years. It\u2019s not why you do something like this, but it was touching to be appreciated by the board and others for the service, and to have my son and daughter-in-law and a lot of people from the community there.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Growing up in Three Rivers, Michigan, Wellington absorbed the lesson \u201cdo what you can for other people\u201d from his parents. \u201cThat was just who they were,\u201d he said. \u201cI grew up with that around me, and my siblings echo that as well.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

After graduating from K with a degree in political science<\/a> and earning his J.D. at the University of Michigan, Wellington joined prominent Philadelphia law firm Schnader Harrison Segal & Lewis.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI was with that firm for 52 and a half years, and the firm was very prominent in doing public service work,\u201d Wellington said. \u201cThe firm chairman, Bernard Segal, co-founded the nonprofit Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights Under Law to organize people to go down south and fight for desegregation. Donating time and services was part of the culture, so that was part of what I grew up with in the law.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In addition to being a lawyer, Wellington is a musician, and he quickly got involved with PVLA when it was founded in 1978. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI love artists and musicians, and what they provide to the communities that they’re in, yet they’re not as financially supported as many other organizations,\u201d he said. \u201cThis nonprofit was created to make sure that artists\u2014both visual artists and people involved in all the artistic creations of the world\u2014and small art organizations would have legal services available to them on a pro bono basis, because they support the community and add to all our lives.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

One memorable case with PVLA involved a prominent painter in Russia many years ago, who was brought to the United States by a New York art group that took his paintings and abandoned him. He ended up in Philadelphia. Wellington and PVLA took on the matter, filed a lawsuit and got his paintings returned. He then became respected in the United States. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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\"Ralph
According to the Philadelphia Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts, the 2024 PVLA Award for Exceptional Service presented to Ralph Wellington \u201968 in June honors him \u201cnot only for his professional achievements but also for his unwavering support and advocacy for the arts. His contributions have had a profound impact on the cultural landscape of Philadelphia, and his legacy will continue to inspire future generations of legal professionals and artists alike.\u201d <\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n