Award winning actress Phylicia Rashad to host 16th Annual Urban Wheel Awards
Phylicia Rashad, better known as “Claire Huxtable” from the long-running TV hit series, The Cosby Show, will serve as host of the 16th Annual Urban Wheel Awards, January 8, 2012 at MotorCity Casino Hotel inside the Sound Board theatre during the North American International Auto Show’s (NAIAS) press preview week. The Urban Wheel Awards is the official multicultural event of the NAIAS.
Rashad is expected to bring her artistic talent, elegance, and style to the nation’s only award show that brings together celebrities, automotive executives, industry leaders, international media, government representatives along with the multicultural community to celebrate inclusion in the automotive industry.
”We are excited to have Ms. Rashad join our event as the host,” said Randi Payton, founder and organizer of the Urban Wheel Awards. “Ms. Rashad’s star-studded personality and delivery will be valuable to what has become the Oscar’s of the auto show as we celebrate 16 years of honoring multicultural achievements in the automotive industry.”
Whether she is bringing her laughter to millions of television viewers around the world, moving theatre-goers to tears, thrilling movie fans, offering new insights to students by teaching Master’s classes at renowned learning institutions that include Howard University, Julliard and Carnegie Mellon, serving on Boards of prestigious organizations, or breaking new ground as a director, Phylicia Rashad is one of the entertainment world’s most extraordinary performing artists.
While television was a catalyst in the rise of Rashad’s career, she has also been a force on the stage, appearing both on and off-Broadway, including performances in “Jelly’s Last Jam,” “Into the Woods,” “Dreamgirls,” and “The Wiz.” She has received countless awards including but not limited too; People’s Choice Awards, NAACP Image Awards and the Board of Directors of New York Women In Film and Television’s Muse Award for Outstanding Vision and Achievement. She has completed work on Tyler Perry’s upcoming film, “Good Deeds,” and starred in Perry’s highly acclaimed film version, “For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide.”
The 16th Annual Urban Wheel Awards is a daylong event expected to attract nearly 2,500 movers and shakers in the automotive industry as well as auto enthusiasts from across the country. The festivities will begin with a vehicle exhibit at 2:00 p.m., followed by a reception honoring William “Bill” Perkins, the first African-American chairman of the NAIAS, at 4:00 p.m. The celebrity Green Carpet and VIP reception will be held at 5:30 p.m., followed by the awards show from 7:00p.m. to 9:00 p.m. The evening will conclude with an afterglow reception from 9:00-11:00 p.m.
Winners of the Urban Car, Truck and Green Vehicle of the Year awards will be honored at the event along with Executive of the Year, Pioneer of the Year, Minority Supplier and Dealer of the Year, and Company of the Year. In addition, Warren Brown, esteemed automotive columnist for The Washington Post, will receive the Lifetime Achievement Award. The Urban Wheel Awards was named the Official Multicultural Event of the North American International Auto Show by the 2012 NAIAS Executive Committee.