The 35th annual New York State Governor's Arts Awards will honor eleven of New York State's most accomplished artists at a ceremony to be held at the Metropolitan Museum of Art on Monday, Nov. 19.

The Governor's Arts Awards were created to bring attention to the significance and excellence of art created in New York. Governor George Pataki and New York State Council on the Arts Chairman Richard J. Schwartz will honor artists including photographer Cindy Sherman, drummer Max Roach, Broadway producers Cora Cahan and Bernard Gersten (of LCT), filmmakers Ismail Merchant and James Ivory, choreographer Mark Morris, the Museum of Modern Art and the Pregones Theater in the Bronx.

The evening will be hosted by Rosie Perez and will such presenters as Bill Cosby, Sigourney Weaver (Sex and Longing), Natasha Richardson, Molly Ringwald (tick, Tick...BOOM!), Isabella Rossellini, Mikhail Baryshnikov (Metamorphosis), Harry Belafonte, Dennis Rivera, Sam Waterston (Abe Lincoln in Illinois), John Waters, Katie Finneran (Noises Off), William Wegman, Kitty Carlisle Hart, Susan Stroman (Contact), Bebe Neuwirth (Chicago), Beverly Sills, Michele Lee (The Tale of the Allergist's Wife) and Peter Bogdanovich.

Special performances by the Dancewave Kids Company, choreographed by Mark Morris, and the Curtis High School Guitar Ensemble will also honor the artists.

— By Steve Luber