Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik Wednesday appointed renowned sand artist Sudarsan Pattnaik as the president of the Odisha Lalit Kala Akademi.
Sudarsan's name was selected for the prestigious post by the chief minister. Earlier a selection committee, headed by the Vice-chancellor of Utkal University of Culture, had placed three names before the CM, official sources said.
Reacting to the appointment, Sudarshan (41) said "I will like to thank the chief minister for giving me a chance to promote art and culture of the state. I'll work to uplift the artists from across the state."
Pattnaik runs the Sudarshan Sand Art School in Puri and will start a campaign in Puri beach to attract tourists ahead of the Mens Hockey World Cup in Bhubaneswar this year. The campaign will focus on the promotion of hockey as well as sand art.
He was awarded Padma Shri in 2014 for his contribution to sand arts. He also bagged different awards like National Youth award, National Tourism award and People of the Year award by Limca Book in 2009.
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