ORLANDO, Fla. (April 30, 2024) — Recently, Orlando City SC and the Orlando Pride were named as winners at the Downtown Orlando Partnership’s 2023 Golden Brick Awards. The Club’s “Orlando Made” food and beverage program was named the winner in the Hospitality & Dining category, presented by Visit Orlando, while the Pride took home the award in the Arts & Culture category, presented by United Arts of Central Florida.
“On behalf of our entire Club, I’d like to thank the Downtown Orlando Partnership and its voting members for selecting our organization for these awards, both of which were very important initiatives for our organization and our fans,” said Orlando City SC and Orlando Pride President of Business Operations, Jarrod Dillon. “These awards are a testament to the work of our front office staff and community partners, so I also congratulate everyone who played a role in these two projects. Being an impactful part of our community is a key tenet for our Club, so being honored by our peers and community for that work is a humbling and proud moment for us, and we are excited to continue building on these successes throughout 2024.”
Launched ahead of the 2023 Major League Soccer and National Women’s Soccer League seasons in collaboration with Oak View Group, “Orlando Made” was a Club initiative to bring the award-winning food found throughout Greater Orlando under one roof at INTER&Co Stadium.
Founded with five local staples as permanent options (4 Rivers Smokehouse, The COOP by 4Rivers, Teak Neighborhood Grill, Black Rooster Taqueria and Harrell’s Hot Dogs), “Orlando Made” now features over 20 local vendors with options at permanent concession stands, concourse-wide grab-and-go markets and a rotating vendor cart program.
The Highway Woman Kit, the Pride’s home jersey during the 2023 NWSL season, was designed and influenced by the work of Mary Ann Carroll, one of Florida’s most influential artists. Carroll was the lone woman of the famed Highwaymen painters, a troupe of self-taught Black artists that painted across the Sunshine State’s highways. Prominent in the era of the Jim Crow South, the Highwaymen were banned from displaying their artwork in galleries, instead selling their artwork from the trunks of their cars.
The Highway Woman Kit, presented by Orlando Health, drew its design inspiration from Carroll’s work with a brushstroke pattern, with the embellishment displaying a silhouette of a Royal Poinciana tree – a signature of Carroll’s work. The kit was celebrated at a March 2023 art event that not only showcased Carroll’s work, but told her story firsthand via her daughter, Dr. Wanda Renee Mills.
The Golden Brick Awards are Downtown Orlando Partnership’s exclusive annual awards celebrating the people, projects, and initiatives from the previous year that propelled downtown forward. More information can be found here.
