On Sunday, October 26, 2008, the Arts & Culture
Commission of Contra Costa County (AC5) hosted its annual Arts Recognition
Awards event at St, Mary's College
Soda Center.The 100 plus attendees were greeted with the
smooth jazz sounds of the Glenn Appell Trio.Glenn, a professor of Jazz and Popular Music Studies at Diablo Valley
College, maintains an
active freelance career.
AC5 District 3 commissioner Petural ‘PJ' Shelton introduced Master of Ceremonies,
County Supervisor Gayle Uilkema, who delighted the audience with her personal
story of the creative process she undertook when redesigning her back yard,
resulting in moving 2800 pavers in and out of the space three times!
The awards, hand-blown glass sculptures by bay area artist
Marty Appel, were presented to the honorees by this year's Arts Recognition
Awards judges Carrie Brewster,
Director, Hearst Art Gallery
at St. Mary's College; Celeste Evans,
Chair, Danville Arts Commission; Susan
Snyder, Head of Public Services, Bancroft Library, UC Berkeley. The fourth judge, Angene
Feves, Dance Historian, Writer, and Instructor, was unable to attend.
The 2008 Honorees:
Jerrold
Hatchett of Richmond, an arts enthusiast and volunteer;
Joan Landis
of Pinole, arts volunteer and President of the Pinole Artisans
Foundation
Elizabeth
Koehler-Pentacoff of Pleasant Hill, a writer, teacher, and
youth program organizer
Oscar
Reynolds of Walnut Creek, composer and performer of Bolivian
music
Richmond
Art Center, which for over 70 years, has provided world class gallery
exhibitions and arts classes to the community.
The honorees also received recognitions from the
Board of Supervisors, the State Senate and the State Assembly. The Arts
Recognition Award is AC5's way each year of thanking some of the many
individuals and groups who give their all to keep arts and culture alive in our
communities.This year's honorees
exemplify what it means to give from the heart.
In a thank-you note, recipient Elizabeth Koehler-Pentacoff warmly expressed: "I believe
what you do inspires artists, but it does more than that. It inspires those who normally would not
contribute, attend or participate or even think the arts were important and
vital in any way to our society and culture.
I believe this is the true invaluable gift you present to the
community. It inspires more involvement
and excitement in the arts."
From left: Arts Recognition Awards (ARA) Judge Celeste Evans,
Honoree Joan Landis, ARA Judge Carrie Brewster, Honoree Oscar Reynolds,
and ARA Judge Susan Snyder
Executive Director Jasmine Brown accepted the award for the Richmond Art Center
Honorees Elizabeth Koehler-Pentacoff and Oscar Reynolds
AC5 Commissioners Shelley Barry and Darija Walker with Arts Recogntiion Awards Judge Susan Snyder
AC5 Commissioner P.J. Shelton with County Supervisor Gayle Uilkema and Arts Recognition Awards Judge Celeste Evans