Four individuals from Walnut Creek, Pleasant Hill, and Martinez and a community organization in Pittsburg have been selected as recipients of recognition awards for work considered to have had a significant impact on enhancing the arts and culture in Contra Costa County.

Awards will be formally presented to the honorees by the Arts and Culture Commission of Contra Costa County at 7 p.m., October 17 at the Willows Theatre in Concord. Reservations may be made at (925) 646-2278.

Please check back with our website, www.ac5.org, where the reservation form will be posted within the next week.

The honorees:

• Duane Carroll, of Walnut Creek, since 1981 the musical director, conductor and founder of the acclaimed Contra Costa Wind Symphony, and founder and first conductor of the Contra Costa Jazz Band in 1999. Until his retirement earlier this year, he was an educator and administrator in the Acalanes and Mt. Diablo school districts. He was a visual and performing arts director in the Diablo district.
• Angene Feves, of Pleasant Hill, nationally and internationally recognized dancer and dance historian; arts educator and arts leader in Contra Costa County for more than 40 years. In the Sixties, she helped develop the Richmond Ballet and established a dance program in Walnut Creek's renowned Civic Arts Education program.
• Andrew Holtz, of Martinez, managing director of the Willows Theater in Concord, which he joined in 1987 as development director. Since 1990, he has become an award-winning director of plays and musicals and a guiding force in developing The Willows as a successful regional theater. He is also an expert in computer music technology and arts marketing.
• Barrett Lindsay-Steiner, of Walnut Creek, an actor, singer, producer, director, playwright, teacher and, as colleagues point out, an overall "creative genius." For 15 years his focus has been on youth theater activities, including Starstruck, a young people's theater group of the Diablo Light Opera Company. His work has influenced hundreds of children for whom he has written and produced more than 60 musicals.
• Pittsburg Arts Collaborative, a volunteer organization dedicated to provide and promote the arts throughout East Contra Costa County. Activities include art and crafts exhibits and cultural events such as torch song and doo-wop competitions, celebrations of ethnic holidays, summer art shows, and free movies.

The honorees were selected from among 13 other nominations by a panel of judges representing media organizations.

Since the recognition program was initiated nine years ago, the commission has presented 45 awards to individuals and three to organizations. Previous recipients include Barry Jekowsky, director of the California Symphony; Jordan Simmons, artistic director of the East Bay Center for the Performing Arts in Richmond; Lauren Jonas, artistic director of the Diablo Ballet in Walnut Creek, and Ted Weiss, founder of Festival Opera, Walnut Creek.

AC5 District III Commissioner

As a 35-year Contra Costa County resident, Roberta Seabury has had the opportunity to observe and facilitate the growth of the arts in her district. With a degree in mass communications and journalism from CSU Hayward, she was the staff writer for arts, entertainment, and features at the Valley Times and San Ramon Valley Times for ten years and continues to do freelance writing.

She served two terms on the Danville Arts Commission, is a board member with the Diablo Property Owners Association, and currently chairs the Diablo Historical Preservation Committee, which is seeking state historical district designation for the Diablo community.

Commissioner Seabury, a violist who is now learning to play the harp, is the founder and facilitator of Tri-Valley Arts, a collaboration of over 30 nonprofit arts groups, municipal arts councils and recreation departments from Alamo to Livermore. She served on the Diablo Symphony board for many years and is now on the board of the new Tassajara Symphony Orchestra, a semi-professional ensemble performing in the San Ramon Valley. She and her husband, Tom, live in Diablo. They have three grown children, David, Liz and Annette, and one grandson.

Honoring California Watercolor Association Members From District 4 & The Gallery Concord

AC5's latest installation of the art passages exhibition program is FLUID EXPRESSIONS: The Vision of District 4 Water-Media Artists, which runs through September 10, 2004. This exhibit is located in the Contra Costa County Administration Building, 651 Pine Street in Martinez.

The exhibit features the artwork of 37 artists who reside in Supervisor Mark DeSaulnier's District IV (Clayton, Clyde, Concord, Pacheco, Pleasant Hill, Pleasant Hill BART and parts of Walnut Creek) who are members of the California Watercolor Association.

"Many of the pieces in this exhibition speak of place, which isn't surprising for artists residing in the communities around Mt. Diablo," said Jennifer Delgadillo Bevington, AC5 Exhibitions Manager, "but the vision goes beyond District IV, the county and the state." Echoing themes of previous art passages exhibitions, Bevington noted that, "The overall impression of the exhibition, which is mounted on four different floors of the County Administration Building, is of the power and beauty of place that water media images convey with such certainty and simplicity."

The fourth art passages exhibition, which highlights different arts organizations from Contra Costa County Supervisorial Districts, also recognizes the Gallery Concord. Members of the CWA manage and staff the Gallery Concord in the former Masonic Temple at 1765 Galindo Street in Concord, showcasing a wide variety of water media paintings and featuring the work of a different sculptor each month.

For more information about the CWA and to view examples of paintings from this exhibit, please go to : http://www.ac5.org/events/artpassages/ex4.asp.

For the first time in modern history, less than half of the U.S. adult population now reads literature, according to a comprehensive survey recently released by the National Endowment for the Arts. Reading at Risk: A Survey of Literary Reading in America presents a detailed but bleak assessment of the decline of reading's role in the nation's culture and is not a report that the National Endowment for the Arts is happy to issue.

According to NEA Chair Dana Gioia, the report can be summarized in a single sentence: literary reading in America is not only declining rapidly among all groups, but the rate of decline has accelerated, especially among the young. The concerned citizen in search of good news about American literary culture will study the pages of this report in vain.

"Although the news in the report is dire, I doubt that any careful observer of contemporary American society will be greatly surprised-except perhaps by the sheer magnitude of decline. Reading at Risk merely documents and quantifies a huge cultural transformation that most Americans have already noted-our society's massive shift toward electronic media for entertainment and information. "

"I am deleting the $1,000,000 legislative augmentation for local arts grants. Given the fiscal condition of the State, this reduction is necessary to help build a prudent reserve and bring ongoing expenditures in line with existing resources over the longer term."

With those words, the Governor established the California Arts Council budget at $3.128 million for 2004-05. All funds have been placed in the Operating budget of the agency. The budget is made up of the following revenue sources:

$1.075 million	- General Fund
.893 million	- Arts License Plates
.963 million	- Federal funding
.197 million	- Reimbursements
$3.128 million	- Total

The San Francisco Business Arts Council is inviting nominations for its 21st annual arts awards.

Businesses, non-profit arts organizations, and individuals located in San Francisco, Contra Costa, Alameda and San Mateo Counties are eligible for awards in several categories: distinguished corporate advocate for the arts, exceptional non-profit arts organization, outstanding individual contribution to the arts community; and business volunteer. A new category this year is "new and emerging cultural organization." Nominees must be based, or have operations in San Francisco, Contra Costa, Alameda or San Mateo Counties. Submissions are due by Friday, September 3, 2004.

Details and nomination form available at www.bizarts.org

Awards will be presented at a luncheon on No. 5 at the Westin St. Francis Hotel in San Francisco. Actress Rita Moreno has been named the recipient of the 2004 Cyril Magnin Lifetime Achievement Award.

Arts Happenings in Contra Costa County and Beyond

Good news for The Eugene O'Neill Foundation, Tao House, in Danville. The Town Council approved plans for a public art project that will honor the celebrated O'Neill, who wrote his last six plays in Danville. He is the only American playwright to have received the Nobel Prize and four Pulitzer Prizes. Artist Michael Manwaring, whose art pieces enhance the Embarcadero Promenade in San Francisco, will design the O'Neill tribute, which will consist of small enamel-coated or glass markers. Each will contain information about O'Neill's works and his life. The pieces will be installed in a scenic pocket part across from the town's library on Front Street. The foundation, a recipient of an Arts Recognition Award two years ago from AC5, is conducting a campaign to raise funds to support the project. O'Neill's former nurse, a resident of Rossmoor, has given a substantial donation to kick off the campaign.

In Antioch, the El Campanil Theatre, a former movie theater undergoing refurbishing to allow for live performances and movies, is already booking performances. Playhouse West, the Walnut Creek-based theater group, has signed on as the resident repertory company. In December, the Bay Area's acclaimed Sonos Handbell Ensemble will present a holiday concert featuring "the celestial sound of handbells." The Diablo Light Opera Company is among other groups exploring performance opportunities in El Campanil. The official grand reopening of the theater will be on October 7, with Debbie Reynolds as the headliner. The theater is owned by the El Campanil Preservation Foundation, which continues to seek funding to complete the project.

It's farewell for two staunch members of the Contra Costa County arts community. Mike Manley, an at-large commissioner on AC5, is moving to the Sacramento, where he and his wife hope to spend more time with their grandchildren. It's also where he previously was involved in theater work in the region. In addition to his commission activities, Mike was a director (his latest assignment was the successful "My Fair Lady" for Contra Costa Theatre In El Cerrito. Mike is a former member of the board of Diablo Light Opera Company and had served as president. He also directed company shows, including "Carousel, and appeared in productions that include "Sullivan and Gilbert" and "Ragtime." Also saying adieu to the county is Barbara Gherzi who has been involved in community theater for 23 years, including work as a costumer for Diablo Light Opera, Contra Costa Musical Theatre, Festival Opera and others. She taught in the Mt. Diablo School District for 30 years, 17 of which were as speech and drama instructor. She directed 34 plays during her career.. In October, she'll be heading to a new home in Boston to be near her children and grandchildren.

And speaking of Diablo Light Opera, based in Pleasant Hill, the company has been awarded a grant from the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation. It is believed to be the first musical theater organization in the county to receive a grant.

Lafayette officials are looking at the possibility of developing a public art program. Under consideration is an ordinance that would require developers to include art in connection with any commercial building or renovation project comprising more than 10,000 square feet. The city's Planning Commission has given its support to the proposal.

Brentwood has a new teen theater, appropriately named Brentwood Teen Theater. It's a division of Kinsella Conservatory Theater. Founder Steve Kinsella, a performer himself, is artistic director of both.

Want to know what's happening on the arts scene in the Richmond area? The city's Arts and Culture Commission maintains a web site that provides a menu of topics, including current events, information about the public art program, and opportunities for artists. Check it out: http://www.ci.richmond.ca.us/~arts.

Ben Cameron, executive director of the Theatre Communications Group, will be the keynote speaker at Theatre Bay Area's annual meeting on September 27 in San Francisco. Cameron represents a national service organization that exists to strengthen, nurture and promote the not-for-profit American theatre. Cameron will also moderate a panel discussion with the press on "Uncovering the Powers of the Performing Arts." It'll all take place in the Green Room of the San Francisco War Memorial and Performing Arts Center in San Francisco from 1 p.m. to 8 p.m.

Theatre Bay Area has also announced a new Theatre Materials Exchange program that facilitates fining new uses for set pieces, props, costumes, seats, curtains, lighting and sound systems as well as office and computer equipment. Details of "TMaX," as the program is known, are available at http://www.theatrebayarea.org.