The Arts Council for Monterey County supports more than 50 arts organizations. It is a catalyst, but one that often works in obscurity.
This week brings its highest-visibility event with the 10th annual Champions of the Arts gala and awards ceremony. Its aim, says Executive Director Paulette Lynch, is to “honor the individuals and organizations that have done so much for so many for so long.”
The evenings tend to follow a template that works: an elegantly decorated and big hotel ballroom, a couple hundred guests, a silent auction of savory prizes, emcee, live music and dinner, videos and awards speeches, performances by cultural groups, more live music, and some dancing before attendees veer away.
It’s a justifiably expensive evening, $115 per ticket, a fundraiser to expand arts education for our kids. One of the best parts is what people say to this room full of devoted artists, teachers, patrons, workers and volunteers.
Lynch says she savors “that moment when everything has finally come together and I get a chance to take a good look around the room and just take a moment to be thankful for everyone there.”
Here is a compilation of comments by the 2015 honorees. (Look to the Weekly’s Arts & Culture blog for full interviews.)
Philip Glass – Lifetime Achievement
He has a home in New York and in Nova Scotia, but the legendary composer has been tending the soil in Monterey County with his Days and Nights Festival as a precursor to growing his dream in Big Sur, the Philip Glass Center for the Arts, Science and the Environment. At the moment, he’s working on music: a double concerto for two pianos and a rewrite of his Appomattox opera, about the Civil War and the Civil Rights Movement, including the Selma march.
“It’s about President Lyndon Johnson and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., partners in the Voting Rights Act,” Glass say “There’s a big fuss about who did what. You know what? They did it together.”
Mac McDonald – Luminary
After more than 20 years of writing about local music at the Herald, talking about it on KRML, blogging and promoting it, after years of making the scene and making friends, Mac “About Town” McDonald has left town. He’s moved to Orange County with his girlfriend. He couldn’t make the Rock Scully tribute, but he’s coming back for this. Modesty intact.
“When I first got selected, I said why?” he says. “I wasn’t quite sure what [luminary] meant in terms of how they define it. The dictionary said ‘To shine a light, to illuminate.’ I guess that’s kind of accurate. Through GO! and through my column, I shine a light on music. OK, I’ll take it.”
Pilar Mendoza – Professional
She teaches dance to kids in South County schools to boost their self-esteem, to impart to them some of the Mexican culture they’ve left behind. She does it through Fiesta Mexicana and Arcoiris Cultural, dance troupes comprised of kids who shine in performances in schools.
She came to the U.S. in 1994 and settled in Greenfield. When she had kids, she says “I was looking for something for them to do here – I didn’t find anything.” So she founded a dance group.
Paul Contos – Educator
He’s the education director for the Monterey Jazz Festival and the director of the Next Generation Jazz Orchestra. He’s a saxophone clinician who’s workshopped from Japan to Brazil. He’s taught at UC Santa Cruz, CSUMB and Monterey Peninsula College. But what his students may dig most are the jazz greats he’s gigged with like Dizzy Gillespie, Peter Erskine, Don Cherry and Joe Lovano. Inspiration starts early.
“When I was very small, my parents took all of us to see Count Basie with Tony Bennett,” he recalls. “Man, we don’t know what this is, but it’s really cool!”
Nancy Ausonio – Philanthropist
She’s one of the Friends of the Monterey County Free Libraries, who raise money for its 18 branches’ literacy programs, books by mail, homework centers, summer reading programs. But she’s more known as the matron of the beautiful and relatively new Castroville branch, also known as the Andy Ausonio Library. She delights in seeing the library full.
“It’s nice to see kids taking part in the library programs we offer them,” she says. “I don’t recommend any books. As long as people read.”
Steve Vagnini – Volunteer
Vagnini’s been on the Monterey music scene, alongside friend and fellow Champion Mac McDonald, longer than many people have been on the planet. He believes he was picked by the panel of judges for his volunteer work with Sand City’s West End Celebration and youth arts nonprofit Guitars Not Guns. But he’s equally proud of having promoted homegrown live music for more than 30 years.
“I was there last Saturday for the Rock Scully celebration of life,” Vagnini says. “That same night the Broadway Band, which I’ve managed for 37 years, was at Monterey Plaza Hotel, and Julie Capili was playing upstairs. I like to find work for musicians.”