February 6, 2007

Campbell resident and business nominated for prestigious arts award

Twenty four local “Heroes” to be honored at Special Arts Philanthropy luncheon

Arts Council Silicon Valley has announced that 24 local businesses and individuals will be honored at the 2007 Silicon Valley Arts & Business Awards (ABBYs) luncheon on March 9. These honorees will be recognized at the valley’s premier arts philanthropy event, which celebrates those who have made significant financial and volunteer contributions to the arts in Silicon Valley during the past two years. The ABBYs will be held at the Hyatt Regency Santa Clara.

Pat Thomas, of Campbell, was nominated by Westmont High School Drama Department in the individual civic leadership category. The Pruneyard Plaza Hotel in Campbell was nominated by Campbell Heritage Theatre in the first time business support category.

Nominations are submitted by local arts and cultural organizations and awards are given in four categories: First Time Business Support, Sustained Business Support, Individual Business Leadership and Individual Civic or Community Leadership. A Lifetime Achievement Award will be presented to Santa Clara County Supervisor Blanca Alvarado for her unwavering support of the arts in Silicon Valley over the past 25 years. This award has been previously given to Jim and Pat Compton, David Packard, Bill and Hillary Clinton, The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation and Peter Hero of Community Foundation Silicon Valley. A Special Spirit of the Arts Award will also be given to Rich Braugh, a business and civic leader, passionate arts board member and tireless advocate for the arts.

“The arts have withstood some major challenges over the past two years,” said Bruce W. Davis, executive director of Arts Council Silicon Valley. “Each and every individual and corporation that has been nominated deserves credit and recognition for what they have done to support this dynamic arts community. That is the purpose of the 2007 Silicon Valley Arts & Business Awards luncheon - to provide that opportunity.”

The luncheon will be held on Friday, March 9 from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Ticket prices are $70 per person with a limited number of nonprofit tickets available. For more information about the ABBYs, including sponsorships, visit the Web site at www.artscouncil.org/abbys or call (408) 998-2787 ext. 302.

The following nominees will be honored at the 2007 Silicon Valley Arts & Business Awards:

First Time Business Support

- Orloff/Williams & Co., Inc., San Jose, nominated by History San Jose

- Pruneyard Plaza Hotel, Campbell, nominated by Campbell Heritage Theatre

- Starbucks, San Jose, nominated by Children’s Musical Theater San Jose

- Starbucks, San Jose, nominated by San Jose Repertory Theatre

Sustained Business Support

- Applied Materials, San Jose, nominated by Shady Shakespeare Theatre Company, San Jose

- Gentry Magazine, Menlo Park, nominated by Peninsula Youth Theatre, Mountain View

- Northern Trust, Los Altos, nominated by Los Altos History Museum

- Palo Alto Weekly, nominated by United Nations Association Film Festival, Stanford

- Southwest Airlines, Alameda, nominated by San Jose Jazz Society

- Two Fish Design, San Jose, nominated by MACLA /Movimiento de Arte y Cultura Latino Americana, San Jose

- Wells Fargo Private Client Services, Palo Alto, nominated by Ballet San Jose Silicon Valley

Individual Business Leadership

- Michael Elmer, Senior Partner, Finnegan Henderson Farabow Garrett & Dunner LLP, Palo Alto, nominated by San Jose Convention and Visitors Bureau

- Karen A Hahn, CPA, CVA, Milpitas, nominated by Northside Theatre Company, San Jose

- Patrick Kane ,VP and General Manager Lexus of Stevens Creek, San Jose, nominated by San Jose Youth

Symphony

- Joe Miller, principle Joe Miller's Company, Santa Clara, nominated by C.A.T.S./Contemporary Asian Theatre Scene

- Joe Miller, principle Joe Miller's Company, Santa Clara, nominated by Commonwealth Club Silicon Valley

- Joe Miller, principle Joe Miller's Company, Santa Clara, nominated by WORKS/San Jose

- Rosalie A. Wilson, Wilson's Jewel Bakery, Santa Clara, nominated by Triton Museum of Art, Santa Clara

Individual Civic or Community Leadership

- Ruth and Dale Connell, Gilroy, nominated by Gilroy Unified School District (Theatre Angels Art League)

- Doris and Rick Davis, San Jose, nominated by Addison-Penzak Jewish Community Center, Los Gatos

- Karen and Dan Greenbank, San Jose, nominated by Academic Film Archive of North America, San Jose

- Margaret and Hsing Kung, Los Altos Hills, nominated by Euphrat Museum of Art, Cupertino

- Candy Pelissero, Palo Alto, nominated by Schola Cantorum, Mountain View

- Emily Shih, Cupertino, nominated by El Camino Youth Symphony, Palo Alto

- Dr. Frank Sun, Pleasanton, nominated by Firebird Youth Chinese Orchestra, San Jose

- Pat Thomas, Campbell, nominated by Westmont High School Drama Department, Campbell

- Anna Wichansky, Ph.D., Palo Alto, nominated by Olympiad of the Arts, Saratoga

Sponsors for the event include Applied Materials, Target, Silicon Valley Commun-ity Foundation, Classical 102.1 KDFC; and NBC 11, among others. The proceeds from this event benefit Arts Council Silicon Valley, which annually supports more than 600 local arts and cultural organizations throughout Santa Clara County.

About Arts Council Silicon Valley

Now celebrating its 25th anniversary, Arts Council Silicon Valley is an independent, nonprofit arts agency dedicated to providing funding and advocacy support, and fundraising and marketing services to the region’s arts organizations and artists. As the official state/local partner with the California Arts Council and the County of Santa Clara, Arts Council Silicon Valley is now the largest nonprofit arts council in the state. Over the past 15 years, the Arts Council has distributed roughly $8 million to local arts and cultural organizations, individual art-ists, schools, and community groups.