2015 Awards

2015 Arts Recognition Awards:

We are pleased to announce the recipients of the 2015 Arts Recognition Awards. We would like to recognize Mr. Rhu A. Bigay, an Aviation Artist; Ms. Pamela Freund-Stiplen, Artistic Director for the Gold Coast Chamber Players; Mr. Peter Maund, Percussionist and Music Educator; and Dr. Darwin Marable, AC5 Commissioner. Each has advanced the appreciation of the Arts and Culture in Contra Costa County.

Rhu A. Bigay: Recognized worldwide for his historical and highly detailed compositions of the action and beauty of flight and his oil paintings that exhibit high caliber talent for both the aircraft and of the historical context. He has been successful in rendering a mechanical object as it travels through the densities of air and dramatically depicts the actions of flight and promotes visual understanding of our past history as a nation which involves the sacrifices of ordinary Americans – our veterans.

Pamela Freund-Stiplen: Co-founded the Gold Coast Players in 1987 and expanded their venues throughout Contra Costa County over the next twenty-eight years and has been dedicated to education, bringing concerts to nearly every public school in Lafayette, Moraga and Orinda with their outreach. Her inspired and dedicated leadership has given Contra Costa County residents the unique opportunity to hear world-class musicians performing works by the world’s greatest composers and to visual arts in a way that enhances the public understanding and appreciation of both.

Peter Maund: He is an accomplished Percussionist and as a founding member of Ensemble Alcatraz and Alasdair Fraser’s Skyedance has performed with early and contemporary music ensembles. Maund has been a “most considerate and imaginative of percussionists,” and music educator based in Contra Costa County for over forty years, and voluntarily leads drum circles at the Cancer Support Center in Walnut Creek. Mr. Maund has contributed to music and music education by performing and teaching throughout Contra Costa County, nationally and internationally.

Special Award:

Dr. Marable: He has served in many community activities including Chair of the PTA Cultural Committee at Burton Valley Elementary School in Lafayette; Board Member and President of the Lafayette Improvement Association; founding Board Member of the Lafayette Arts & Science Foundation; founding Board Member of the Contra Costa Alliance for the Arts; and many more committees and councils that serve the art community. We would like to thank him now for his many years of dedication and service to the County of Contra Costa and the Arts & Culture Commission.