Awards honor emerging Silicon Valley artists
The Leigh
Weimers Emerging Artists Awards is always one of my favorite events to be involved in.
Leigh, my predecessor on this column, and his wife, Geri
Weimers, were champions of the arts — and individual artists — in the South Bay. So following Leigh’s death in 2012, it made sense to Steve Borkenhagen,
Stewart Slater and Bob Rauh to memorialize his legacy with an award that recognized emerging artists, talented people whose work needed a wider audience. They got Geri’s blessing and brought the idea to the Rotary Club of San Jose. The program has just taken off since then.
The newest class of laureates included choreographer Christine Herrera, harpist and composer Anna Cate, textile artist Bonnie Smith and glass artist Demetra Theofanous. Each received an unrestricted $5,000 grant, bringing the total amount the program has distributed to $54,000. The honorees showed examples of their work or performed at Wednesday’s Rotary Club meeting, and as the program’s emcee, I was thrilled to talk to them about their artistic journeys.
Borkenhagen, who chairs the awards committee, said he’s been consistently impressed by the quality of applications for the awards. “It really shows the depth of talent we have here in the San Jose area,” he said. “And since so much of Leigh’s work was promoting the talented people who live here, I know he would be very happy, too.”
Plans are underway, Borkenhagen said, to continue to grow the program, adding that applications for next year’s round of grants will be open in early 2017. Get more information at www.weimersawards.com.
HEALTHY STOP: Nearly 500 people are expected to drop by the American Heart Association of Silicon Valley’s first Community Heart Health Hub in Sunnyvale on Saturday.
The idea behind the event, taking place from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at UFC Gym at 733 S. Wolfe Road, is to let people get their blood pressure checked in a festive, family-friendly atmosphere that doesn’t feel like your average health screening. There will be a kids zone, a Zumbathon, and plenty of health and nutrition education resources for people (and provided in Spanish). It’s all free, too.
PLUCK OF THE IRISH: The San Jose-Dublin Sister City Commission welcomed its two newest board members, Goodwill of Silicon Valley CEO Michael E.
Fox Jr. and California Strategies principal Jim
Cunneen, with a reception Wednesday evening at the Silicon Valley Innovation Center in downtown San Jose.
Sister City Commission President Sean O’Kane said the experience and community involvement that both men bring to the table would be a boost for the board. “Their participation will play a central role in the important work we do going forward to help advance the Dublin Sister City Program.”
O’Kane also announced some upcoming plans the commission has, including a Shamrock Run in downtown San Jose on March 17, 2018. NEVER-ENDING JOB: Attorney Esau Herrera has spent more than two decades on school boards and much longer than that in courtrooms. But you can tell his real passion is the Latino-Latina Role Model Conference, which he has been organizing for 26 years. This year’s conference at W.C. Overfelt High School on Saturday will feature dozens of Latino professionals and college students and has San Jose police Chief Eddie Garcia as its keynote speaker. “Showing our kids that
‘si se puede ’ really means something is a strong and positive message,” Herrera said. “Our kids can see from real-life examples that doing their homework does pay off and that dreams do come true.”