The Arts Council of Placer County is proud to celebrate 40 years of bringing more art to more people in Placer County! As a part of the celebration of this milestone, we are recognizing 40 icons of art who have had a significant and important impact on Placer County arts and culture.

This month we'll be introducing you to these amazing honorees in our emails. Give them a "like" on our social media as well and join us in celebrating!

These are shared with you in no particular order, and this list is only a small representation of all the marvelous people and programs who create and make the arts thrive. Please join us in congratulating these icons and all those who contribute to our community.

40 years of bringing more art

to more people

RAY GONZALES - A long-time advocate of the arts, Ray Gonzales is a founding board member of Lincoln Arts. He conceived of, developed and served as chairman of “Feats of Clay,” an international ceramic art competition held in Lincoln’s historic Gladding McBean factory for 24 years. The prestigious art show attracted artists from throughout the world. The show has morphed into “America’s ClayFest,” which is held annually at Blue Line Gallery in Roseville. He teaches art in Lincoln schools and serves as an adjunct professor of art at Sierra College

CHRISTIN HANNA is a nationally acclaimed ballerina, dance instructor, tenacious supporter of Tahoe City and the North Lake Tahoe arts scene. The founder of Tahoe Youth Ballet, the Tahoe Dance Collective and July’s Lake Tahoe Dance Festival, most of her performances are offered year-round in Tahoe City, where she lives and has served as a board director at the Tahoe City Downtown Association. She works to ensure youth growing up in a remote area are not limited in their access to arts and culture.

Raquel Ruiz is a poet, teacher, journalist and event organizer. She is an independent non-fiction/fiction writer freelancing for media outlets in the U.S., Canada and Europe. She served as the Twitter expert for the UK newspaper, Guardian, during the 2012 Olympic Games in London. The Roseville resident serves as the multimedia and marketing specialist consultant for Teatro Nagual and is on the board for Amherst Writers and Writers. Raquel is the recipient of the Jose Marti National Silver Award in Education and Immigration. In 2002, she received Best Performance with Accompaniment for the inaugural S’More Poetry and Song Competition.

Stan Padilla honors his Yaqui ancestors by promoting multi-cultural and cross-cultural exchanges through his art. A multi-media artist, educator and social activist, Stan has focused on bringing to life the ancient stories, myths and legends of the Native Americans as well as drawing attention to social justice, environmental education and human rights. Stan’s art graces several public spaces in Auburn and Sacramento. He has written and published several children’s books as well as books on spirituality and folklore. He serves as an artistic/cultural mentor at the United Auburn Indian Community Tribal School in Loomis and is developing an artists’ sanctuary and spiritual cultural center on his 20-acre property in the Colfax/Weimar area.

Watch for the announcements of more amazing icons of art coming throughout the month!

Arts Council of Placer County is proud to be the state and local partner of California Arts Council and Placer County