People

The City of Irvine recognized Ramya Harishankar and Harish Murthy as ‘Distinguished Citizens’ and placed their names on a ‘Wall of Recognition’ created for such honorees at the Bill Barber Memorial Park in Irvine.

A 2-time National Endowment for the Arts Choreographic Fellow, Harishankar is also the recipient of the Helena Modjeska Cultural Legacy Award (2007) from ArtsOC.

Harish Murthy is a Board Member of Arts Orange County and for the last two decades has led the Ektaa Center, which he co-founded with

Harishankar, a community arts and culture organization for the Indian diaspora.

Read more here.

Gary Good, senior executive for endowment and legacy giving, (above left with Music Director Carl St.Clair) is retiring from Pacific Symphony, which he joined in 2008. "Highlights of Gary’s 48-year career in the performing arts field range from his beginnings with the Boston Symphony to achieving notable “firsts” for a number of orchestras: Under his leadership, Baltimore Symphony toured Europe for the first time and became the first America orchestra to tour East Germany... Good was the longest serving CEO for the Buffalo Philharmonic. He led the orchestra to its first Carnegie Hall appearance and its first international tour with Semyon Bychkov. While at the helm of the Milwaukee Symphony, he led the orchestra on two international tours and built a 400 station syndication radio network, along with production of more than two dozen recordings for Koss Recordings." Read more here.

From the OC Register: "Hurley helps transform handball walls into bright murals at Huntington Beach school

Even with the bustle of kids frolicking about, a school blacktop can look a bit stark — all gray concrete, beige structures, and chain-link fencing as far as the eye can see. Such was the Eader Elementary playground in Huntington Beach until a few weeks ago when Nicola McEachin, whose daughter Monroe, 6, attends the school, alighted on an idea. Where others saw smudged, bland handball walls, McEachin envisioned eight clean canvases awaiting masterpieces. “They were just white and boring,” McEachin said. “The campus needed color.” McEachin chatted about her idea with neighbor Cindy Wholley, a sales representative at Hurley. Wholley then connected her with a couple of the surf wear company’s artists. And the vision blossomed. Read more here.

From Santa Ana Arts Commissioners Debra Russell and Indigo Vu: “Last year, the Santa Ana City Council designated direct funding to our Arts & Culture Commission for the first time to sponsor arts events across the city, helping residents engage with each other in creative, cathartic ways and find pathways for healing from the pandemic as a community. For many in Orange County, Santa Ana is synonymous with the arts, going back to the artists who activated the downtown Santora Building in the 1990s, the subsequent openings of the Grand Center Art Center and the relocation of the Orange County Contemporary Center for the Arts, and the myriad small galleries and independent art shows that pulse along our Main Street arts corridor and beyond. It has proliferated since from monthly gatherings at Artwalk to include a spectrum of creative spaces and enterprises, comprising a powerful and growing sector of Santa Ana’s economy. While Santa Ana has cultivated a reputation as a home for the arts, it was not until recently that this appreciation has actually been reflected in our City budget." Read more here.