The Pleasanton Cultural Arts Council encourages, supports and promotes the Arts in our Pleasanton schools and local community to reflect our cultural diversity and inspire all.
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2025 Youth Excellence in Arts (YEA!) Awards and Don Lewis “Say Yes to Music” Grants
PCAC is thrilled to announce our 2025 Youth Excellence in Arts (YEA!) Annual Competition and the 2025 Don Lewis “Say Yes to Music” Grants. YEA! is open to all students in grades 9-12 who are Pleasanton residents. There are three categories – Visual Arts, Music, and Literary Arts with cash prizes of $500, $300, and $100 awarded to winners of each category. There is a fourth category honoring Don Lewis, an acoustic and electronic instrumentalist, vocalist, and composer. In collaboration with the Pleasanton Rotary and Julie Lewis, grants up to $1,000 will be awarded.
Each category requires the completion of a registration form and unique category requirements for submission. The competition closes on March 7, 2025. All winners are expected to perform at our award ceremony on March 23, 2025. Visit our YEA! Awards page to learn more and to apply.
Cultural Celebration Series
The Pleasanton Cultural Arts Council, in partnership with the City of Pleasanton and Friends of the Pleasanton Library, is excited to present our Cultural Celebration Series. The series kicks off this month with the Hispanic Heritage Month Celebration on October 13. Read more about this and other events.
Importance of Arts in Education
Watch Rachel Zhao, 2024 YEA! Awards double winner, speak about the importance of the arts in education. She is the first place winner in Literary Arts with her piece entitled Your Pond and the second place winner in Visual Arts with her watercolor entitled Americana. We are pleased that Rachel is helping us share PCAC’s mission that the arts and arts education are essential to developing creative solutions and innovative ideas to address today’s problems.
April is Arts, Culture, and Creativity Month
At the April 16th Pleasanton City Council Meeting, PCAC received a proclamation recognizing April as Arts, Culture and Creativity Month. Our president, Kelly Cousins and 2024 YEA! Awards winner, Rachel Zhou was present to share in the celebration. Rachel received First Place in Literary Arts for her work “Our Pond” and Second Place in Visual Arts for her watercolor, “Americana”. She spoke about what art means to her as a high school student preparing for college, and the importance and value of arts and creativity in a world that often prioritizes speed and efficiency. Watch the city proclamation and Rachel’s speech at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sHGQkZ3DTMw (Proclamation begins at the 29:30 mark).