Arts Orange County, the county’s nonprofit arts council, has announced its 22nd Orange County Arts Awards, which will be presented Tuesday, Oct. 18 in the Samueli Theater at Segerstrom Center for the Arts in Costa Mesa.
The event will honor lifetime contributions to the arts, emerging artists, arts leaders and an emerging arts organization in Orange County.
This year’s Helena Modjeska Cultural Legacy Award for lifetime contributions to the O.C. arts community will recognize Robert Garfias, an internationally recognized musicologist, educator and arts advocate; the Orange County Museum of Art, founded 60 years ago with plans to open a new $93 million, 53,000-square-feet home at Segerstrom Center on Oct. 8; and Sophie and Larry Cripe, passionate theater lovers, leaders and supporters of South Coast Repertory, Chance Theater and other Orange County theaters.
The following achievement awards will be given: an Emerging Artist/Arts Leader Award to Marytza Rubio, a fiction writer and literary arts advocate; and the same to William Camargo, a visual artist and community builder. An award for Emerging Arts Organization will go to Lyric Opera of Orange County, a 5-year-old company championing opera experiences for all ages countywide.
The Orange County Museum of Art is scheduled to open its new, $93 million structure at the Segerstrom Center for the Arts on Oct. 8. OCMA will receive a Helena Modjeska Cultural Legacy Award at the 22nd OC Arts Awards in October. Credit: Image courtesy of Arts Orange County 
Lyric Opera of Orange County, a 5-year-old company championing opera experiences for all ages countywide, will receive an award for Emerging Arts Organization during the 22nd OC Arts Awards on Oct. 18. Credit: Image courtesy of Arts Orange County
Emcees for the event will be Thuy Vo Dang, curator for the Southeast Asian Archive at UC Irvine and a board member of Arts Orange County; and Richard Stein, president and CEO of Arts Orange County.
Dang is also a past board member of the Vietnamese American Arts & Letters Association, and co-author of the recently published “A People’s Guide to Orange County.”
“Arts Orange County proudly honors the people and organizations that have profoundly impacted the creative life of our community,” Stein said in a statement. “Each year, we look forward to recognizing those in the arts who have contributed to Orange County over the course of a lifetime and those who have made a more recent impact. This is an evening that celebrates our diverse artistic community, where we honor and thank those whose dedication to the arts enriches and benefits so many throughout Orange County.”
2022 will be the 22nd edition of the Orange County Arts Awards, held annually except for 2020, due the pandemic. It will also be the 13th time the awards will take place at Segerstrom Center for the Arts.
Prior to the ceremonies, honorees and sponsors will gather for a pre-event reception and dinner in the Renée and Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall rotunda.
Tickets range from $40 for balcony seats to the ceremony and admission to the afterparty, to $12,000 for the Maya Angelou Circle, which includes private dinner seating for eight, preferred seating at the awards ceremony and an opportunity to present an award.
For more information, visit the OC Arts Awards website.
Richard Chang is senior editor for Arts & Culture at Voice of OC. He can be reached at rchang@voiceofoc.org.