San Anselmo Couple Honored with County's 'Cultural Treasure' Award

PHOTO: Artwork by Emery, left, and Lipinski, right.

The following is a news release from the County of Marin:

A San Anselmo husband and wife have been honored by the Marin County Cultural Services Commission with the 2014 Cultural Treasure Award for outstanding participation and contributions to cultural life in Marin.

Steve Emery and Kathleen Lipinski recently were chosen the recipients of the annual award, which recognizes individuals who have made significant and sustained contributions to Marin Center cultural programs and services. They will be honored during a private reception during a Marin Center program in March.

Emery is a Marin native with more than three decades of professional drawing and painting experience. Best known for his acrylic landscapes inspired by Marin and High Sierra trails, Emery has been featured in countless shows and community art festivals throughout the county.

Equally deeply rooted in the Marin art scene, Lipinski has featured her work at Marin/Scapes, the Sausalito Art Festival, and the Marin County Fair for 25 years. Her landscape oil paintings range from the size of a postcard to 14-foot-wide canvases. Her works combine a love of nature with a dedication to realism, attention to detail, and the ability to capture the quality of light.

Both Emery and Lipinski received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Fine Art from the University of California, Santa Cruz.

“The Cultural Services Commission is thrilled to present the Cultural Treasure Award this year to Kathleen Lipinski and Steve Emery,” said Al Boro, Chair of the MarinCultural Services Commission. “Through their work, they truly capture the spirit and emotive qualities of the Marin landscape. They have been real contributors to the cultural community for many years and both have been exhibitors at the Marin County Fair on numerous occasions. They are the perfect recipients of this important honor.”

In a joint statement, the couple thanked the commission for the award and emphasized their appreciation for both the local arts community and their natural surroundings.

“What we have enjoyed as a couple and expressed as artists is our love for the place we live,” they wrote. “Our art celebrates this beautiful county and we are grateful every day for the preservation of parks and open space of Marin. … We have been deeply involved in the community since moving to our San Anselmo home, which has been in Steve’s family since 1923. We believe that being accessible and engaging the public will result in increased appreciation of art — not just our work — and what art means in community.”

Lipinski and Emery are the ninth recipients of the Cultural Treasure Award. Past winners included arts and culture journalist Paul Liberatore; cartoonist Phil Frank; philanthropist Henry Moody; Jeanne Bogardus, Marin Arts Council leader; Phyllis Thelen, artist and long-time cultural leader; West Marin photographer Art Rogers; cultural leader Joann Dunn; and community leader Felecia Gaston of Performing Stars of Marin.