2008 ArtsLinkJeffco Honorees of the Year Award Co-Recipients

This year's ArtsLinkJeffco Honorees of the Year Award co-recipients are Barbara Tobiska and Don Ambler, two extraordinary individuals who, for a lifetime, have contributed and dedicated themselves to the arts in Lakewood and Colorado.

Ms. Tobiska and Mr. Ambler will be honored on stage prior to the performance of the Jefferson Symphony Orchestra on Sunday afternoon, May 4 th, 2008 at 3:00 p.m. at the Green Center, on the Colorado School of Mines Campus, (924 16 th Street - 16 th and Cheyenne) in Golden. The concert program, " A Night at the Opera," will include selections from operas by Puccini, Verdi, Mozart, Bernstein and others. The guest artists include: Judy Shay Burns (soprano), Marcia Ragonetti (Mezzo-soprano ), Brian Starr (Tenor ), Steven T. Taylor (Baritone ), and the Boulder Chorale.

ArtsLinkJeffco (ALJ), an organization whose mission is "promoting arts, culture and the creative richness of Jefferson County," was created when former Lakewood mayor, Steve Burkholder, recognized the necessity to create an organization intended for the connection and collaboration among Lakewood arts and cultural organizations. ALJ's mission of "promoting the arts, culture, and creative richness" was later expanded to include all of Jefferson County. Any Jefferson County arts/cultural organization or individual can join ALJ with a $25.00 annual membership. Further info is available on the ALJ website, www.artslinkjeffco.org

Steve Burkholder was the recipient of the 1 st Annual ArtsLinkJeffco Award in 2006, and last year's winner was Marian Metsopoulos, a Lakewood historian. This year's honorees, are both masters in their fields, Don, a marvelous clarinetist and bass clarinetist, and Barbara, a spectacular 2-dimensional artist. Both Barbara and Don have for many years shared and passed on their great talent as instructors to hundreds of students.

Barbara Tobiska was born and raised in Omaha, Nebraska. She has two sisters, three children, four grandchildren and three great-grandchildren. She takes pleasure in spending time with her family and friends and enjoys any new fun and interesting experiences that come her way. Barbara has traveled the world, including Iron Curtain Czechoslovakia, sea voyages 430 miles north of the Arctic Circle and heli-hiking the Glaciers of British Columbia. She received her degree from Doane College and her secondary arts teaching degree from Adams State College. She has devoted her talents and energies by teaching individuals of all ages and all levels. She has been teaching art since 1937, rarely missing a class, and currently teaches oil painting through the Lakewood Arts Council, a job she started over 20 years ago. She is an award winning, exhibiting artist who provides demonstrations, critiques, and serves as a show juror for community arts groups- she provides many of these services at no fee. Barbara was appointed by the Lakewood City Council in 1981 to serve on the City of Lakewood's Cultural Arts Citizen's Advisory Committee and along with this group spent a year in research and identification of Lakewood's Cultural needs. They produced a document, "A Cultural Arts Center" Steps Toward Lakewood's Future." In 1987, Mayor Linda Shaw asked Barbara to work with Sherry Krasno of the City of Lakewood's Department of Community Resources to find options for creating an arts group to serve many needs and they were asked to complete a report of their findings in 90 days. As a result of this, Barbara organized an 8-person committee representing a variety of art interests to be a task force in developing the Lakewood Arts Council and with her organizational skills and vision, Barbara continued to spearhead this committee. Thus, the Lakewood Arts Council was founded on a solid base of workable principles and legal requirements. Barbara was actively involved in developing the "Sculpture in the Park" committee and as part of the Core Committee for this group, Barbara, along with the City's Department of Community Resources, developed a 10-year plan to bring sculpture to five Lakewood parks. She assisted in the successful placement of Lakewood's first public sculpture in Addenbrooke Park in 1994 and 3 additional placements in subsequent years. Barbara served on the City of Lakewood's Heritage, Culture & Arts Commission for six years where she played an active role in the growth of the arts serving on the Public Arts Committee. Following her two terms on the Commission, Barbara continued to serve Lakewood on its Visual Arts Committee, where she helped provide opportunities for local artists to exhibit their work at the various Lakewood facilities. Barbara, still an active member of the Lakewood Arts Council, serves as secretary as well as grants chairman and she is one of the managers of South Union Gallery, where continues to teach. She is also affiliated with the Mountainside Art Guild, the Shows on Loan art rental program, and serves as President of her condominium association. Barbara has made an impact on the art scene in the City of Lakewood and she continues to bring her energetic support to the arts community in Lakewood.

Don Ambler and his twin brother, Dale, lived their early years in Lafayette, Indiana in the Cary Home for Children and Orphanage. Dale passed away at the age of 10-½ years and Don lived in foster homes throughout high school. Don's most memorable public school experiences included two years he competed on the Jefferson High School track and cross-country track teams and when he began studying and playing clarinet at Washington Elementary School; he continued to play clarinet in the high school band under Bernard McAdams and Lee Davis. After finishing high school, Don continued his education while balancing a variety of jobs including work at the Lahr Hotel. He practiced clarinet daily at the Allen Dance studios and also played with the Lafayette Citizens Band. Don left Indiana for Illinois when he was accepted at the Vandercook College of Music in Chicago where he could pursue his dream of becoming part of a symphony orchestra; he played in the first clarinet section of the Vandercook band for five years. For two of those years, Don, while on a scholarship, performed with the Chicago Civic Orchestra, a training school for the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. He also performed with the championship CYO Band of Chicago under Thomas Fabish. Don's schedule at Vandercook started at 4:00 p.m. which allowed him to teach privately at several elementary and high schools in the Chicago area and he continued to teach from 1953-1955 after his college graduation. Don then moved to New York City to continue pursuing his lifelong dream and financed his way by delivering groceries from 1956 to 1960 and working as a doorman on Park Avenue from 1960 to 1962. He formed a fine chamber orchestra in New York City that included the best young performers in the city; they primarily performed in the Town Hall. Don also organized, served as personnel manager and performed with the New York Orchestral Society from 1960 to 1962. He also worked with the Virginia Symphony Orchestra during its New York tours in 1960 and 1961; he served as a personnel manager and a clarinetist. In April of 1962, Don auditioned before Saul Caston, then conductor of the Denver Symphony Orchestra and former principal trumpet and associate conductor of the Philadelphia Orchestra under Leopold Stokowski. Maestro Caston appointed Don bass clarinetist with the Denver Symphony Orchestra, now known as the Colorado Symphony Orchestra, for 30 years. From that period of time to the present time, Don has taught clarinet and bass clarinet to students from elementary schools through area colleges and beyond. Some of his students are in premier music organizations such as the U.S. Marine Band, the Boston Symphony and the Colorado Symphony Orchestra. Don organized the Colorado Clarinet Choir, a group of professional players, who were invited to perform in London, England, at the International Clarinet Society. He also managed a youth clarinet choir that was invited by the Colorado Symphony to perform at their Christmas concerts. Don continues to play bass clarinet with the Central City Opera and Colorado Ballet Company, he judges student music competitions, gives master classes and makes personal appearances in concerts with numerous bands and orchestras, playing both bass clarinet and Bb clarinet. Many people have touched Don's life and they include: Robert Priest, former conductor of the Lafayette Citizens Band and principal of Oakland Elementary School; Clark Brody, former principal clarinetist of the Chicago Symphony; Anthony Gigliotti, former principal clarinetist with the Philadelphia Symphony Orchestra; William Schumacher, member of the Indianapolis Symphony; Paul Howland, Bass Clarinetist with the New York Philharmonic Orchestra and the Edwin Franko Goldman Band, Bil Jackson and Andy Stevens, Colorado Symphony Orchestra clarinetists; and posthumously, Maury Bennett, clarinet and sax teacher. Don's hobbies include collecting old pocket-watches and old woodwind instruments.

Barbara Tobiska and Don Ambler, co-recipients of the 2008 ArtsLinkJeffco Honorees of the Year, have devoted themselves to educating and inspiring so many people in their many years of dedication to the arts. It is a pleasure and privilege to honor these two great individuals and to give our thanks to them for all they have done and continue to do.