Manresa Bread founder Avery Ruzicka recently welcomed back Manresa alumna Stephanie Prida as executive pastry chef.
Manresa Bread’s growing expansion presents an opportunity to increase leadership roles and product development, and Ruzicka was quick to tap Prida to return to her native California. Prida will oversee Manresa Bread’s pastry program, expand current offerings and develop holiday desserts. Prida most recently served as Head of Pastry for New York’s Major Food Group, overseeing the pastry programs for the group’s restaurants, The Grill, The Pool and The Lobster Club.
Prior to her role with Major Food Group, Prida attained numerous accolades during her five-year tenure at three-Michelin-starred Manresa.
“Stephanie has an understanding of not only our roots, but also our vision for the future,” Ruzicka said. “She’s exceptionally talented and creative, and our guests will benefit from her thoughtful and balanced, seasonal perspective.”
Manresa Bread specials for Easter are now available for pre-order. Shareable treats include a strawberry tart and gluten-free blueberry coffee cake.
Pre-orders close on April 5. Pick-ups are available at all retail locations from April 7-9. To place an order, visit manresabread.com/preorder-1.
Tibetan calligrapher to lead day of creativity rooted in meditation
Breathe Together Yoga, 14107-H Winchester Blvd. in Los Gatos, hosts Tashi Mannox, recognized as the world’s foremost Tibetan calligrapher, on March 26.
A former Tibetan monk, Mannox’s art is recognized for its iconographic images, including tattoos.
While in the San Francisco Bay Area, Mannox will guide participants in the experience of creating an ensō, a circle painted with one brushstroke, as well as seed syllables of the Tibetan calligraphy tradition he upholds.
“Tashi’s visit has been anticipated for several years,” said Breathe Together co-founder and owner Jennifer Prugh. “The opportunity to experience the mingling of steady awareness and art offers insight to our ability to let go. We are honored to host him and have people create with him.”
Mannox has held numerous workshops, courses and retreats worldwide. He has also exhibited his works internationally, including London, Moscow, New York, Los Angeles, Sharjah of the United Arab Emirates, Bhutan and more recently in South Korea.
For information and to register for the event, visit bit.ly/3ToBWah.
ArtNow high school exhibit opens March 31
Unarmed Truth, the 12th annual ArtNow exhibition, will be on view at New Museum Los Gatos from March 31 to June 25, and will include opportunities for select students to win up to $16,000 in scholarships and awards.
This year’s ArtNow exhibition received 800 submissions from artists from 37 high schools across Santa Clara County, the most students to ever submit to the program. ArtNow 2023 will feature work from 83 students from 23 different high schools, in various mediums ranging from drawing to animation.
ArtNow is an annual juried Santa Clara County high school art exhibition and educational program, presented by NUMU. The ArtNow exhibition and supporting programs offer opportunities for high school student artists, from Palo Alto to Gilroy, to gain real-world experience in participating in a juried museum exhibition. Students have the opportunity to win awards in eight artistic categories, as well as an overall Best in Show prize and a People’s Choice award.
The categories are painting, drawing, mixed media, printmaking, sculpture, photography, digital art and video/animation.
Six Los Gatos High School students and one Saratoga High School student have been accepted to ArtNow:
• Sydney Chandler, 11th grade, Los Gatos High School
• Liam Matthiasson, 12th grade, Los Gatos High School
• Amy Pan, 10th grade, Saratoga High School
• Cal Railo, 12th grade, Los Gatos High School
• Rocky Rodriguez, 11th grade, Los Gatos High School
• Cynthia Wang, 11th grade, Los Gatos High School
• Kate Wright, 12th grade, Los Gatos High School
Each year, a new theme is chosen for the exhibition and students are asked to submit works based on that theme. For this year’s theme, Unarmed Truth, students found inspiration from leaders and social movements that have “helped us understand, embody, or uphold a hidden truth as a community and reflected on their own experiences,” NUMU stated in a press release.
This year’s theme was co-created with the ArtNow Teen Council, composed of six high school interns.
For information, visit numulosgatos.org/artnow.
Local teams honored for academic achievements
Four Los Gatos High School Winter Sports Varsity Teams were awarded the 2022-2023 Winter Season Scholastic Championship Team Award by the Central Coast Section (CCS) of the California Interscholastic Federation (CIF). Given to the top five schools with the highest collective grade-point-average (GPAs) of all competing teams, Los Gatos High School’s boys basketball, girls basketball, boys soccer and wrestling teams were honored.
Among the honors, the Los Gatos High School’s girls basketball team received the highest GPA of all CCS schools, with a cumulative team GPA of 3.8980. Students’ GPAs are measured during the sport’s season of competition. All four Los Gatos High School teams will receive a certificate award from CIF-CCS.
“After-school sports is a large commitment for high school students, many of whom are involved in advanced placement classes, clubs and a number of extracurricular activities,” Superintendent Bill W. Sanderson said. “I am incredibly proud of these teams and athletes for continuing to prioritize their academic work, along with their games/matches.”
The CCS is one of 10 sections that make up the CIF. The geographical range for the CCS is from San Francisco to King City, serving 152 schools, 158,202 students and 74,296 athletes.
