The Pacific Conservatory of the Performing Arts Theaterfest will be honored by the Orcutt Children's Arts Foundation at its fifth annual gala on Saturday, May 3.

The event, which kicks off at 5:30 p.m. at the Santa Maria Radisson Hotel, will feature a performance by resident PCPA artists, as well as a gourmet dinner and live auction. Popular local band Unfinished Business will end the evening with '60s rock'n'roll music and dancing.

Making a special appearance with Unfinished Business for this event will be former band member, Terry Lawless. Lawless is an Orcutt resident and OCAF supporter, as well as the keyboard player and programmer for the Irish supergroup, U2.

“PCPA Theaterfest is being honored for its more than forty year legacy of not only presenting marvelous theater productions and providing an incomparable theater training program in our community,” wrote event organizers in a recent press release, “but also, and very importantly, for its educational outreach to our schools. OCAF is proud to salute PCPA for its extraordinary work in the arts for our community.”

All proceeds from the event will directly benefit the 5,000 children of the Orcutt Union School District, according to the release; 75 percent of gala proceeds will fund visual and performing arts school programs, and 25 percent will be used to fund the development of a community performing arts center.

Last year's auction, which honored Jackson Browne, raised $80,000 and helped the foundation achieve its goal to sustain dance, music, theater and visual arts programs for the 5,000 students of the Orcutt Union School District, programs that would not be possible without their efforts because of state and federal cuts, according to event organizers.

Resident artists now regularly teach students in all of Orcutt's 146 elementary classrooms. In addition, OCAF funded 40 classroom mini-grants this year in the amount of $300 each. These competitive grants enable teachers to deliver quality visual and performing arts programs to students. Further, traveling troupes and theater outreach programs, like PCPA Theaterfest, now frequent the schools due to schoolwide grants and OCAF - PTA partnerships.

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OCAF's successes have now led them to a plan to build a performing arts center in the Santa Maria/Orcutt area.

Tickets for the black-tie-optional event cost $100. For more information about the Orcutt Children's Arts Foundation and the event, call Event Chair Brenda Sullens at 938-8966 or visit www.orcutt-schools.net, and click on the “OCAF” link at the top of the page.