With support from the California Arts Council, Colusa County Arts Council will strengthen its organizational infrastructure to keep pace with program growth over the last year. Our net income increased 400% during FY22-23, bringing expanded arts programming to our service area and challenging our staff and Board of Directors to meet growing demand for our services county-wide. As we adjust to this growth, CAC funding will allow us to build a more sophisticated and forward-looking Colusa County Arts Council capable of sustaining expanded public events, engaging more under-served community members, providing professional development services to artists, supporting youth with arts education and enrichment programs, building new relationships with community partners, and implementing strategic planning that will ensure our organization remains on a path of growth and longevity in the future.
General programming includes monthly art exhibitions in our gallery, “Live Lit” literary reading series featuring local writers, collaborative community events, and fundraising events that feature live music or local artists. General programming also encompasses our Public Arts Advisory Committee, which commissions public artworks throughout the county. Special programming includes Creative Youth Development and Levitt AMP Colusa programs. Creative Youth Development providesfree arts education after school for area youth. This programming includes monthly art lessons at five of the rural branches of the Colusa County Free Library, monthly Family Day workshops held in our gallery space, beginner music workshops, multi-generational craft classes, and four-day arts camp for 5-13 year olds. Levitt AMP Colusa provides 10 free live concerts featuring original music by professionally touring musicians from all over the United States. We partner with local non-profits and community groups to make these events a place where our community resources and values can surface. Booking emphasizes artists and genres who appeal to diverse audiences in our county. Beyond programming, the Colusa County Arts Council uses its resources for community collaboration, mentoring, and advocacy. These services include classroom visits at local schools to promote our programs and share opportunities with art students, hosting middle and high school arts instructors in our gallery to share resources and collaborate, partnering with local non-profits like the Rotary Club and Lion’s Club, providing resources to Upstate California Creative Corps grantees and other artists, advocating with local school districts around arts education measures like Prop 28, and participating in programming and professional development offered by other California public arts organizations.

