Grantee Database
Izcalli
Grant Year
2026-27
Grant Program
General Operating Support
Award Amount
$30,000.00
Project Description
With support from the California Arts Council, IZCALLI ESCUELA DE LA RAZA—a nationally recognized Chicana/o and Indigenous arts organization serving San Diego since 1993—will use general operating funds to support staffing and formal program documentation, professional performances by Teatro Izcalli (Izcalli’s Chicana/o comedy troupe performing original actos), restorative arts trainings, Indigenous Restorative Circles, the development of Cihua Ollin – Circulo de Mujeres, and expansion of Izcalli’s youth theater programs to new school and community sites across San Diego. Izcalli will formally document its Circle practices as a living cultural tradition—capturing how they inform youth arts education—and disseminate findings to practitioners, policymakers, and arts funders across California. These investments will strengthen 30 years of culturally rooted artistic production and education and advance the cultural vitality of Chicana/o, Indigenous, and diverse marginalized communities.
Organization Summary
Izcalli delivers its mission through four interconnected arts-centered
programs rooted in Indigenous creative practice and cultural expression.
Restorative Theater for Youth brings theater-based healing to young people at
school sites and community centers across San Diego County. Drawing on
Indigenous storytelling traditions and the philosophy of La Cultura Cura,
youth use dramatic performance, creative writing, and ceremonial arts to
process intergenerational trauma, explore cultural identity, and develop voice
and confidence. Theater becomes both a healing practice and an act of
resistance — a way for young people to reclaim their narratives and build
community belonging. The program prioritizes access for the most historically
marginalized youth in the region.
Teatro Izcalli is the organization’s professional Chicano theater troupe and
one of Izcalli’s founding expressions. Teatro Izcalli creates and performs
original works that examine social justice issues, celebrate Indigenous
heritage, and challenge dehumanizing narratives with humor and artistic rigor.
Productions have engaged diverse audiences across San Diego and modeled for
youth what it looks like to be a working artist rooted in cultural purpose.
Indigenous Restorative Circles integrate spoken word, song, ceremony, and
creative expression as core tools within weekly talking circles facilitated by
trained mentors at 18 school sites and 6 community centers. Since 1998, over
2,500 individuals have participated in this program, which follows a 33-module
curriculum grounded in the Seven Rs framework. A 2020 doctoral study
confirmed 94% of participants experienced personal transformation, with an
average member tenure of 16.7 years.
Tlahtolli Trainings — named for the Nahuatl concept of The Word, representing
honor, truth, and commitment — transmit Indigenous arts-based pedagogies to
educators, nonprofit professionals, and community members, extending Izcalli’s
reach and building the capacity of others to use culturally grounded creative
practice with youth and families.
Organization
Izcalli
Address
4219 E. Overlook Drive
SAN DIEGO
92115
County
San Diego
Region
Far South
Website
Congressional District
California's 53rd congressional district
State Assembly District
District 79
State Senate District
District 39
