The California Arts Council announces that 84 California arts organizations will receive grants from 2012-13 Creating Places of Vitality program funds. A total of $996,740 will be awarded.
The Creating Places of Vitality program is rooted in the California Arts Council’s vision to create a state where arts and culture are viewed by residents and policymakers alike as not just important, but indispensable to quality of life, to healthy communities, and to state and local economies.
The arts offer opportunities to encourage creative innovation and to engage in meaningful cultural activities that can transform neighborhoods and communities to create a distinct sense of place.
“We strongly believe that investment in these local partnerships will result in positive change for California’s rural and underserved communities,” said Craig Watson, Director of the California Arts Council. “Through the Creating Places of Vitality program, the California Arts Council’s statewide impact is felt, as we support of 23 counties, including 13 rural counties.”
Creating Places of Vitality supports small arts organizations in rural and underserved communities, proposing new and expanded partnerships to implement placed-based projects in one of the following partnership goals:
• Foster Attractive and Livable Neighborhoods and Communities
• Encourage Economic and Community Development
• Offer Greater Access to the Arts for Individuals, Families and Communities
• Provide Safe, Creative Opportunities for Youth
Creating Places of Vitality Program Grant Recipients:
3rd i South Asian Independent Film San Francisco County | 3rd i South Asian Independent Film and Alliance of South Asians Taking Action will undertake a film screening and discussion series, “Catalyzing Change,” serving South Asians living in the South Bay. The program’s six events will examine important community issues (immigration, gender violence) and cultural history from the point-of-view of Sikhs, Tamils, South Asian women and other community voices. Funds will support fees for 3rd i’s Artistic Director, Program Manager, artists/filmmakers and panelists. |
509 Cultural Center San Francisco County | 509 Cultural Center will promote the development of San Francisco’s Mid-Market Arts District as a culturally vibrant destination for residents and tourists of all colors, ages, genders, sexual orientations and incomes. CPV funds will support the partial salaries of the Co-Artistic Directors, who will acquire sole ownership of a four-story building in the Mid Market District and expand the Center’s programs that serve downtown San Francisco’s low-income residents. |
Abhinaya Dance Company Santa Clara County | Abhinaya will establish a partnership with the Indian Community Center in Milpitas. The project will provide underserved Indian Americans residing in the Fremont-Milpitas-San Jose-Santa Cruz region access to arts events to maintain their connection to their cultural heritage and build community among the South Bay’s large immigrant Indian American population. Awarded funds will support Abhinaya’s Artistic Director and lead dancer’s fees. |
African-American Shakespeare Company San Francisco County | African-American Shakespeare Company will partner with Lincoln University Alumni, African-American Art & Culture Complex, and Supervisor London Bread to open its doors to the public for the Annual Season Launch Event. The Launch includes workshop demonstrations of the Shake-It-Up programming, artistic activity through the ACTive Engagement series, and short performance scenes of the upcoming Season 2013-2014. Funds will be used for marketing the event and compensating artists. |
Amador County Arts Council Amador County | AmadorArts will partner with Amador County Recreation Agency to create opportunities for youth to participate in arts workshops at The HUB– a recently-opened community center in Jackson. Professional artists will teach classes in various arts disciplines to local youth in an after-school setting for six months. Art and performances created at these workshops will be presented to the public at The HUB, businesses in Jackson, and at a Spring 2014 Arts Mixer in Jackson. |
API Cultural Center, Inc., dba Oakland Asian Cultural Center Alameda County | The Oakland Asian Cultural Center (OACC) will partner with Family Bridges, Inc. and dancer Judith Kajiwara to create “Journeys,” a project that will engage Asian and Pacific Islander seniors in multidisciplinary art forms. “Journeys” will end in culminating performances and exhibitions in which seniors present their life tales through movement, dance, storytelling, and the visual arts. This project will bring a new sense of vitality to OACC’s facility, which is located in the heart of Oakland’s Chinatown. |
Arts Council Napa Valley Napa County | The Arts Council Napa Valley (ACNV) will partner with the Napa County Fair, Downtown Napa Association, and RockNapa festival to develop The Incubator, a collection of web-based tools and resources for Napa County-based festivals and fairs to incentivize local and regional emerging and professional artists as available booking talent. Festival and fair organizers participating in The Incubator’s professional directory of artists and services will contribute to the future of Napa County’s cultural community by sharing a required percent of proceeds donation from their produced events and by promoting the region’s unique performers, vendors, and artisans. |
Asian Pacific Islander Cultural Center San Francisco County | The Asian Pacific Islander Cultural Center (APICC) will partner with Andrew J. Wong, Inc. (AJWI) and Hope Road Consulting to build an online social networking community to inform, collaborate and initiate advocacy for the Asian American community of California. AJWI will provide the infrastructure for hosting the online site as well as participate in a training with Hope Road Consulting demonstrating how APICC’s constituents may use the new online platform. APICC will manage online content and produce a convening in both northern and southern CA. |
AuCo Vietnamese Cultural Center San Francisco County | Will partner with the Laotian American National Alliance (LANA), the Burmese Youth Association (BYA), the San Francisco Wushu Team, and Cambodian Community Development, to implement a third phase of the Tenderloin Southeast Asian Arts Initiative. Activities include a series of eight public programs designed to share cultural traditions between Southeast Asian communities in the Tenderloin and the San Francisco multicultural community. |
AXIS Dance Company Alameda County | AXIS Dance Company will provide dance opportunities for people with disabilities by partnering with the Bay Area Recreation Program (BORP) and the World Institute on Disability. The project will consist of two components: 1) Get in Motion, a five-day dance camp focused on youth with disabilities provided by AXIS and BORP at the Malonga Center; and 2) Get Fit Fair, promoting fitness and dance as creative movement activities for people with disabilities at the Ed Roberts Campus. |
Ballet Folklórico Anáhuac Stanislaus County | Ballet Folklórico Anáhuac will partner with St. Stanislaus Church (Parish School), a neighborhood housing project, and A Road to Success, to provide access to Mexican folklórico dance classes for fifteen underserved children in the Modesto region. |
Centro T.A.B.C.A.T Sacramento County | In a new partnership with Sierra 2 Community Arts Center, Centro TABCAT will increase access to the arts for individuals, families and youth through its “Roots of Brazil” project. The primary focus is Brazilian Capoeira, Afro-Brazilian Dance and Brazilian music/percussion. The project will involve classes and performances for the Oak Park community, concluding with participants and professional artists performing a concert for a public audience of 200-300 people. |
Classics for Kids, Inc San Diego County | Classics 4 Kids’ Silk Road project will partner with San Diego Unified School District, San Diego Museum of Art, and Confucius Institute of San Diego State University, to increase access to cultural and educational experiences for children with limited resources through two orchestra concerts. Dancers from a diverse group of cultural organizations will share the stage with the Classics Philharmonic in a concert that explores the cultures and civilizations found along the historical trade route. Music from China, India, Persia, Europe and Arabia will inspire young audiences and increase learning through the arts. |
Collage Dance Theatre Los Angeles County | Collage Dance Theatre will partner with City of Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs, LA Metro, A Place Called Home, and Krispy Kreme to produce the Duck Truck Residency Program. With an emphasis on engagement, the Residency will provide access to the arts for underserved individuals and families in East/South Los Angeles through site-specific dances, totaling 12 sessions over the course of 6 weeks and culminating in a performance. |
Company of Angels Los Angeles County | Company of Angels (CoA) will partner with the Alexandria Hotel to produce the Halo Project, a theater project designed to give artistic presence and voice to the Hotel’s low-income housing residents and surrounding downtown LA disenfranchised community. |
Croatian Cultural Center of San Francisco San Francisco County | The Croatian American Cultural Center will produce a free Hungarian Festival at its 300-seat San Francisco venue in January 2014. The Festival will provide an annual gathering place for Bay Area residents of Hungarian descent featuring traditional Hungarian dance and music performances and Hungarian crafts, food and wine. Awarded funds will support the fees of the Executive Director and the participating artists. |
Dell’ Arte Inc. Humboldt County | Dell’ Arte International, in partnership with the City of Blue Lake and additional cross-sector partners, will create “Live on the Levee,” a community theatrical spectacle on and along the banks of the Mad River, which borders the Blue Lake Industrial Park. A celebration of the people, organizations and ecology that already exist in this rural area, the event will serve to launch a community-wide initiative to transform the industrial park into an “Art Park,” a vibrant place for arts and industry. |
Door Dog Music Productions San Francisco County | Door Dog Music Productions will partner with SF Unified School District to produce a new Festival School Show, The Propaganda Project, for 2,000 minority students from the district’s elementary, middle and high schools. Students will attend these exceptionally diverse concerts from November 14-15, 2013, at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts Forum in San Francisco as part of the 14th annual San Francisco World Music Festival. The organization will also host Professional Development Workshops at three schools for regional K-12 teachers. Funds will be used to subsidize personnel and production costs for four runs of The Propaganda Project. |
EastSide Arts Alliance Alameda County | EastSide Arts Alliance (ESAA) will partner with the Oakland Museum and the Chicana Moratorium to produce a community-driven arts project that combines resources from the Oakland museum, murals and mosaic public art, and community celebrations. The project will take place in San Antonio Park, the home of ESAA’s annual Malcolm X Jazz Festival and the site of its community partner’s annual Xicana Moratorium celebration. |
El Dorado Arts Council El Dorado County | El Dorado Arts Council will partner with the Placerville Downtown Association (the historic Main Street’s organization of merchants), the City of Placerville, and others, to expand and stimulate the economic revival of this authentic, walkable main street and surrounding community with creative activity that complements the community’s historic-cultural identity. |
Epiphany Productions Sonic Dance Theater San Francisco County | The 10th Annual San Francisco Trolley Dances will travel from the Embarcadero along Market Street to the Castro district, above and below ground, on the F, K, L, and M MUNI/Metro light rail lines. Attendees will view live site-specific dance performances along the route free-of-charge. Funds will support artist and production staff fees for the anniversary production of this popular, artistically significant civic tradition. Partners include the SF Muni Transit Authority, the Embarcadero YMCA, and the Market St. Railway. |
Firebird Youth Chinese Orchestra Santa Clara County | Firebird Youth Chinese Orchestra will expand its partnership with San Jose City College by giving a lecture-concert in its theater to Chinese-Americans in Silicon Valley. The grant funds will be used for lecture hosts, concert musicians, broadcasting, flyer design and printing. |
First Night Monterey Monterey County | The Greenfield Arts and Culture Center provides a space for Greenfield residents to engage in meaningful cultural arts activities; for local artists to practice and share their talents; where children feel safe and express themselves without judgment. The center will host public workshops, activities, classes, exhibits, artist receptions and free performances to showcase the cultural and artistic assets of Greenfield residents. |
Floricanto Dance Theatre Los Angeles County | The newly opened Floricanto Center for the Performing Arts will create a formal partnership with the Sánchez Family Corporation, the largest franchise holder of McDonald’s restaurants in the east side of Los Angeles, to provide greater access to the arts through new and expanded programs for youth, families, and artist communities. The partnership will serve over 200 Latino youth ages 8-16 and their families. Grant funds will partially subsidize salaries of personnel involved. |
Folklórico Aztlán de Sacramento Sacramento County | Folklórico Aztlán de Sacramento will promote family and the prevention of family violence through the art of dance. Its project, “Building Character through The Performing Arts,” will engage community youth to participate in major stage productions to cultivate their character and self-esteem. In collaboration with Maria Ellena Marin Day Care, this project will be a community outreach program for youth ranging from ages 4-25. Funds will support related artistic, promotion and production expenses. |
Fresh Meat Productions San Francisco County | Funding will support the community-based creation and development phases of The Missing Generation and The Source Of Joy. Sean Dorsey Dance will generate this new show’s content through oral histories, educational programs and community engagement activities in partnership with the GLBT Historical Society, Openhouse, and BAY Positives. Fresh Meat will stage the concert’s first half six times in March 2014 before 1000 people. CPV funds will support the participating artists’ fees. |
Friends of Peralta Hacienda Historical Park Alameda County | Friends of Peralta Hacienda Historical Park will partner with Oakland’s African American Museum and Library, California College of the Arts, and the United for Success Middle School to engage local residents, the public, and K-12 students in the site’s new interactive art installation: “What I Hear, I Keep: Stories of Oakland’s Griots.” The installation includes a 12-foot-high horse that emanates a 3-hour montage of audio stories illustrating the Black experience through events with community storytellers featured in the installation, podcasts, Spanish translations, and varied museum experiences. Funds will also help move the installation to its next location in Oakland. |
Gamelan Sekar Jaya Alameda County | PERSEMBAHAN (“Offering”) will provide learning opportunities to Bay Area’s diverse & traditionally underserved populations via arts-engagement events led by master artists from Bali, Indonesia. By partnering with UC Berkeley, the Indonesian Consulate, and First Friday, and by innovative use of public space and technology, Gamelan Sekar Jaya will share values of harmony and teamwork embedded in Bali’s rich art traditions, strengthen community, cultivate a sense of place, and increase intercultural knowledge in the participants. |
Genryu Arts San Francisco County | Genryu Arts will partner with the Japanese American Cultural and Community Center of Northern California, the Clarendon Alternative JBBP School, and Union Bank to implement its 2013-14 Japantown Engagement Initiative featuring: 1) July 2013 workshop and performance with Shamisen (3 string lute) and Gintenkai Taiko sensei Tatsu Aoki; 2) October 2013 Tsukimi, a free outdoor festival to be held in Japantown’s Peace Plaza; 3) A workshop for Genryu Arts’ advanced dance students with NEA Heritage Fellow Fujima Kansuma; and 4) May 2014 workshop and performance with shamisen grandmaster Chizuru Kineya. |
Get Lit-Words Ignite, Inc. Los Angeles County | Get Lit-Words Classic Slam Program focuses on increasing the literacy rates, graduation rates, and self-efficacy of low income teens in Los Angeles. The Classic Slam is the culminating event of their standards-based in-school program, which is aligned with the federal Common Core Standards. Twenty-one at-risk high schools with over 5,000 students participate in this program. |
Golden Thread Productions San Francisco County | Golden Thread Productions will build on a partnership established in 2010 with Islamic Cultural Center of Northern California to develop and present plays inspired by Islamic art and philosophy. Titled Islam 101, the initiative aims to provide self-affirming images for Muslim youth and families and to educate the public about Islam’s contribution to world civilization. Three plays will be developed. |
Great Leap, Inc. Los Angeles County | Great Leap will partner with Building Healthy Communities Boyle Heights, Japanese American Cultural & Community Center, and Mujeres De La Tierra to conduct Obon-Fandango, a performance workshop series for residents of Boyle Heights and Little Tokyo. Performing artist Nobuko Miyamoto and composer/musician Quetzal Flores will facilitate explorations of the cultural practices of Obon and Fandango son Jarocho in ways that will help build community and maintain connections to homeland for the Japanese and Mexican communities. The culminating performance will be a “call and response” between cultures and a joint statement. |
Highways, Inc. Los Angeles County | Highways will implement a 2013 Día de los Muertos Celebration. In October, four artists will conduct eight workshops at Latino community centers in western Los Angeles County that will foster this Mexican holiday’s craft and artistic traditions. The project will culminate in four days of activities at Highways and a local cemetery on November 1, 2, 3 and 4, 2013. Funds will support the fees of the Project Director and of the participating artists. |
Ink People, Inc. Humboldt County | Ink People will partner with the City of Eureka and the Westside Community Improvement Association, which recently purchased and is currently renovating a blighted, abandoned property, to transform it into a dynamic, multi-organizational neighborhood community center. Through The MARZ Project, Ink People will provide ongoing digital media, music, and arts instruction, and job-training services for neighborhood and other youth ages 13 to 22, and for participating community partners. |
Instituto Mazatlán Bellas Artes Sacramento County | In collaboration with the Stockton Boulevard Partnership and South Natomas Sports Arena, Instituto Mazatlán Bellas Artes will bring Mexican folk dance through a six-month program offering greater access to the arts for underserved children and bring attention to various community resources for families in an area experiencing revitalization. |
Inyo Council for the Arts Inyo County | In partnership with the Inyo County Superintendent of Schools and Inyo County Probation offices, Inyo Council for the Arts will provide free after-school music, dance and art classes in Bishop and Big Pine schools as well as the Inyo County Juvenile Hall of Independence. The project will end with a public student art gallery show and music recitals. |
JC Culture Foundation Los Angeles County | JC Culture Foundation will create formal partnerships with Niemes Elementary, Leal Elemementary, Gonsalves Elementary, and Chinese Taipei Dragon and Lion Dance Association to provide greater access to Chinese culture and arts through expanded programs for youth. Participating students will learn specific aspects of Chinese culture as well as develop communication and leadership skills. |
Kearny Street Workshop San Francisco County | Kearny Street Workshop will develop a multi-disciplinary program in partnership with Shaping SF. The series will comprise a professionally-curated performance bus tour, a six-week writing workshop, and a six-week drawing workshop that will focus thematically on the hidden histories of San Francisco’s South of Market neighborhood where Kearny Street Workshop is currently housed. Both workshops will conclude with student presentations that are open to the public. |
Khmer Arts Academy Los Angeles County | Khmer Arts will bring choreographer and dancer Chey Chankethya to Long Beach’s Cambodia Town Cultural District for a one-month residency in partnership with Cambodia Town. Chey Chankethya will work with community youth, pursue her own creative work, and share that work with the community at large. |
Kings Regional Traditional Folk Arts Kings County | Kings Regional Traditional Folk Arts will partner with the City of Hanford Parks and Recreation to create a multi-genre dance and mariachi music program for underserved kids in Hanford. |
Kitka | Kitka will partner with Fort Ross Conservancy and Russian House Kedry to create a four-day residency surrounding the Fort Ross State Historic Park Harvest Festival. Activities will include school presentations, song-sharing gatherings, workshops, participatory rituals, and performances that celebrate the unique blend of cultural groups (Russian, Kashaya Pomo, and “American”) that contributed to the legacy of this site. Funds will support project-related artistic and administrative costs. |
Kularts San Francisco County | Kularts will partner with the Filipino American Development Foundation and the San Francisco Public Library to produce Making Visible, engaging Pilipino-Americans in a series of participatory public events, creating a center and sense of place for the Bay Area’s sizeable population of Pilipinos, and building a culturally vibrant city for all residents and visitors. Events will include an outdoor performance series, public video installations, an exhibition at the San Francisco Main Library, a parade and festival, the making of a community mural, and a weekend remembering Philippine Martial Law and the strength of People Power. |
LA Commons Los Angeles County | LA Commons and Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority will partner to produce and market “Trekking LA 2013: Dancing in Neighborhoods to a Global Beat,” a series of tours highlighting each community’s unique dance, music, culinary, and historic features. The project fosters attractive and livable neighborhoods by engaging a range of stakeholders in creative expression, welcoming locals and visitors alike to experience cultural vitality in every corner of the city. |
La Raza Galeria Posada Sacramento County | Funding will support PARKS, ART, AND POLICE–a partnership with the City of Sacramento Parks and Recreation, the City of Sacramento Police Department and La Raza Galería Posada. PARKS, ART AND POLICE will provide greater access to the arts, will foster attractive and livable neighborhoods, and encourage economic and community development. Funding will be used to pay artists and will be matched by a recent award by the James Irvine Foundation.
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Lenora Lee Dance San Francisco County | Lenora Lee Dance will partner with Chinatown’s social services agency, Cameron House (CH), and Kei Lun Martial Arts to conduct a five-month project that includes 1) two five-week multi-artist residencies at CH providing dance, music and video design, promoting personal narrative for participants; and 2) culminating presentations at the de Young Museum in CH’s Visual and Performing Arts Festival in January 2014 and at the annual Cameron Carnival in May 2014. |
Lorraine Hansberry Theatre San Francisco County | Lorraine Hansberry Theatre will collaborate with Museum of the African Diaspora, Oakland School for the Arts, and East Bay Center for the Performing Arts to cultivate a”Bringing the Art to the Audience” program, which will offer staged readings of plays by African American and multicultural writers at community venues throughout San Francisco and the East Bay. Funds will be used for artist fees, production costs, and marketing/promotion activities aimed at reaching African Americans in San Francisco and the East Bay. |
Los Angeles Choreographers and Dancers Inc Los Angeles County | Los Angeles Choreographers and Dancers will partner with Matt Lincir, the Spirit Cruises Ports O’ Call Restaurant, and the office of Councilman Buscaino to increase the awareness and appreciation of San Pedro as a sophisticated venue for the arts with the 7th annual free festival, renamed SP ♥ TriArt Festival last year. The dance, music and arts/crafts provided will showcase the changing face of the Port area as an art, cultural & entertainment center. CPV funds will be used for the dance component, curated by Louise Reichlin. |
Los Angeles Poverty Department Los Angeles County | Los Angeles Poverty Department will produce the fourth annual Festival for All Skid Row Artists in partnership with the United Coalition East Prevention Project, SRO Housing, Alex Market, and Sign-O-Rama. The Festival recognizes and celebrates the cultural assets of the community by presenting, documenting and archiving the work of artists in the Skid Row community and will invite more than 100 musicians, performers, spoken-word and visual artists to share their work at the free, two-day public event. These artists will be added to the Skid Row Artists Registry, which now features more than 450 names. |
Mariposa County Arts Council, Inc. Mariposa County | In partnership with senior advocacy agencies and care providers, the Mariposa County Arts Council will develop the F/Stop initiative to bring photography-based programs to seniors. Participants will learn how to use photography to creatively express their identities, tell their stories, and share their connection to Mariposa. The culminating event will be a multi-location public exhibition across Mariposa County designed to create investment within the larger community and recognize the importance of place-based art programs. |
Mo`olelo Performing Arts Company San Diego County | Mo`olelo Performing Arts Company will partner with the NAACP to increase arts engagement and participation among San Diego’s underserved African American communities, using the innovative strategy of Consensus Organizing for Theater. The project will include public performances and community mixers at The 10th Avenue Theatre located in the low-income neighborhood of East Village in downtown San Diego. Funds will cover administrative staff, facility rental, marketing collateral, and production supplies. |
Mono Council for the Arts Mono County | Mono Council for the Arts will bring its 4th Fiesta Caliente to Mammoth Lakes during July. The funds will allow the Council to include a new Latin Festival, which will feature a headliner band. The festival will increase tourism in Mammoth by appealing to Hispanic families. The festival will include a free family day with art workshops taught by La Raza Galería Posada focusing on Día de Los Muertos. |
Piece by Piece Los Angeles County | In partnership with Skid Row Housing Trust, Piece by Piece will expand its mosaic arts workshops by adding an additional weekly workshop in a new space at the Trust’s Permanent Supportive Housing development for the homeless, The Star Apartments. Piece by Piece participants’ artwork will also be exhibited to the public at one of the Skid Row Housing Trust’s sites. |
Playhouse 395 Inyo County | Playhouse 395 will partner with the Bishop Chamber of Commerce, Inyo and Mono County arts councils, and collaborate with arts groups and businesses to cross-promote the region’s arts to inter- and intra-county visitors through an online, interactive calendar site. From each collaborator’s website, visitors will learn of opportunities that define and enrich this region as an arts destination. |
Playhouse Arts Humboldt County | As artists leading to promote artists, Playhouse Arts will partner with the City of Arcata, Holly Yashi, and Thomas Jewelers, to produce a 2013 summer Creamery Street Fest and public art as integral parts of its plan to lead creative placemaking in Arcata’s Creamery District, and to unify arts and industry as a driving force for local community building and regional economic prosperity. Project will include progressive grassroots district-wide planning, design, and art engagement activities to catalyze long-term neighborhood improvements. |
Plumas Arts Plumas County | Plumas Arts will work with education, business, government and arts groups in Quincy to design, produce and market a multidisciplinary Artist Speaker Series; a summer Arts & Crafts Show on the Courthouse Lawn; and a Day of the Dead Festival. Funds will be used for artist fees and production and marketing expenses to implement and promote these events locally and regionally. |
Pro Arts Alameda County | In partnership with Satellite Affordable Housing Associates, Pro Arts will implement PROJECT, a community engagement program to enable artists from diverse communities to exhibit new works at its gallery and at nontraditional venues in downtown Oakland. Artists will also lead art-making sessions for low-income, ethnically-diverse residents at affordable housing facilities in the neighborhood. CPV funds will be used for artist commissioning fees. |
Pythia Arts Foundation Alameda County | Pythia Arts Foundation will produce the “Paper Boat,” a series of site-specific dances created in East Oakland’s multicultural neighborhood. In partnership with the Spanish Speaking Citizen’s Foundation and Mohammed’s Shopper’s Market, the Pythia Arts Foundation will collaborate with Roni Garza from the Dominican Republic, Monier Alshogaa from Yemen, Amy Ho from China and Maurya Kerr of African-American descent to create a reclamation for both artist and underserved audiences, where the process is upheld, revealed and discussed. |
Queer Cultural Center San Francisco County | The Queer Cultural Center hopes to strengthen its partnership with the San Francisco LGBT Community Center, a 35,000 sq. ft. building located on Market and Octavia Streets. By combining their curatorial, financial and physical resources, the partners will plan and implement year-round arts programs that build community initiatives, increase utilization of the space, and enliven the neighborhood. Funds will support the participating artists’ fees. |
Queer Rebel Productions San Francisco County | Queer Rebel Productions will partner with the San Francisco Public Library’s James C. Hormel Gay and Lesbian Center to produce Queer Rebels of the Harlem Renaissance, a presentation of 10 new works by LGBT African American artists rooted in jazz, blues, modern dance, performance art, poetry, and other genres. Funds will support the Artistic Director’s curatorial fee and the fees of the ten Queer African American artists participating in the March 2014 event at the San Francisco Main Library. |
Queer Women of Color Media Arts Project – QWOCMAP San Francisco County | Queer Women of Color Media Arts Project will partner with API Equality LA and San Joaquin Pride Center in underserved regions of California, to provide free Film & Freedom Academy workshops to low-income and ethnically diverse queer women, gender nonconforming, and transgender people of color. Funds will underwrite fees, equipment, travel and lodging for two Instructors to provide free professional training to participants, reducing barriers to participation and establishing filmmaking as an art form in local communities. |
RADAR Productions San Francisco County | RADAR will expand its partnership with City Lights Books. In 2012-13, in addition to publishing three books by LGBT and feminist authors, the Partners will organize Step Back: a Literary Walking Tour of North Beach’s Queer History. Readings will take place at historical venues that were once important to San Francisco’s LGBT community, ending with an Open Mic in Jack Kerouac Alley. Funds will support the project’s artist fees, promotional costs, and production expenses. |
SAFEhouse for the Performing Arts San Francisco County | SAFEhouse will partner with the Mayor’s Office of Economic and Workforce Development, local merchants, and arts organizations to further the city’s efforts to: (1) revitalize the Central Market Neighborhood, (2) restore the area’s downtown arts district, and (3) promote economic activity and community engagement through a neighborhood “Open House” monthly. The Open House will consist of visual and performing arts activities presented at various retail, arts and public neighborhood locations. Funds will support artist fees. |
Samahan Filipino American Perf. Arts & Ed. Center San Diego County | Samahan Filipino American Performing Arts will create a formal partnership with Mar Vista High School to expand (reinstate?) the discontinued school-funded program for folk dance classes and Filipino ethnic music workshops. The project will culminate in stage presentations of traditional Filipino folk dances and music that will be accessible to Imperial Beach, South San Diego & Chula Vista communities. This after-school program will enhance student appreciation of Philippine culture and provide a productive, safe environment. |
San Benito County Arts Council San Benito County | The San Benito County Arts Council will expand its partnership with the Blak Sage Gallery to create and promote creative placemaking in downtown Hollister. The project will foster new and expanded partnerships, programs and services for artists, youth, families, businesses and individuals. |
San Diego Dance Theater San Diego County | The San Diego Dance Theater will produce its 15th annual “Trolley Dances.” In partnership with the Metropolitan Transit System, new dances will be created along the green and blue lines into Barrio Logan bringing 3,000 visitors to the new Monarch School for the Homeless and the new San Diego Central Library, new partners for this project. |
San Francisco International Arts Festival San Francisco County | The San Francisco International Arts Festival will develop a “Joven Noble” program to complement performances of PLACAS: The Most Dangerous Tattoo, a play written by Paul Flores, directed by Michael Garcés, and starring Ric Salinas. The program goals include (1) improving public health, (2) promoting violence prevention and providing trauma informed care in order to discourage gang membership, (4) promoting the importance of tattoo removal, (5) and conveying the importance of rebuilding father/son relationships in communities devastated by gangs. |
San Jose Multicultural Artists Guild Santa Clara County | San Jose Multicultural Artists Guild (SJMAG), in partnership with six Santa Clara County organizations-The National Hispanic University, the Children’s Discovery Museum, San Jose Museum of Art, Tropicana Shopping Center, and the Mexican Consulate of San Jose-will expand its annual Día de los Muertos events to additional sites. San Jose State University’s MLK Library’s Cultural Heritage Center will be the primary partner. These organizations will participate in both project planning and implementation. |
Self Help Graphics & Art Los Angeles County | Self Help Graphics & Art (SHG), in collaboration with Leaders for Urban Renewal Now, will develop a community-based plan to cultivate and promote an arts district in Boyle Heights. Recent development along a one-mile stretch between downtown Los Angeles and the heart of East Los Angeles includes SHG’s new location and a new public transportation route. An arts district will maintain Boyle Heights’ unique cultural character. |
SINERGIA Theatre Group/Grupo de Teatro SINERGIA Los Angeles County | SINERGIA Theatre Group/Grupo de Teatro SINERGIA will partner with TA’YER and the City of Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs to support artists’ salaries and production expenses of ESCLAVAS/SLAVES, a bilingual (English/Spanish) theatre production in the MacArthur-Westlake area of Los Angeles dealing with the growing problem of Latinas lured into the US from rural areas in Mexico and Central America and forced to work as prostitutes. |
Siskiyou Arts Council Siskiyou County | Siskiyou Arts Council and partners will collaborate to expand two community events: Art on the Block, a festival celebrating art, music, dance, theater and ecology, held in newly revitalized downtown Mount Shasta; and the Mount Shasta Summit Century cycling event, spanning 139 miles of Siskiyou County’s pristine landscape. Both events will take place on the same weekend. |
Sixth Street Photography Workshop San Francisco County | Will partner with Tenants and Owners Development Corporation and S.F. Veterans Affairs’ Psychosocial, Rehab and Recovery to create a series of photography workshops titled “Moving On with the Sixth Street Photography Workshop.” Monthly public events and works-in-progress exhibitions will open the new 7th Street Gallery/Photo studio in Hotel Isabel at Mission and 7th. The Workshop’s photographers will produce a lyrical document reflecting their vision of South of Market, a neighborhood they know well, as members of its underclass. |
South East European Film Festival (SEE FEST) Los Angeles County | South East European Film Festival will partner with the Long Beach Cinematheque, Community Media of the Foothills, and local artists to create cinema programs with contemporary and classic films from over 15 countries of South-Eastern Europe, enriching and connecting underserved communities including those in Santa Ana, Long Beach, and San Gabriel Valley through the art of film. |
Southern California Asian American Studies Central, Inc. Los Angeles County | Visual Communications will produce the 30th annual LA Asian Pacific Film Festival in May 2014. Partnering with the Directors Guild of America, the festival will provide filmmakers with networking events, panel discussions and professional development opportunities. |
SpectorDance Monterey County | SpectorDance, Rancho Cielo, and the National Steinbeck Center will collaborate on East/West (EW), a new multidisciplinary performance initiative about gang violence. Through the power of live multi-disciplinary performance experiences and dance/poetry workshops, EW will give voice to former gang members, and will connect and engage the community in exploring solutions with art at the center. Funds will support artistic fees for dancers, poet, video, and music composition. |
TeAda Productions Los Angeles County | TeAda Productions and the Southeast Asian Community Alliance will produce My Chinatown: SE Asian Youth Theater, which will provide safe, creative opportunities for youth of SE Asian descent ages 12 – 18 years old in Los Angeles’ Chinatown neighborhood. The project will engage 20 participants in a series of activities in which they will record stories of community members and create a culminating performance utilizing skills learned through an eight-week workshop series. |
Teatro Jornalero Sin Fronteras Los Angeles County | Teatro Jornalero Sin Fronteras (TJSF) will partner with NDLON and IDEPSCA to present a theatrical production as a result of story circles conducted with more than 150 individuals in Los Angeles. The production will be a multi-week showing in December 2013 that will be viewed by an audience of at least 1,500 and will include 10 to 15 day laborer community members as part of the cast. The performance and audience member responses will be filmed, resulting in a 20-minute documentary about the project, to be posted on TJSF’s website. |
The Center for the Arts Nevada County | The Community Music Jam will provide free weekly jam sessions for low-income residents of Nevada County where local professional musicians will guide participants in playing keys, strings, percussion and vocals, and playing music as a group. In each week’s session, a new song will be learned and performed on stage as a band. The program will culminate in a free community concert with participants. Funds will be used for artist fees, promotion, production and transportation. |
The PGK Project San Diego County | The PGK Dance Project and Spanish Village, a collection of artist studios in Balboa Park, will produce San Diego Dances Balboa Park. Expanding PGK’s San Diego Dances, this program will provide school children deeply discounted admission and transportation to the event. The event will feature dance performances, lecture demonstrations and engagement with four artists of different media as well original performances integrating the performing and visual arts. Funds will cover staff/artist fees and production costs. |
Tía Chucha’s Centro Cultural Los Angeles County | Tía Chucha’s Centro Cultural will produce the 9th annual “Celebrating Words: Written, Performed, and Sung” festival to be held in May 2014 at Los Angeles Mission College in Sylmar. It will include performances in poetry, dance, and music; writing and publishing panels; local artisan vendors; and entertainment for children. The Festival is the only annual outdoor literacy festival in the culturally underserved Northeast San Fernando Valley. |
Watts Village Theater Company Los Angeles County | Watts Village Theater Company (WVTC) will partner with Green Dot Public Schools to develop and produce a full-length production as part of its ongoing Mainstage theatrical production program with students ages 14-18. The goals of this program include providing students the opportunity to witness and participate in a professional theatre production process, learning job-qualifying and academically enriching skills while expanding their cultural intelligence. |
William James Association Santa Cruz County | William James Association’s Poetic Justice Project will partner with Allan Hancock College’s Film & Video Program to provide greater access to the arts for incarcerated women and men in San Luis Obispo, and survivors of domestic violence and sexual abuse in Mammoth Lakes and Ridgecrest. The partnership will produce WHO’S LYING DOWN IN YOUR HEART?, a hybrid live-theatre/film production. Funds will cover artistic and technical fees, space rental, set, costumes, publicity and travel-related costs. |
Women’s Audio Mission San Francisco County | Women’s Audio Mission’s (WAM) Girls on the Mic project, in partnership with San Francisco Mission District schools and cultural organizations, will provide after-school training and mentoring in music production and the recording arts to over 250 underserved girls ages 8-18. The girls’ projects will be presented at public showcases that will unify the Mission District community and WAM’s commitment to provide arts experiences to girls. Funding will help support a new Girls on the Mic Director position. |
Yolo County Arts Council Yolo County | The Yolo County Arts Council, in collaboration with the downtown business association and the City of Woodland, will support the Woodland Art Walk in the city’s downtown business district. As a new community engagement strategy, artists will showcase their work to create economic and social vibrancy in a historical downtown in need of increased art, pedestrian, consumer, and business interactions. |
Youth Orchestras of Fresno Fresno County | In collaboration with Edison Bethune Charter Academy, the Youth Orchestras of Fresno will expand their free after-school violin program into its third year and beyond, building on documented success in raising reading and math scores as well as in creating a community of committed musicians, engaged teachers, and educated families. |
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The Mission of the California Arts Council, a state agency, is to advance California through the arts and creativity. Members of the California Arts Council include: Chair Wylie Aitken, Vice Chair Susan Steinhauser, Michael Alexander, Christopher Coppola, Andrew Green, Charmaine Jefferson, Terry Lenihan, William Turner, and Rosalind Wyman.
