The California Arts Council invests $16.3 million in arts programming. Here are the largest grantee categories on the list.
In June, the California Arts Council announced funding grants for nearly 1,100 arts and culture projects The arts and creativity grants totaled $16,376,475, which was a boost of about $1.3 million over last year’s investment with a focus on creating more funding for jobs, as well as opportunities for kids, underprivileged and marginalized groups.
These grants were divided up into fourteen unique grant program areas, focused on “fostering safe and healthy communities, arts learning, and equitable access to the arts.” As explained by the CA Arts Council, this list was for both nonprofit organizations and units of government across California.
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Making up the largest investment at $3.1 million were those within the category of State-Local Partnerships.This list equaled out to 52 grantees, most of which are run by city agencies. Local agencies included here were the San Francisco Arts Commission and the Alameda County Arts Commission. You can find the full list of grantees here.
The second largest category to receive funding was Arts Education. Over $2.3 million was awarded through 169 grants. This category largely serves as an extension for arts education programs for Pre K to 12th grade students that operate after school and during the summer, on school sites, in artistic venues, and in community.
The third largest category of grants was the Local Impact programs, this included community-driven arts projects for small and mid- sized arts organizations with a focus on equity, access, and opportunity for historically marginalized communities, including “ethnic and tribal groups, LGBTQ+, individuals with disabilities, low-income and rural communities, and immigrants and refugees.” 133 grants were awarded, totaling, $1.9 million. See the full list here.
The Artist Education subcategory Artists in Schools holds the fourth largest group of grants at $1.8 million, awarded through 131 grants. These programs cover arts education projects that integrate community arts resources, local artists, and non-profit arts organizations into arts-learning for PreK-12 students during the school day. The selected projects must also take place during regular school hours at the school site, and should address the unique circumstances of the school environment.
Some notable SF Bay Area organizations included on this list were the Ali Akbar College of Music, the nation's oldest and most well-known North Indian Classical Music institution, which teaches Indian Classical music on Western instruments to students in five schools in Oakland, San Francisco, and Marin; Alonzo King LINES Ballet, which provides free dance education in-school programming, serving primarily low-income students of color; American Conservatory Theatre Foundation; California Poets in the Schools; DANCE KAISO (an African-Caribbean Festival Arts residency at Meadows-Livingstone School in San Francisco); and Z Space Studio, whose Word for Word's Youth Arts program will lead two in-depth public school residencies for 6th-8th grade English Language Learners. [Pausing to catch my breath!]
The fifth largest subgroup of grants also falls under Arts Education and focuses on Exposure, supporting travel expenses to performances and exhibitions for students who might not be able to attend otherwise. 113 grants at a total of $1.5 million were awarded.
The sixth largest category came as a bit of a surprise with JUMP StArts, a “high-quality arts education and artists-in-residence programs for youth engaged in the juvenile justice system. Activities under this grant must take place in a “classroom, after-school, social services, or incarceration settings.” This subcategory included 46 grants, totalling $1.4 million. Of that list, only two were San Francisco grantees (Imagine Bus Project and Performing Arts Workshop Inc.) and one Alameda County grantee (Youth Spirit Artworks).
Find the full list via the California Arts Council.
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