The Alliance for California Traditional Arts (ACTA) is pleased to announce that it is awarding $285,000 in grants to California nonprofit organizations to support projects in folk and traditional arts through its Living Cultures Grants Program. These grants support art making that demonstrates significant impact on a particular tradition.
Fifty-seven grants across the state represent community-based traditional arts reflecting the diversity of California’s populations. Funded projects span all age groups in the learning and practice of traditional arts that include dance, music, material arts, foodways, indigenous knowledge, language revitalization and storytelling. Through weekly lessons, intensive workshops, concert presentations, cultural fairs, and documentation projects, this year’s cohort features dance instruction to Lao youth in Fresno; an evening of Bosnian Sevdah singing and dance in San Francisco; workshops in the construction of Native sinew-backed bows in Humboldt County; Mexican folklorico dance lessons to youth in Tulare, Orange and Riverside Counties; and dance and drum classes with West African master performers in Alameda County, to name a few.
One hundred sixty-six applications were reviewed by a distinguished panel of cultural and community experts over a three-day period, and the final grant selections were approved by ACTA’s board of directors.
ACTA’s Living Cultures Grants Program is supported by the Walter & Elise Haas Fund, the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, and The James Irvine Foundation, with additional support provided by the California Arts Council, Los Angeles County Arts Commission, and The San Francisco Foundation. ACTA is the California Arts Council’s statewide partner in serving the folk & traditional arts field.
“These grants for culturally-specific arts practices provide communities a healthy way in which to participate in California’s future,” noted Amy Kitchener, ACTA Executive Director. In its nine-year history, the Living Cultures Grants Program has supported 422 projects totaling over $2.6 million in grants. “We are reaching into many corners of the state from Butte County down to San Diego,” continues Kitchener, “with small, strategic funding that makes a huge difference to the many grassroots community groups with which we work. We see how participation in cultural art making can lead to strong leadership, positive group identity and expressions of great beauty which benefit the people of California.”
2014 Grantees
Grants in the amount of $5,000 were awarded to:
Arab Cultural and Community Center—San Francisco, San Francisco County
Supporting the 20th Annual Arab Cultural Festival
Banteay Srei / Asian Health Services—Oakland, Alameda County
Funds will support Southeast Asian Unity through Cultural Exploration (SAUCE), an intergenerational foodways and storytelling project
Berkeley Old Time Music Convention—Berkeley, Alameda County
Supporting the 12th Annual Old Time Music Convention of concerts, workshops, community jams
BrasArte—Berkeley, Alameda County
Funds will support the Yemanja Arts Festival 2014 showcasing Afro-Brazilian arts
California Chinese Orchestra—Oakland, Alameda County
Traditional Chinese music lessons for youth and adults will culminate in two public concerts
California Indian Storytelling Association—Fremont, Alameda County
The project, Our Storytellers, Our Legacy, will digitize 15 years of documentation which will be available to a new generation via a website, workshops and presentations
Calpulli Tonalehqueh—San Jose, Santa Clara County
Funds will support the Azteca Mexica New Year which draws over 5,000 people over the 2-day observance
Cambodian American Resource Agency, Inc.—San Jose, Santa Clara County
Graduating seniors will produce and perform classical and folk Khmer dance with live ensemble music
Centro Binacional para el Desarrollo Indígena Oxaqueño—Fresno, Fresno County
La Guelaguetza 2014 will bring together the Oaxacan community in a cultural celebration of dance, music, food, and crafts
Centro Cultural de Mexico—Santa Ana, Orange County
Día de los Muertos/Day of the Dead celebration will include workshops on flower cultivation, foodways, and altar making
City of San Fernando—San Fernando, Los Angeles County
Funds will support the Master Mariachi Apprenticeship Program for youth
Coachella Valley Housing Coalition—Indio, Riverside County
Funding will make free Folklorico dance lessons and Mariachi music lessons available to youth
Community Music Center—San Francisco, San Francisco County
Support for the development and production of La Posarela, a bilingual musical play based on Mexican-American holiday traditions that is a valued part of the Mission District neighborhood
Coyote’s Paw—Hoopa, Humboldt County
Master artist George Blake (Hupa/Yurok) will teach how to make sinew-backed bows
Croatian American Cultural Center—San Francisco, San Francisco County
Support for Bosnian Sevdah music and dance event
Cultural Arts of Gold—Oakland, Alameda County
Support will fund workshops in dance and drum featuring master artists from the Congo
Diamano Coura West African Dance Company—Oakland, Alameda County
Funding will support the 19th annual Collages de Cultures Africaines, four days of workshops, performance and discussion
Esperanza del Valle—Capitola, Santa Cruz County
Support will enhance repertoire development and the purchase of costumes for four different dances from the Veracruz region of Mexico
Floricanto Dance Theatre—Los Angeles, Los Angeles County
Support will allow dance artists and musicians to hone skills of improvisation of Jarocho songs
Garifuna American Heritage Foundation, Inc. (GAHFU)—Long Beach, Los Angeles County
Funding will support the teaching dance, drum, song and cultural practices in Garifuna language
Ginga Arts—Los Angeles, Los Angeles County
Capoeira – a Brazilian martial art form which includes dance, music and history – will be taught to youth ages 5-18 years of age in South Los Angeles
Glide Foundation—San Francisco, San Francisco County
Funding will support the Healing Through Negro Spirituals program for women
Grupo Folklorico Los Girasoles—Pixley, Tulare County
Support will sustain youth classes in Mexican Folklorico dance
Hmong Association of Long Beach—Long Beach, Los Angeles County
Funding will support the Qeej Not Gangs program, a multigenerational program of cultural arts activities
Inglewood Cultural Arts—Inglewood, Los Angeles County
Funds will support the first annual Cultural Arts Festival of the African Diaspora, free to the public
Islamic Cultural Center of Northern California—Oakland, Alameda County
A series of concerts and events will highlight the diversity of Islamic arts and culture
Japanese Cultural Fair—Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz County
Funds will support the presentation of traditional artists at this one day event
Jun Daiko—Mountain View, Santa Clara County
Workshops with a visiting master artist from Japan will refine the art of Japanese Lion Dance
Khmer Arts Academy—Long Beach, County Los Angeles
Funding will provide free after-school and weekend instruction in Cambodian classical dance for youth
Konkow Maidu Cultural Preservation Association—Oroville, Butte County
Support will fund the construction of regalia or traditional dress
L.A. Samba Kids—Los Angeles, Los Angeles County
Support for afterschool programs of Brazilian traditional arts will serve middle and high school students in South Los Angeles
LAGA, California Circle—San Francisco, San Francisco County
Instruction in laga, traditional back-strap weaving of the Kalinga tribe of the Philippines, will expand to include youth
Laotian-American Community of Fresno—Clovis, Fresno County
Funding will support traditional Lao dance instruction for youth
Merced Lao Family Community, Inc.—Merced, Merced County
To support intergenerational instruction in qeej and Hmong traditional dance
Mindanao Lilang Lilang/Palabuniyan Kulintang Ensemble—South San Francisco, San Mateo
Funds will support concert presentations of traditional Mindanao kulintang music
North American Guqin Association—Union City, Alameda County
Workshops and performance support will introduce audiences to the Chinese zither and its meaning and aesthetics
Oakland Interfaith Gospel Choir—Oakland, Alameda County
Funding will support the teen music education program
Omnira Institute—Oakland, Alameda County
To support the Awon Ohun Omnira (Voices of Freedom) choir
Ong Dance Company & Ong Dance School—San Francisco, San Francisco County
Musical instrument purchases for the teaching of traditional Korean drum and dance to youth and adults
Ousseynou Kouyate / Sekhou Senegal Etoile—Oakland, Alameda County
The Nuit du Bazin project will host four days of dance workshops and performances with master artists of West Africa and celebration featuring traditional textiles and fashion.
Parangal Dance Company—San Bruno, San Mateo County
Funds will support kulintang musical training with Danongan “Danny” Kalanduyan, master artist from the Mindanao region of the Philippines
Proyecto Purepecha—Fresno, Fresno County
Purepecha culture will be celebrated in a festival gathering of traditional arts in the Central Valley
Raices Cultura—Coachella, Riverside County
Funds will support Día de los Muertos activities
Rara Tou Limen Haitian Dance Company—Oakland, Alameda County
Support for multi-day Rasanable! Haitian Arts Festival
REACH LA (Realistic Education in Action Coalition to Foster Health)—Los Angeles, Los Angeles County
To support a new professional dance studio and meeting hub for the Los Angeles House and Ball community
Regional Organization of Oaxaca-Organización Regional de Oaxaca (ORO)—Covina, Los Angeles County
To support the Guelaguetza Festival, a celebration of Oaxacan cultural traditions
Relampalgo del Cielo, Inc.—Santa Ana, Orange County
To support the annual ballet folklorico student concert
Sukay—San Francisco, San Francisco County
Ten days of workshops and performances highlight the Carnaval traditions of the Andes
Susanville Indian Rancheria—Susanville, Lassen County
Funds will support the Native Song project to record traditional songs and lullabies of the Maidu and Paiute language
Teatro de la Tierra—Fresno, Fresno County
Support for the Generaciones Project will provide instruction in Mexican music to youth, teens, and adults
Thai Community Arts and Cultural Center—Los Angeles, Los Angeles County
Funds will support the 22nd annual Thai Cultural Day
The Bomba y Plena Workshop—Berkeley, Alameda County
Instruction in Afro-Puerto Rican dance and music forms will be offered on a weekly basis to youth
The Music Circle—Pasadena, Los Angeles County
Funds will support the presentation of South and North Indian music and dance
United Women of East Africa Support Team—San Diego, San Diego County
Somali, Eritrean and Ethiopian foodways bring generations of women together to learn traditional food preparation and share life stories
Vive Oaxaca—Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz County
La Guelagetza Festival celebrates Oaxacan cultural arts together in a day-long festival
Wishtoyo Foundation—Ventura, Ventura County
Funding will support a recording of Chumash songs in the Smuwic language
Yuva Bharati—Palo Alto, Santa Clara County
Classical Indian music programming will be recorded via television and internet resulting in 50 shows