2016 Archives - Alliance for California Traditional Arts

The mission of the Watsonville Taiko Group, founded in 1991, is to foster the evolving cultural expression and traditions of taiko drumming through performances and public education. Artistic director since 1992, Ikuyo Conant set the group’s goals of exploring taiko to develop an art that combines…

WasabiKai is a ceramics program of the Senshin Buddhist Temple of Los Angeles. The veritable institution has had a profound effect on the Japanese and Japanese- American community by its commitment to traditional arts, namely safeguarding Gagaku music, Bugagku dance, and introducing the first Taiko group…

The origins of Tejidos Purépecha project began in the Eastern Coachella Valley as a collaboration with the residents, ACTA, and Building Healthy Communities (a project of the California Endowment). In an effort to promote health and well-being, an on the ground approach employed by ACTA asked the indigenous Purépecha, whose…

Many Lightnings Legacy Center, Inc. contributes to the development and maintenance of the Native Garden located at the San Joaquin River basin in Fresno. It is a volunteer run organization. Funding from ACTA’s Living Cultures Grants Program in 2016 will provide monthly workshops to immerse future weavers and gatherers…

Bay Area Youth Arts is a nonprofit program with a mission to help at-risk, inner-city youth develop discipline and self-confidence necessary to lead positive and productive lives. Offering African and jazz percussion, as well as classical and jazz violin, students learn listening and learning skills that…

Madera, California, boasts a large Oaxacan community who are largely agricultural workers. The community has recognized that back strap weaving is one of the many traditions of the indigenous communities in Oaxaca, Mexico, that is almost non-existent with the move to California. A natural context of learning to weave from…

Grupo Folklorico Huaxyacac is folkloric dance group performing the regional dances of Oaxaca, Mexico. The performing group was founded in 1989 by the Regional Organization of Oaxaca which, two years earlier, introduced to California the first Guelagetza celebration which is a well-established and beloved event in their home state. Today…

The Dorothy Ramon Learning Center is dedicated to the documentation and sharing of Southern California’s First Peoples’ cultures, languages, history, music, and other traditional arts. The Center offers cultural activities and programs, supports research, preservation, and documentation with scholarly and accurate multimedia through its Ushkana Press…

Iu-Mien Community Services, located in Sacramento, is dedicated to the support and development of healthy Iu-Mien families and communities through culturally responsive programs and services since 1994. With approximately 15,000 Iu-Mien people in the greater Sacramento area, the impetus to start the organization grew from the…