Federal Stimulus Funds Available to Preserve Jobs in the Arts in Los Angeles

 

 

        

 

Contacts:

Emiko Ono, Director of Grants and Professional Development, L.A. County Arts Commission,

(213) 202-5939, eono@arts.lacounty.gov

Laura Zucker, Executive Director, L.A. County Arts Commission, (213) 202-5858

Michelle Berne, Grants Manager, City of Los Angeles, Department of Cultural Affairs (213) 202-5566

Joe Smoke, Grants Director, City of Los Angeles, Department of Cultural Affairs (213) 202-5566

Olga Garay, Executive Director, City of Los Angeles, Department of Cultural Affairs (213) 202-5522

 

For Release July 14, 2009

 

 

FEDERAL STIMULUS FUNDS AVAILABLE TO

PRESERVE JOBS IN THE ARTS IN LOS ANGELES

Applications Available July 14

Applications Due August 17

Grant Awards Announced October 1

 

The Los Angeles County Arts Commission and the City of Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs (DCA) have each received $250,000 in American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funds from the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA). In accordance with the NEA guidelines, these funds will provide grants to nonprofit arts organizations in the region to preserve jobs in the arts sector. These public arts agencies were the only two that received funds to re-grant in the state of California.

 

The Arts Commission and DCA are working together on the receipt and distribution of arts stimulus money to maximize the impact of Federal funds in the region.  A streamlined grant application and review process has been designed to ensure rapid deployment of funds. The Arts Commission and DCA are using the same application form, and all proposals will be reviewed by the same review panel.

 

All applicants must demonstrate the need for job support and eligible jobs must be central to the organizations’ artistic mission.  Arts organizations eligible to apply must have received a grant from either agency within the last three fiscal years (FY 2007-08, 2008-09 and/or 2009-10). To be eligible to apply to the Arts Commission, arts organizations must have an operating budget in the area of $500,000 and $1.5 million. To be eligible to apply to DCA, arts/cultural organizations must be headquartered in the City of Los Angeles and have an operating budget between $20,000 and $1.5 million.  In addition, DCA is prioritizing applications from arts organizations that have lost revenue due to the Los Angeles Unified School District’s freezing of its Arts Community Partnership Network and from Arts Service organizations. Combined, the two agencies anticipate awarding approximately 25 grants ranging from $15,000 to $45,000 each.

 

The brief electronic grant application form and guidelines for American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funds can be found on the Arts Commission’s Web Site, www.lacountyarts.org or the DCA’s Web Site, www.culturela.org. The deadline for the applications, which are submitted electronically, is August 17, 2009. Potential applicants are urged to read the guidelines thoroughly. Questions should be addressed to either the Arts Commission at grants@lacounty.gov or the DCA at dca.grants@lacity.org.

 

In addition to the grants to the Arts Commission and DCA, the NEA made the following direct awards to arts organizations in Los Angeles County for job retention: 18^th Street Arts Complex, Actor’s Gang Inc., American Museum of Ceramic Art, Armory Center for the Arts, Arts Center College of Design, California Institute for the Arts (Cal Arts), California Lawyers for the Arts, City of San Fernando, Cornerstone Theater Company Inc., Deaf West Theater Company Inc., East-West Players, HUC Skirball Cultural Center, International City Theatre, Khmer Academy, L.A. Theatre Works, Long Beach Opera, Los Angeles Chamber Music Society, Los Angeles Forum for Architecture and Urban Design, Mount Saint Mary’s College, Museum of Contemporary Art , Los Angeles, Pasadena Arts Council, Pasadena Playhouse State Theatre of California, PEN Center USA West, Performing Arts Center of Los Angeles County, Regents of the University of California at Los Angeles, Santa Cecilia Opera and Orchestra Association, Santa Monica Symphony Association, Shakespeare Festival/LA and Southern California Asian American Studies Central.  The complete list of arts organizations and arts agencies that received stimulus funding from the NEA is available at http://www.arts.gov/recovery/nea-recovery-act-grants.html.

 

Since the organizations listed above are receiving direct NEA awards, they will not be eligible for re-granting funds from the Arts Commission or DCA. The California Arts Council (CAC) also received $502,400 to re-grant to arts organizations for job retention statewide. A list of organizations eligible to apply to the CAC is available at www.cac.ca.gov/arra/eligiblegrantees.pdf.

 

The Department of Cultural Affairs (DCA) generates and supports high quality arts and cultural experiences for Los Angeles residents and visitors.  DCA advances the social and economic impact of the arts and assures access to arts and cultural experiences through grant making, marketing, public and community arts programming, arts education, and creating partnerships with artists and arts and cultural organizations in every community in the City of Los Angeles. DCA grants $3.4 million annually to over 300 artists and nonprofit arts organizations and awards the Artist-in-Residence (A.I.R.) and City of Los Angeles (C.O.L.A.) Individual Artist Fellowships.  The Department provides arts and cultural programming in its numerous Neighborhood Arts and Cultural Centers, theaters, and historic sites, and manages several arts and education programs for young people.  It directs public art projects and manages the City’s Arts Development Fee and Percent for Arts Programs, and the Art Collection and Murals Programs.  DCA markets the City’s cultural events through development and collaboration with strategic partners, design and production of creative promotional materials, and management of the www.culturela.org Web Site.

 

The Los Angeles County Arts Commission, Laura Zucker, Executive Director, provides leadership in cultural services of all disciplines for the largest county in the United States, encompassing 88 municipalities. In addition to administering an Organizational Grants Program that funds more than 300 nonprofit arts organizations annually, the Arts Commission provides leadership and staffing to support the regional blueprint for arts education, Arts for All; oversees the County’s Civic Art Program for capital projects; funds the largest arts internship program in the country in conjunction with the Getty Foundation; programs the John Anson Ford Theatres; and supports the Los Angeles County Cultural Calendar on ExperienceLA.com. The Commission also produces free community programs, including the L.A. Holiday Celebration broadcast nationally, and a year-round music program that funds more than 50 free concerts each year in public sites. The 2009-10 President of the Arts Commission is Araceli Ruano.

 

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