What's New

Three California Traditional Artists Receive Nation’s Highest Honor

Violet de Cristoforo, Agustin Lira, and Julia Parker Photo: National Endowment for the Arts

Last month, the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) announced this year’s recipients of the NEA National Heritage Fellowships, the country’s highest honor in the folk and traditional arts.  Twelve fellowships, which include a one-time award of $20,000 each, were presented to honorees from nine states.  The awardees were chosen from among 259 nominations on the basis of their artistic excellence, cultural authenticity, and contributions to their field.

This year’s announcement coincides with the 25th anniversary of the National Heritage Fellows program.  NEA Chairman Dana Gioia said, “I am pleased to celebrate the 25th anniversary with the announcement of such a diverse and stellar group of artists.  In addition to the sheer excellence and cultural significance of their work, this year’s honorees demonstrate how vital is the role of persistence in pursuing an artistic journey.  Creativity and talent so often take a profound level of dedication to develop into art that is, as in these cases, worthy of national recognition.”

The Alliance for California Traditional Arts congratulates California’s 2007 National Heritage Fellows – Violet de Cristoforo, Agustin Lira, and Julia Parker!

Read more about California’s 2007 National Heritage Fellows on ACTA’s website.

top

An Apprenticeship in North Indian Classical Bansuri

Pandit G.S. Sachdev (right) and Sheela Bringi Photo: Sherwood Chen

Sherwood Chen, Associate Director, ACTA

Considered one of the most celebrated and revered exponents of North Indian classical music and the bansuri (seven-holed bamboo flute), Pandit G.S. Sachdev, now in his 70s, maintains a full international schedule as a master teacher and performer on the road, with gigs in New York, Oregon, California, the Bahamas, Egypt, Canada, Europe, and South America in this year alone.  Between his travels and work with myriad students throughout the world, his home base is in Marin County, where he has been working with bansuri apprentice Sheela Bringi as part of ACTA’s Apprenticeship Program.

Read more about G.S. Sachdev, Sheela Bringi, and their apprenticeship in North Indian classical bansuri on ACTA’s website.

top

Creative Work Fund Announces $472,000 in Grants to Visual and Traditional Artists for Collaborative Art Projects

Mayan huipil (blouse), faja (belt) and falda (skirt) handwoven by Martina Jimenez.  This year, the Creative Work Fund is supporting collaboration between Jimenez and the Centro Legal de Raza in Oakland.  Photo courtesy of the Creative Work Fund

Last month the Creative Work Fund announced 15 grants totaling $472,000 for visual and traditional artists creating new works in Alameda, Contra Costa, Napa, San Francisco, Solano, and Sonoma Counties through collaborations with nonprofit organizations.

The Creative Work Fund was created in 1994 by Bay Area foundations that wanted to contribute to the creation of new art works and to support local artists.  It is now a program of the Walter and Elise Haas Fund that is supported by generous grants from the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation and the James Irvine Foundation.  In 2001, the Creative Work Fund added a category for grants to traditional artists, in an effort to support excellent artists who are often overlooked by philanthropy.

“The Creative Work Fund's 2007 awardees help to enhance the quality of life in the greater Bay Area in truly distinctive ways,” comments the Fund's director, Frances Phillips.  “By working with local nonprofits to address critical needs and by bringing the arts to new audiences, our awardees make very real and lasting contributions to their communities.”

The Creative Work Fund's 2007 traditional arts awardees and their collaborators are:

• Ubirajara Almeida and C.K. Ladzkepo collaborating with the East Bay Center for the Performing Arts
• Charya Burt collaborating with Vishnu Tattva Das of Odissi Vilas, Melody Takata of Gen Taiko, and Asian American Dance Performances
• Marion Coleman, Dolores Presley, and Julia Vitero collaborating with Bay Area Black United Fund
• Martina Jimenez collaborating with Centro Legal de la Raza
• Mellie Lopez, Ph.D. collaborating with Danongan Kalanduyan, Melinda Lopez, Cota Deles Yabut, and Mindanao Lilang-Lilang
• Patrick Makuakāne collaborating with World Arts West
• Melody Takata collaborating with Madame Fuima Kansuma, Hideko Nakajima, Tatsu Aoki, members of Gen Taiko, and Asian Improv aRts
• Wang Wei collaborating with the San Francisco Gu Zheng Music Society

To learn more about the Creative Work Fund, or read more about its 2007 grantees, visit the Creative Work Fund's website or call (415) 398-4474.

top

ACTA Featured at the California Arts Council Meeting in Fresno

Philip Hagopian, Amy Kitchener, Richard Hagopian Photo: Suzanne Hildebrand

One June 21, 2007, the California Arts Council (CAC) held its first council meeting in Fresno in over ten years.  At the request of Chairman Michael Alexander, ACTA was invited to make a presentation in its role as one of the CAC’s Multicultural Statewide Service Networks.  Amy Kitchener, ACTA’s Executive Director, discussed some of the critical issues facing the traditional folk arts field in California and presented Armenian oud players Richard and Philip Hagopian—recent participants in ACTA’s Apprenticeship Program.

Read more about ACTA’s presentation to the CAC on ACTA’s website.

top

San Diego Commission for Arts and Culture Announces San Diego Folklife

The San Diego Commission for Arts and Culture has launched a new, web-based project called San Diego Folklife.  Their website aims to provide resources for folk artists and education for those looking to learn more about folk arts.  The site includes a portal, designed to encourage collaboration and conversation around folk art practice.

For more information about San Diego Folklife, please contact the San Diego Commission for Arts and Culture via email or at (619) 533-3050.

top

ACTA’s Traditional Arts Development Program makes contracts up to $1,500 to support consultancies, mentorships, and travel opportunities that foster a new level of growth for individual folk & traditional artists and organizations engaged in this field in California. Requested services may be focused on organizational, program, and/or artistic development goals. Individual artists and cultural practitioners, as well as organizations, whether incorporated or not, may apply.

A sampling of past contracts include:

Artistic Mentorships

Gen Taiko (San Francisco), an organization dedicated to promoting, preserving and presenting Japanese traditional arts including taiko (traditional Japanese drumming), traditional folk dance, and folk song forms. Its artistic director, Melody Takata, was trained by National Heritage Fellow Madame Fujima Kansuma to learn the Nihon Buyo (Japanese classical) dance called Kojo No Tsuki (Moonlit Castle Ruins). Ms. Takata taught the dance to four of her students and performed it at Gen Taiko’s 10th Anniversary Concert in November 2005.

Organizational Consultancies:

Kwashi Amevuvor (Los Angeles), a master drummer from Ghana, West Africa, worked with consultant Janet P***t, who assisted him with marketing and web design to develop professional promotional materials to publicize the work of the artist and the traditional cultural arts of Ghana. In addition, Ms. P***t’s consultancy supported Mr. Amevuvor’s efforts in organizing a cultural study tour of Ghana.

Travel Opportunities

The Eszterlánc Hungarian Folk Ensemble (Foster City) traveled to Southern California to perform for an audience of over two thousand at the annual Magyar Sajtónap (Hungarian Press Day) hosted by the newspaper California Hungarians. At this event Eszterlanc dancers had the opportunity to perform with members of the Karpatok Folk Ensemble of Southern California, which is led by Istvan Szabo.

Requests for organizational consultancies, artistic mentoring, and travel support may be submitted to ACTA at any time.  Download the application and application instructions from ACTA’s website or call (559) 237-9812 to request a copy be mailed to you.

ACTA’s Traditional Arts Development Program is supported by grants from the California Arts Council, the Walter and Elise Haas Fund, and the National Endowment for the Arts.

top

L.A. Treasures Award

Deadline: Ongoing
Restricted to Los Angeles County

The California Traditional Music Society (CTMS) and the City of Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs (DCA) have announced the "Elaine Weissman L.A. Treasures Awards".  This program supports folk and traditional performing and visual artists with $1,000 in funds for two public performances, workshops or exhibits - one planned by the award recipient, another chosen by DCA and CTMS.

The Awards are named after Elaine Weissman, founder of CTMS and great promoter and supporter of folk and traditional arts, who passed away last year.

An average of three L.A.Treasures Awards are given each month. For more information visit the California Traditional Music Society's website.

top

The Guitar Center Music Foundation

Deadline: Ongoing

The Guitar Center Music Foundation’s mission is to aid nonprofit music programs across America that offer music instruction so that more people can experience the joys of making music.

The Guitar Center Music Foundation accepts grant applications throughout the year from 501(c)(3) organizations that offer music instruction programs to participants of any age. The applicant program must successfully enhance the state of music education in the United States. The Grant Committee reviews all applications three times yearly, and grant awards range from $500 to $5,000.

For more information visit the Guitar Center Music Foundation’s website.

top

National Association of Latino Arts and Culture (NALAC) Fund for the Arts

Deadline: July 16, 2007

The NALAC Fund for the Arts (NFA) is a grant program designed to provide financial support to U.S. Latino artists, ensembles, and organizations through a competitive application process. Latino working artists, ensembles, and small and mid-sized Latino arts and cultural organizations are eligible to apply. NFA grants provide organizational support to help build the internal capacity of Latino arts organizations, support the creation and presentation of works by Latino independent artists and ensembles, and strengthen communities by investing in the creative and cultural assets of Latinos in the U.S.

For more information visit the NALAC’s website.

top

ACTA’s Living Cultures Grants Program

Deadline: August 1, 2007

ACTA’s Living Cultures Grants Program funds nonprofit organizations to support exemplary projects in the traditional arts in California. Approximately 35-40 grants of up to $7,500 will be made in this funding cycle. Descriptions of previously funded projects are available on ACTA’s website.

Guidelines and application forms are now available online. Alternatively, please call (415) 561-7894 to request a copy be mailed to you. The postmark deadline for submission of proposals is August 1, 2007. ACTA staff is always available to discuss the program and is happy to work with first-time grant seekers.

The Living Cultures Grants Program is a project of the Alliance for California Traditional Arts in partnership with the Walter & Elise Haas Fund, the William & Flora Hewlett Foundation, and the James Irvine Foundation.

For More Information Contact

Lily Kharrazi
Living Cultures Grants Program Manager
(415) 561-7893
Email

top

Durfee Foundation
Artists’ Resource for Completion

Deadline: August 2, 2007
Restricted to Los Angeles County

The ARC (Artists' Resource for Completion) grants provide rapid, short-term assistance to individual artists in Los Angeles County who wish to enhance work for a specific, imminent opportunity that may significantly benefit their careers. Artists in any discipline are eligible to apply. The applicant must already have secured an invitation from an established arts organization to present the proposed work. The work must be scheduled for presentation within six months of the application deadline. There are four grant cycles per year.

Previous grants have supported such traditional artists as:

• Malathi Iyengar – for costs related to the performance of the Ramayana at a dance festival in India
• Norma Navarro – for costs related to the exhibition of the artist’s carved gourds at Plaza de la Raza in Los Angeles
• Prince Diabate – to support collaborators’ fess and shipping related to a concert in Montreal

For more information, including downloadable guidelines and applications, visit the Durfee Foundation’s website.

top

Center for Cultural Innovation
Investing in Artists Grants Program

Deadline: August 3, 2007

Artistic creation rarely occurs without a frontline investment of time, money, and talent, and this has made the need for grant support a critical part of the creative process for many working artists today. Traditionally, grant programs for individual artists have supported fellowships (“buying the artist’s time to be free to create”), or the commissioning of new artistic projects. These types of grantmaking programs have been critical in supporting the creation of new work across all disciplines, and have also helped to promote the intrinsic value of artists and “art for art’s sake.”

But what is largely missing from the current grants-to-artists landscape are grants that support the individual capacity-building and self-sufficiency of artists – investing in the working tools and market strategies that will allow them to create high-quality work more consistently, and to distribute that work to new audiences and “investors” to achieve greater long-term creative independence and financial sustainability. While there have been numerous grant programs developed to support capacity-building in nonprofit organizations few, if any, exist to help artists in similar ways.

To address this need, the Center for Cultural Innovation (CCI) was funded by The James Irvine Foundation to launch the Investing in Artists Grants Program initiative for California artists in 2007-2008.

The Investing in Artists Grants Program is designed to enhance the working lives and creative environment for California artists by funding tools and market strategies that will allow them to create their best work more consistently, and distribute that work more broadly to new audiences. Investing in Artists provides grants in two funding categories: 1) Grants for Artistic Equipment and Tools, and 2) Grants for Presenting and Marketing Work. Through a competitive application process conducted over three initial rounds of funding, a combination of planning grants up to $5,000 each, and implementation grants up to $15,000 each, will be awarded to California artists over two years.

For more information, including downloadable guidelines and applications, visit CCI’s website.

top

National Endowment for the Arts
Access to Artistic Excellence
Heritage, Preservation, and Services to the Field

Deadline: August 13, 2007

Access to Artistic Excellence encourages and supports artistic creativity, preserves our diverse cultural heritage, and makes the arts more widely available in communities throughout the country. While projects in this category may focus on just one of these areas, the Arts Endowment recognizes that many of the most effective projects encompass both artistic excellence and enhanced access. The Arts Endowment is particularly interested in projects that extend the arts to underserved populations – hose whose opportunities to experience the arts are limited by geography, ethnicity, economics, or disability.

The Heritage, Preservation, and Services to the Field grants provide support for the identification, documentation, preservation, and perpetuation of the folk and traditional arts through:

• Identification and documentation of artists and artistic resources.
• Conservation of archival material.
• Public programs that raise awareness of cultural heritage.
• Workshops, residencies, and apprenticeships.
• Conferences and gatherings of artists.
• Technical assistance and provision of cultural expertise to arts organizations.

Please visit the National Endowment for the Arts’ website for detailed information on the types of projects funded, projects that are ineligible, and application information and materials. For assistance please contact Barry Bergey, Director, Folk & Traditional Arts, via email or at (202) 682-5726.

Applicants to the National Endowment for the Arts should now use Grants.gov for application submission.  The first step in applying through Grants.gov is registration.  This is a multi-step process for which you should allow at least two weeks.  Registration must be completed before you can apply.  Please visit the National Endowment for the Arts’ website for details.  Start on this now; don't wait until right before your deadline!

If you are unable to submit your application electronically, you may submit an application in paper format. You should request instructions and material for a paper application by contacting the discipline staff that is appropriate to your project.  For the Folk & Traditional Arts call (202) 682-5762 or (202) 682-5428 and tell them why you are unable to apply electronically.  Beginning in 2008, however, electronic application will be required of all applicants.  The National Endowment for the Arts encourages you to register now and otherwise prepare for this eventuality.

top

The James Irvine Foundation
New Connections Fund

Deadline: August 13, 2007

The New Connections Fund provides open and competitive funding through the New Connections Fund for organizations that have new projects, new ideas, or which have not previously received a grant from the James Irvine Foundation. Grants of up to $50,000 are available, over one- or two-year grant periods, and small and mid-sized organizations (with budgets between $100,000 and $2 million) are particularly encouraged to apply.

The New Connections Fund has two goals: 1) to identify nonprofit organizations doing high-quality work that is well-aligned with selected program strategies, particularly in regions of priority interest, and 2) to increase the number of new organizations in Irvine's grants portfolio.

For more information, including downloadable guidelines and application, visit the James Irvine Foundation’s website.

top

2007 Emerging Composer Awards

Deadline: August 24, 2007
Restricted to the Bay Area

The Wallace Alexander Gerbode Foundation and the William & Flora Hewlett Foundation are pleased to announce its 2007 Emerging Composers Awards Program. The foundations will provide up to six grants of $50,000 each to nonprofit San Francisco Bay Area music and music presenting organizations, for the commission and premiere of major new musical compositions by California composers, ages 35 and younger at the time of application.

These grants are part of a three-year $900,000 initiative by the Gerbode and Hewlett Foundations to support Bay Area performing artists and arts organizations at a time when funding has been increasingly difficult to come by. In 2005, the initiative funded six commissions for emerging choreographers and in 2006, six commissions for emerging playwrights.

One half ($25,000) of each award will go to the composer as a commissioning fee. The remainder ($25,000) will go to the producing organization, for commission-related expenses for the work’s development and world premiere. The world premiere of all funded compositions will take place in the Bay Area between September 2008 and June 2010.

The 2007 program will grant up to six awards of $50,000 to professionally-oriented musical organizations and presenters that are based in the counties of San Francisco, Alameda, Marin, Napa, Sonoma, Solano, Contra Costa, San Mateo, or Santa Clara. Proposed commissions in any musical style (jazz, experimental, contemporary classical) or format (chamber, combo, orchestral, choir) will be accepted, but there must be a public premiere of the work(s) which makes it accessible to a general audience.

Applications for the 2007 Emerging Composer Awards Program are currently available online. Completed applications must be submitted to the Gerbode Foundation no later than 4:00 p.m., Friday, August 24, 2007. An advisory panel of music experts from around the U.S will review all the proposals, and final selections will be made by the Gerbode Foundation. Grantees will be announced in early January 2008.

For more information contact the Gerbode Foundation’s Program Assistant, Olivia Malabuyo at (415) 391-0911 or via email.

top

ACTA’s Apprenticeship Program

Deadline: August 31, 2007

ACTA’s Apprenticeship Program encourages the continuation of the state’s traditional arts and cultures by contracting master artists to train qualified apprentices, working in a one-on-one relationship. Each contract will support a period of intensive learning for individuals who have shown a commitment to and a talent for a specific artistic tradition. Contracts of $3,000 will be made with master artists throughout California to cover master artist’s fees, supplies, and travel. Descriptions of previous apprenticeships are available on ACTA’s website.

Guidelines and application forms are now available online. Alternatively, please call ACTA at (415) 561-1562 to request a copy be mailed to you. The postmark deadline for submission of applications is August 31, 2007.

ACTA’s Apprenticeship Program is supported by the Walter & Elise Haas Fund, the James Irvine Foundation, and the National Endowment for the Arts.

For More Information Contact

Sherwood Chen
Associate Director
(415) 561-1562
Email

top

GRAMMY Foundation Grants

Deadline: October 3, 2007

The GRAMMY Foundation is accepting applications for $10,000 to $40,000 grants for archiving and preservation projects. Projects ready for preservation implementation may be granted $10,000 to $40,000. Planning, assessment, and/or consultation projects may receive between $5,000 and $10,000.

Applications are due October 1, 2007, and the updated forms and guidelines must be used. A 90-minute conference call with GRAMMY Foundation staff will be held in August to answer any potential questions. Questions will be petitioned for in advance and answered during the call. Applicants are encouraged to attend.

For more information, including downloadable guidelines and applications, visit the GRAMMY Foundation’s website.

top

Opportunities & Resources

Center for Nonprofit Success Fundraising Summits

Wednesday, July 18, 2007—Thursday, July 19, 2007
California State East Bay Conference Center
1000 Broadway, Suite 109
Oakland, California

Tuesday, July 24, 2007—Wednesday, July 25, 2007
Mount St. Mary’s College
Drudis-Biada Art Gallery & Fine Arts Building
12001 Chalon Road
Los Angeles, California

Nonprofit fundraising has become highly specialized, and each segment of your donor market requires a different set of relationship management skills.  Whether you are reaching out to private foundations, wealthy individuals, or your own members, you need to understand who they give to, and why.  The Center for Nonprofit Success’ fundraising summits focuses on the relationship aspects of fundraising, and offers you several ways to enhance your relationship management skills.  The summits bring together an impressive group of experts in a highly interactive format to discuss the latest developments in grantmaking and fundraising, and how your nonprofit can take advantage of them.

For more information or to register visit the Center for Nonprofit Success’ website.

top

Best Practices Series

San Francisco Grants for the Arts and The San Francisco Foundation host a series of community-designed workshops that will serve as a forum for sharing ideas about how arts organizations, large and small, can learn from each other.

Best Practices Series are free and held at The San Francisco Foundation, 225 Bush Street, 5th Floor, San Francisco, but space is limited.  Please RSVP to Nicole DuPont via email. 

The Venn Diagram of Collaboration
Thursday, July 19, 2007
4:00 pm – 6:00 pm

The Care and Feeding of the Arts Administrator
Thursday, August 9, 2007
4:00 pm – 6:00 pm

The Changing Media Landscape
Thursday, August 16, 2007
4:00 pm – 6:00 pm

The Times - and - People are a Changing: Impact of Changing Demographics on the Arts
Thursday, August 23, 2007
4:00 pm – 6:00 pm

Cell Phones Encouraged: Staying Current with Technology
Thursday, September 20, 2007
4:00 pm – 6:00 pm

For more information visit The San Francisco Foundation’s website.

top

Online Training Course to Master Proposal Writing

The Foundation Center is hosting an online training course, titled Proposal Writing: The Statement of Need, to help grantseekers develop skills in constructing a compelling statement of need. The course includes interactive exercises and assignments, case studies, a final exam, and a printable certificate of completion. Lessons can be taken at any pace, and can be reviewed often. For more information visit the Foundation Center’s website.

top

FEATURES

What's New

Funding

Events

Opportunities & Resources

ABOUT ACTA

The Alliance for California Traditional Arts strives to "ensure California's future holds California's past" by providing programs and services to support the state's diverse living cultural heritage. The Alliance cultivates the growth of traditional arts and culture through Stewardship, Services to Artists, and Connection-Making.

Support ACTA

CONTACT ACTA

Website:
http://www.actaonline.org

Staff:
Amy Kitchener, Executive
Director
akitch@actaonline.org
559.237.9813

Sherwood Chen, Associate Director
sherwood@actaonline.org
415.561.1562

Lily Kharrazi, Living Cultures Grants Program Manager
lilyk@actaonline.org
415.561-7893

Suzanne Hildebrand, Administrative Coordinator
The New Moon Editor stoler@actaonline.org
559.237.9812

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Robert Arroyo, V.P. of Finance & Administration
Retired Instructor of Political Science & Chicano/Latino Studies, Fresno City College;
Retired Administrator, Fresno City College
Kingsburg, CA

Melanie Beene
Principal, Melanie Beene & Associates
San Francisco, CA 

Jo Farb Hernandez, Secretary
Director, Natalie and James Thompson Art Gallery, School of Art and Design, San Jose State University
Principal, Curatorial and Museum Management Services
Watsonville, CA

Vicki Filgas
Director, Los Paisanos folklórico dance troupe;
Spanish language teacher, Selma High School 
Selma, CA

Joel Jacinto,
Executive Director, Search to Involve Pilipino Americans
Los Angeles, CA

Sojin Kim, Ph.D.
Curator, Japanese American National Museum
Los Angeles, CA

Amy Kitchener (ex officio)
Executive Director, ACTA
Fresno, CA

Frank LaPena
Professor Emeritus, American Indian Studies, CSU Sacramento;
Traditional Maidu dance master; Visual Visual Artist
Sacramento, CA

Malcolm Margolin
Founder and Publisher, Heyday Books
Executive Director, Heyday Institute
Berkeley , CA

Libby Maynard
Co-founder and Executive Director, Ink People Center for the Arts
Eureka, CA 

Hugo Morales
Founder and Executive Director, Radio Bilingüe
Fresno, CA

Chike Nwoffiah, V.P. of External Development
Executive Director, Oriki Theatre
Mountain View, CA

Peter Pennekamp, Executive Director
Humboldt Area Foundation
Bayside, CA

Charlie Seemann, Board President
Executive Director, Western Folklife Center
Elko, NV

Daniel Sheehy, Ph.D.
V.P. of Governance
CEO, Smithsonian Folkways Recordings
Washington, D.C.

Deborah Wong, Ph.D.
Professor of Music
University of California, Riverside

Honorary

Bess Lomax Hawes
Retired Former Director, Folk & Traditional Arts Program, National Endowment for the Arts
Woodland Hills, CA

FUNDERS

EVENTS

Maestros de Bomba en la Bahía Encuentro 2007

Native American Women's Creations

Weavings of War: Fabrics of Memory

Woven Witness: Afghan War Rugs and Afghan Freedom Quilt

Landscaping America: Beyond the Japanese Garden

Kumeyaay: Indigenous People of Southern California

30th Annual Lotus Festival

A Feast for the Senses: East Meets West

Spirit of Armenia!

Ali Akbar College of Music: 40 Year of Service to the San Francisco Bay Area

House Concert: Classical North Indian Bansuri

Princesses and Peacocks

2007 Bay Area Tap Festival

In The Path of Rumi

13th Annual Arab Cultural Festival

Get your personalized plate.
Proceeds from the plate sales will benefit the California Arts Council (CAC).

To subscribe to the weekly CAC Update, please visit their website.