Our Artists and Creatives Grants provide financial support - generally up to $2,500 - to independent creatives (including collectives and collaborators) making or presenting creative work relating to or encouraging community engagement. We are committed to helping projects that depart from the routine and present new, distinct and imaginative possibilities. We primarily support projects taking place in Southern California, but sometimes those further afield that well match our guidelines. We especially encourage applications from those who have been historically excluded from the mainstream art world. This includes, but is not limited to, those who are Black, Indigenous, People of Color, Trans, Deaf, Disabled, Immigrant or Refugee, or Self-Taught.
THE COOLLAB PROJECT
2024
The Coollab Project
The “Coollab” is a free open mic and jam session that has been hosted biweekly in Downtown Santa Ana for the past eight years. It is dedicated to creating cool collaborations through music and has welcomed artists of all ages and walks of life to share their craft, grow their audience, and expand their networks. Participants can expect professionally shot videos, photos, and a sound system operated by an experienced audio technician while featured artists and bands are offered paid performances. Organizer Priscilla Reyes and her fellow “Coollaborators” believe art should be accessible to everybody and that working creatives should be compensated fairly for their abilities and passions.
MEGAN CURET
2024
Cuerpos Sin Fronteras
“Cuerpos Sin Fronteras” is a communal choreographic concept that examines the complexities of the human relationship to borders. This project aims to work in community to elucidate the concept of decolonization and how it can be applied to the movement of the body. By blending two distinct styles of movement, bomba and contemporary dance, this investigation and practice will take place through community movement workshops entitled “En Ritmo.” With weekly engagements with migrants living in two border communities, artist Megan Curet will develop a distinct communal work set against the backdrop of the U.S.-Mexico border. The culmination will be a public facing presentation sharing what has been developed within their communities.
CLAUDIA Y. NAFFA
2024
Introduction to Photography - Light Painting
Created by artist Claudia Naffa, Introduction to Photography – Light Painting introduces elementary school students to the captivating world of photography and enhances their understanding of light in science and art. Through tailored workshops, students become active contributors to the artistic process, which allows them to express their creativity and unique perspectives. This educational initiative offers an engaging introduction to artistic expression that also fosters collaboration among students and promotes teamwork and communication skills. The final presentation will be a collaborative showcase of the students' imaginative creations, providing a platform for them to share their perspectives regardless of their grade level.
ALEXANDRA NEUMAN
2024
The Collective Womb
“The Collective Womb,” created by artist Alexandra Neuman, is a participatory action art performance that allows its audience to collectively tap into a speculative matriarchal world where abortion is celebrated as a natural part of the cycle of life, death, and rebirth. The audience participation in an outdoor space at night is intended to create the feeling of an ecstatic group ritual, enhanced by participatory gestures, matriarchal liturgy, and ritual clothing for the audience members to wear. It is in this space of communal consciousness-raising that the boundaries between fiction and reality can be blurred, and a matriarchal worldview can slip into existence.
ROSA MARIA PIZANO
2024
My Community, Family & Me Mural Initiative
Community organizer Rosa Pizano is spearheading this mural project as part of the beautification initiative for the Sullivan Street community in Santa Ana. The “My Community, Family & Me” Mural Initiative is designed to celebrate the rich tapestry of the neighborhood, portraying its history, diversity, and aspirations for the future. Incorporating community workshops and interactive elements, the project will invite participation and collaboration from local artists, volunteers, and youth. When completed, the mural will create a beautiful and lasting symbol of unity, culture, and hope for the Sullivan Street community.
SEDIMENTO COLLABORATIVE
2024
Sedimento: ensayos de cuerpo y memoria (Sediment: Studies in Movement and Memory)
Grounded in the body, both individual and collective, “Sedimento” examines the aftermath of authoritarian rule and current questions of democratic process, social fabric, dreams, and meaning-making in current-day Chile. Co-directed by David Legue, Cristóbal Racordon, and Eryn Rosenthal, the research-based dance theater work is created in collaboration with a diverse, intergenerational community of seven artist activists. “Sedimento” uses movement and the body to investigate larger questions of democracy, empathy, and community, examining how they exist in the public sphere through the connections they create with one another. Scheduled to premiere in early 2025, the work will tour throughout Latin America and the U.S. in tandem with public dialogues and workshops.
ELIZABETH SMITH
2024
Alchemy of Resilience
“Alchemy of Resilience” is a community healing art project designed to empower young people of color in the state of Florida who are committed to making a healing change in their community. Created by Elizabeth Smith, the project will include regional meetings where young advocates can engage in artistic expression as a means of healing and resilience building. Each participant will contribute a "care ofrenda" (offering) to a collective art display, symbolizing the unity and strength of their community. The meetings will include workshops on community care, resilience building, and the role of art in social justice.
AMY TANAKA
2024
Artful Abundance: Depicting Filipino Culinary Culture on Long Beach’s Westside
North Long Beach Asian-American artist Amy Tanaka will create a mural on the wall of A&F Market, a Cambodian-owned business that supports the Westside's significant Filipino population with fresh, culturally relevant foods. According to studies by the Filipino Migrant Center, the community eats a diet high in white rice, meat and fried food and desperately desire more fresh food options in their neighborhood. The mural will highlight that the market is an oasis of fresh Southeast Asian foods, provide cultural beautification on the boulevard, and deepen neighborhood engagement by inviting residents to participate in paint parties and co-design sessions.
CLARA TORO
2024
Las Familias de Wynwood
“La Familias de Wynwood” builds upon artist Clara Toro’s documentary, photographic exhibit featuring Hispanic immigrants in the Wynwood neighborhood of Miami. Wynwood, known for its graffiti and art scene, had never had an exhibit of and for their residents. The response to the first exhibit was very positive and more residents have asked to participate. For this second chapter, Clara will print a few hundred photos of neighbors who were not featured in the first exhibit. She plans to display them at the community center in an eclectic collection of frames that replicates the photo walls proudly displayed in neighborhood homes.
STACEY VILLALOBOS
2024
Cuentos y Cantos al Desierto
“Cuentos y Cantos al Desierto” is a culmination of cultural work and an interdisciplinary art practice by Stacey Villalobos. This three-day program is a bilingual and bicultural offering to the communities in and around Lee Vining, California who oftentimes cannot access nature-based programs in their language and/or with a framework for cultural sensitivity. Participants will be led on guided hikes, paying special attention to botany, desert adaptations, being a good guest on native land, and land relations for diaspora. Stories and songs will be shared, with the artist providing prompts for journaling, meditations on “catching songs,” and the sharing of these traditional practices to strengthen relations with land, people, and ancestors.