Announcing ACTA's Living Cultures and Apprenticeship Recipients / Arts in Corrections and Wellness / Sounds of California in San Francisco

Master artist Wael Buhaissy from Oakland-based Dance Elixir dances with members of his performance company. Dance Elixir is one of this year's Living Cultures grantees. Photo: Ricardo Esway.

Announcing ACTA's 2018 Living Cultures Grantees

This year, ACTA is awarding $200,000 in Living Cultures Programs Grants to 41 community-based organizations. The new grantees join nearly 600 cultural groups across the state that have received Living Cultures grants since 2005. This year's cohort represent a diverse array of cultural practices, from indigenous women's regalia-making among the tribes of Humboldt County to dance and drum festivals celebrating the African Diaspora.

See Living Cultures

Apprentice Mary Alfaro (L) with master musician Jesus Martinez, who will instruct her in requinto romántico. Photo courtesy of the artists.

Announcing ACTA's 18th Round of Apprenticeships

The 2018 Apprenticeship Program cohort of 34 artists (17 pairs) reflects California's breadth of cultural diversity and intergenerational learning, ranging from master artists in their 70s to a 14-year old apprentice, spanning from Los Angeles to Humboldt Counties. Thriving traditions supported through these apprenticeships reflect indigenous California cultural practices that include Yurok, Karuk, and Hoopa basketry; and traditions which that have taken root in California hailing from cultural communities from Africa, India, Uzbekistan, Bulgaria, Iran, China, Japan, Philippines, Korea, Mexico, Brazil, Cuba, and Puerto Rico.

See Apprenticeships

WATCH: ACTA's Arts in Corrections program in Tehachapi offers a pathway towards rehabilitation

Our newest short film takes viewers behind-the-scenes during a 13-week artist residency in storytelling, transformational drawing, and songwriting at the California Correctional Institution (CCI) in Tehachapi, California. ACTA developed this rehabilitative arts program to support inmates transitioning out of long-term solitary confinement to general population housing. Click here to watch the video.

Artists Quincy McCrary and Juan Perez teach songwriting at the California Correctional Institution in Tehachapi. Photo by Sara Aguilar.

Thank You for Helping us Surpass our Year-End Donor Campaign Goal

We raised more than $14,000 to support the traditional arts and practices that create a diverse and beautiful California. A total of 66 donors contributed to our 2017 End of Year Donor campaign, and we're ecstatic to report we surpassed our $10,000 goal. Thank you again for supporting California's traditional artists and helping us build a stronger community of artists across the state. Click here to read who donated.

SAVE THE DATE: Join us in San Francisco for Sounds of California - Bayview

April 29, 2018, 2 PM

Bayview Opera House

4705 Third Street
San Francisco, CA 94124

Mark your calendars for the next installment of Sounds of California in San Francisco's Bayview/Hunter's Point neighborhood. This musical celebration of San Francisco's diversity will bring together musicians of Vietnamese, Kurdish, African-American, and Chicano roots on stage at the spectacular new Bayview Opera House.

Photo: Miguel Govea and La Familia Peña-Govea will perform at Sounds of California in the San Francisco neighborhood of Bayview/Hunter's Point on April 29. Photo courtesy of Michael Govea.

California Arts Council

Does your organization want to make a difference through culture and creative expression? The California Arts Council wants to help! Grant season is in full swing at the California Arts Council . The application deadline for Cultural Pathways and Jump Starts has been extended to February 23, 2018. Cultural Pathways awards up to $20,000 to small arts organizations rooted in communities of color. Jump Starts offers up to $50,000 for collaborative arts education projects for youth involved in the juvenile justice system. Click here to learn more about these grants and more.

Creative Industries Incentive Fund

The City of San Jose's Creative Industries Incentive Fund (CIIF) provides project support to arts-based commercial businesses involved in the production or distribution of the arts. The awards range from $2,000 to $8,000, and are for creative industries of all types, including neighborhood-based arts businesses. Applications are due by March 12, 2018. Click here to learn more.

Hewlett Grants

Applications for this year's Hewlett 50 Arts Commissions are now open. Bay Area nonprofits can apply for grants of $150,000 to commission new works of theater, musical theater, and spoken word from world-class artists and premiere them in local communities. Applications are due by April 20, 2018. Click here for full details.

The Alliance for California Traditional Arts is the California Arts Council's official partner in serving the state's folk and traditional arts field.