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Help California's Diverse Traditions Thrive! SUPPORT ACTA
For nineteen years, the Alliance for California Traditional Arts has connected people through their heritage, language, religion, and regions and celebrated our many varied communities' ways of expression.
One of the most powerful aspects of ACTA is our Apprenticeship Program, which directly supports our state's outstanding folk and traditional artists, giving them the gift of time together, to share values, life experiences, knowledge and the beauty of an art form to pass on to future generations.
ACTA just launched our End of the Year Donor Campaign. Our goal is to raise $8,000 to support two apprenticeship contracts, which will help us build upon California's legacy of inclusiveness in a rapidly changing world.
Last year,
we awarded contracts to 36 artist pairs, ranging from master artists in their 70s to a 6-year old apprentice, spanning from Siskiyou to San Diego Counties. Some of the thriving traditions supported through these apprenticeships included indigenous California cultural practices, such as Mono beaded collars and Karuk Basketry; and traditions which have taken root in California hailing from cultural communities from Mexico, Colombia, Africa, India, China, Japan, Philippines, and other parts of the United States.
Would you kindly consider making a gift, even a few dollars, to the Apprenticeship Program campaign? Many people giving small amounts of money can make a huge difference in keeping our diverse cultural traditions thriving in California. Or better yet, give a little once a month in the form of a recurring gift throughout the year. ACTA is a nonprofit, 501(C)3 organization, and all donations are tax deductible.
Make your gift to ACTA on our Crowdrise funding page
or send a check to ACTA's office, located at 744 P Street #307, Fresno, CA 93721.
Please donate, follow us on Facebook and Twitter for updates, and share this message with family and friends and encourage them to join ACTA in supporting traditional artists now and into the future.
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Sharing an Indigenous Mixtec Día de los Muertos Celebration in Madera
Photos and text by Amy Kitchener and Crystal Murillo, ACTA
El Día de los Muertos, on November 1 and 2, is widely celebrated in California by people of Mexican descent as part of a sacred ritual to remember and commune with deceased loved ones. There are many regional and contextual variations with different types of celebratory activities taking place in homes, cemeteries, art centers, churches and other venues.
ACTA staff visited the unique event hosted by La Communidad Oaxacaqueña de Madera (the Oaxacan Community of Madera), which organized a series of workshops about the Mixtec traditions surrounding el Día de los Muertos culminating in a public celebration which was supported by ACTA's
Living Cultures Grants Program.
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Jennifer Joy Jameson to Join ACTA as New Media Communications Manager
ACTA is pleased to announce that Jennifer Joy Jameson will join ACTA in the newly created position of New Media Program Manager, effective March 1, 2017.
Jennifer Joy Jameson is a public folklorist and cultural organizer originally from Encinitas, California near San Diego. Jennifer comes to ACTA from the Mississippi Arts Commission (MAC) where she served as the Folk and Traditional Arts Director since 2014, administering traditional arts grants, providing consultation to artists and organizations, and developing special initiatives and documentation projects related to a wide range of cultural arts. At MAC, she managed the digital revival of Mississippi Folklife, a state publication with a history dating to 1927, and directed the Mississippi Bicentennial Folklife Survey, overseeing the documentation of nearly 40 artists or artistic communities statewide. Jennifer also serves as the New Media Coordinator for SPACES Archives, a non-profit archive dedicated to documenting and advocating for the preservation of international art environments.
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It's California Arts Council Grant Season!
This year has seen the biggest
increase in state arts funding in thirteen years and, as a result, the California Arts Council will more than triple the number of grants awarded. In addition, the maximum request amount has increased in most programs. Please note that many of these programs allow organizations without non-profit status to apply through a fiscal sponsor, and organizations may apply for more than one grant program provided that each request supports a different project. We especially encourage traditional and culturally-specific arts organizations to apply. We also would like to encourage artists, and arts professionals to become peer-review panelists. You can get more info on how to participate
here.
Below are the grants currently accepting applications. For more information on all grant programs, please visit the California Arts Council website. You can also download this handy information sheet with all program deadlines.
CREATIVE CALIFORNIA COMMUNITIES: Up to $50,000 a year for small and mid-sized organizations and up to $75,000 a year for large organizations to support collaborative creative placemaking projects. This program is now a two-year grant program!
LOCAL IMPACT: Up to $18,000 for arts projects in underserved communities.
STATEWIDE AND REGIONAL NETWORKS: Up to $30,000 to support culturally-specific, multicultural, and discipline-based statewide and regional arts networks and services organizations.
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The Alliance for California Traditional Arts is the California Arts Council's official partner in serving the state's folk & traditional arts field.
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