APPLICATIONS NOW OPEN!
Sankofa Fund for Cultural Preservation
Project grants for San Francisco-based individuals and organizations
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The Alliance for California Traditional Arts is offering grants between $1,500 and $15,000 for San Francisco-based individuals and organizations. These one-year grants will support projects that foster artistic expression deeply rooted in and reflective of historically marginalized communities.
Deadline to apply: September 1, 2021
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The concept of “Sankofa” is derived from King Adinkera of the Akan people of West Africa. Sankofa is expressed in the Akan language as “se wo were fi na wosan kofa a yenki.” Literally translated, this means “it is not taboo to go back and fetch what you forgot."
Acknowledging that our heritage, legacies, ancestors, mentors, and communities are bedrocks of who we are and contribute to our creativity, the grants are intended to support work that is centered around what each community values as important. These practices involve many aesthetic forms, value systems, and languages. The Sankofa Fund is designed for the continuity and transmission of the collective values of your community.
The Sankofa Fund will focus on projects that support cultural practices rooted in a specific community with an identifiable lineage or collective history. Projects should serve those same communities. Projects can focus on:
- Support for the ongoing practice of cultural traditions
- Teaching/Workshops/Apprenticeships
- Performances
- Exhibitions
- Festivals
- Documentation/Media/Oral Histories/Archiving
- Conferences + GatheringsAll projects will be required to have a public presentation element which can be a live performance, online sharing, publication, etc.
Image: "Recalling the Journey," a quilt by 2011 ACTA apprentice Helen Anderson. Helen's quilt features an image of the Sankofa bird, an Akan symbol meaning "go back and fetch it." Photo: R. Rodriguez/ACTA.
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Jivan Gasparyan, Master Duduk Artist
In Memoriam
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We at ACTA send our condolences to the family of master duduk artist Jivan Gasparyan, who passed away earlier this month at the age of 92.
Jivan (sometimes spelled Djivan) was an Armenian musician of great accomplishment based in Sherman Oaks, CA. His numerous recordings, awards, Hollywood scores, and performances speak to the impact he has had in the U.S., in Armenia, and around the world. His legacy will live on in many ways, most notably through the transmission of his artistry to his grandson Jivan Gasparyan, Jr, whom he mentored as part of ACTA's Apprenticeship Program in 2008. Grandfather and grandson trained in the duduk, a double-reeded woodwind instrument similar to the oboe. This kind of continuity of traditional artistry within family exemplifies so much of ACTA's mission to support and promote the traditional arts of our state. We are grateful for the opportunity to have supported the work of the Gasparyans.
Learn more about Jivan Gasparyan and the instrument he gave his life to in this story by NPR.
Images: Jivan Gasparyan mentors his grandson in the Armenian duduk during their 2008 ACTA apprenticeship. Photo: S. Chen/ACTA.
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Jamaican Jonkanoo
Resistance Behind The Masquerade
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Jonkanoo (also known as John Canoe or Jonkunnu) is a masquerade tradition developed by enslaved Africans of the Caribbean. When these slaves were given a few days of freedom during Christmas time, they used those days to dance, as well as to create characters and costumes based on their African traditions. 2021 ACTA Living Cultures grantee organization International Eye produced a short documentary that fuses personal recollections, archival footage, and historical facts to explore the traditional music, movement, and costumes of Jamaican Jonkanoo.
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Community Survey
Arts Equity & Recovery in San Francisco/Bay Area
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Arts for a Better Bay Area (ABBA) and SAFEhouse Arts want to hear from San Francisco artists and cultural workers! Looking at recovery for Arts and Culture in the Bay Area, what is in front of you and behind you? What does recovery mean to you? What do you feel is needed?
The survey results will help inform an upcoming REBOUND - Arts, Equity & Recovery Series event centered around the needs of BIPOC and historically excluded communities.
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Black Women's Blues Festival |
Sunday August 22, 2021
2 - 6 PM
At Freight & Salvage
Berkeley, CA
This special event will feature in-person tickets (at 50% capacity) as well as a free video livestream and live radio broadcast on KPFA 94.1.
Black Women's Blues Festival celebrates powerful, pioneering Black women of the blues. Showcasing legendary artists, established performers, and emerging talent, this intergenerational, interdisciplinary program features vocalists, instrumentalists, and poets of the blues.
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California Humanities’ Humanities for All is a grant program that supports locally initiated public humanities projects. This program responds to Californians' needs and interests and encourages greater public participation in humanities programming, particularly by new and/or underserved audiences. California Humanities offers a Project Grant ($10-20K) for large-scale humanities projects. Project grants are awarded twice a year to support public humanities projects of up to two-years duration from the award date. Appropriate programming formats include but are not limited to interpretive exhibits, community dialogue, and discussion series, workshops and participatory activities, presentations and lectures, conversations and forums, and interactive and experiential activities. For grant guidelines, application instructions, and a list of previously awarded projects, please visit the California Humanities for All Grants page.
DEADLINE: 8/2/2021
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The National Endowment for the Arts has released guidelines and application materials for two programs to distribute American Rescue Plan (ARP) funds. These programs are open to nonprofit arts and culture organizations and local arts agencies, regardless of whether they have received NEA funding in the past. This is a change from previous emergency funding requirements at the NEA and significantly expands access to federal funds for the arts and culture sector.
The NEA encourages applications from first-time applicants, and will offer workshops, question-and-answer sessions, and other resources for those new to federal funding.
DEADLINE: 08/12/2021
Applying for a federal grant for the first time? Prior to applying for an NEA grant, you must first obtain a DUNS number and register at Grants.gov and SAM.gov. More information and resources that can assist you in the registration process can be found here.
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