Pasadena Arts Grant Receipients Announced

The Annual Grants Program honors programs of excellence that expand exposure and access to the arts.  Funds support the work of individual artists, bring the creative process into classrooms, support the sustained growth of Pasadena ’s cultural institutions and encourage festivals that reach out to the community.

The Arts & Culture Commission funded the highest scoring applicants in each of six categories.

Individual Artists grants up to $5,000 each were awarded for career development through the support of exhibitions, performances or special projects.  This year’s recipients are Quinton Bemiller for a mural interpreting the natural environment of Pasadena ’s Hahamongna Watershed Park ; Laura Parker for completion of hand-printed photographic wall installations about the kinetics of experimental film; and Elizabeth Saveri for a solo show of paintings that depict the trees on her street.

For organizations with budgets less than $200,000, Art and Culture I grants of up to $10,000 each were awarded for exhibitions, performances, education and audience development.  Recipients are About Productions for “Evangeline, Queen of Make-Believe”; Floricanto Dance Theatre for “Alma-Llanera – Soul of the Planis”; NewTown Pasadena Foundation for “Convergences”; Pasadena Summer Youth Chamber Orchestra for concerts; and The Intimate Opera Company to support its next season.

For organizations with budgets between $200,000 and $500,000, Art and Culture II grants of up to $10,000 each were awarded.  Recipients are Friends of the Levitt Pavilion Pasadena for summer outdoor concerts; and Pasadena Dance Theatre for “Conversation with the Choreographer 2009 – Master Dancemaker.”

For organizations with budgets more than $500,000, Art & Culture III grants of up to $10,000 each were awarded. Recipients are Kidspace Children’s Museum for its Free Family Night program; Los Angeles Children’s Chorus for its Community Interaction program; Pacific Asia Museum for its exhibition “Calligraffiti: Connecting Chinese and Chicano Outsider Art”; Pasadena Museum of History for continued access to student programs during renovation of the Fenyes Mansion; and Pasadena Playhouse to support “Allies in Art,” “New Generations” and Play WriteGirl , a literacy and mentorship program for at-risk teen girls.

Arts Education Partnership grants up to $10,000 each were awarded to artists and organizations in partnership with schools. Recipients are Armory Center for the Arts to support 3-D and digital photography classes at Washington Middle School; Bethune Theatredanse to support performing arts classes for special needs students; Pasadena Conservatory of Music for the “Young Musicians Sequential Music Program” at Thomas Jefferson Elementary School; and Side Street Projects to support woodworking bus classes at four PUSD schools as part of the curriculum “My Masterpieces”.

The Festival and Parade Grant Program offered grants up to $10,000 for community arts events.  This year’s recipients are Light Bringer Project for the annual Pasadena Chalk Festival; Lineage Dance to produce the third annual Pasadena Dance Festival; and Southwest Chamber Music to support “The Ascending Dragon Festival and Cultural Exchange” scheduled for spring 2010.

The grants program is managed by the Cultural Affairs Division of the Pasadena Planning and Development Department.  Applications were reviewed by a group of panelists made up of art and education professionals who represent a wide spectrum of the arts.