Three Pasadena-based performing arts groups are among the 40 recipients of a $1.2 million grant program from the Los Angeles County Department of Arts and Culture.
The LA County Performing Arts Recovery Grant, announced Tuesday, will provide $30,000 to each grantee to support the creation and presentation of artistic work in dance, music, theater, and folk and traditional arts.
The grant program is part of the Department’s ongoing relief and recovery initiatives for the arts and creative economy, which has been severely impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. The Department partners with the nonprofit Center for Cultural Innovation to administer the grant.
Here are the Pasadena awardees:
A Noise Within, a leading regional producer of classical theatre, will use the grant to support a four-week production of “The Bluest Eye” adapted by Lydia R Diamond from the book by Toni Morrison and directed by Andi Chapman. The production will include free and low-cost tickets for the community, post-show conversations, collaborations with LA County BIPOC organizations, symposiums, and a Black Out Affinity performance. For more information, visit www.anoisewithin.org.
Clazzical Notes, a program that presents classical and jazz music and showcases the diversity and creativity of the performers and composers, will use the grant to support the production, presentation and documentation of five free or low-cost, multicultural themed, inclusive, family-friendly live music performances in Pasadena and surrounding communities. These performances will focus on sharing the music and traditions of different cultures with audiences from a variety of backgrounds. For more information, visit www.clazzicalnotes.org.
MUSE-IQUE, a member-supported performing arts organization making radically engaging live music experiences accessible to everyone, will use the grant to support a remount of the 2022 show “LA Composed: Central Avenue” at the Beehive in South LA about the forgotten jazz legacies of the region in the 1920s-1950s. For more information, visit www.muse-ique.com.
The one-time grant program was open to individual artists, producers, and small and mid-size performing arts organizations in LA County, including nonprofits, for-profits, fiscally sponsored organizations, and producing collectives.
During the grant period, which is up to July 2024, grantees are encouraged to notify the county Department of Arts and Culture about upcoming activities, projects, performances, events, and anything else that demonstrates the impact of funding, according to the program’s guidelines.
“These artists, creative producers, collaborators, and arts organizations also play a vital role in our arts ecology and our local economy, yet they’ve been hard hit by the pandemic,” Kristin Sakoda, Director of the Department of Arts and Culture, said. “This grant will stimulate activity and address key needs we heard from the field – by providing flexible funding that can be used to create, document, and present artistic work, access venues and rehearsal spaces, pay artist fees and living wages, utilize media and technology, amplify underrepresented voices, and engage audiences.”
Funding for the LA County Performing Arts Recovery Grant came from the former Ford Theatre Foundation.
To see the full list of awardees, visit www.lacountyarts.org/sites/default/files/2023-08/23LACPARG-Grantees_20230831.pdf
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