CITYWIDE — Arts and culture are about to receive a welcomed boost in funding following City Hall’s announcement Monday that it has approved grants for 19 local organizations in the amount of $90,000 and change through the Community Access and Participation Grants Program.
To receive funding, each applicant had to demonstrate a history of presenting high-caliber art and cultural programs. The grant program provides grants for those non-profit organizations that give Santa Monica residents and visitors opportunities to experience diverse cultural and artistic activities.
The following projects continue throughout the summer and into next year. For more information on each one, call (310) 458-8350.
In the Virginia Avenue Project, a videographer teams up with a Virginia Park youth participant, a senior citizen and a professional theater director to create a multimedia performance piece presented at the Getty Center, as well as other local venues.
The Santa Monica Museum of Art received funding in support of the Allen Ruppersberg: You and Me and the Art of Give and Take exhibition. Among other things, visitors of the exhibit will have a chance to recreate the works on display.
For a true multi-media art experience, the 18th Street Arts Center is spotlighting local artists with open studios, exhibitions, workshops and concerts starting August 1 — for free.
Jacaranda is a series of seven concerts offering new and modern music culminating in a season finale with professional string players performing beside college and high school students.
A wordier grant was given to Highways for the Sixth Annual Poetry Festival, featuring a week of workshops and performances for Southern California poetry.
City Garage is presenting an edgy and original premiere of “The Trojan Women: L.A. Dreamscape,” a recreation of the Greek tragedy by Euripides in terms of contemporary issues such as genocide and violence directed at women.
High-class opera has been made available at affordable prices for 25 years by the Verdi Chorus, that, in collaboration with the L.A. Opera, is planning twin concerts featuring choruses by Richard Wagner at the First United Methodist Church in Santa Monica in April 2010.
The Santa Monica Playhouse is hosting a free, week-long theater festival including community workshops, language arts and cultural exchange events and will feature an original musical crafted by professional members from Santa Monica and Japan.
An all-woman cast is performing Shakespeare’s “Richard II” at the Miles Playhouse presented by the Los Angeles Women’s Shakespeare Company. Performances run for five weeks from May 27 to June 27, 2010.
TeAda Productions will present a full-length performance of “Ode to the Polar Bear” at the Miles Playhouse in May of 2010. This one-woman show created by Inupiaq Eskimo performance artist Allison Warden explores themes of global warming and the fate of Alaska’s polar bear.
“Singularity” is a new dance based on contemporary physics put on by Donna Sternberg & Dancers, complete with a panel discussion of scientists and artists on the themes of the dance. This will take place at the Main Library in the winter of 2010.
The Santa Monica Conservancy will offer a guided walking tour of Palisades Park, painting a picture with layers of cultural history and meaningful stories, resulting in a unique venue for education and entertainment.
The Pico Youth and Family Center is hosting artist James Rojas to engage teens in a creative urban planning process to explore the diverse history of Santa Monica.
The Latino New Works Festival, put on by Highways, is the first Westside festival dedicated to contemporary performance and visual art created by Latino artists.
“La Quinceañera,” by Anthony Aguilar, presented by TeAda Productions and directed by Alejandra Cisneros will have a three week run at the Miles Playhouse. The play follows Arturo Sanchez, a factory worker who believes he has been given superhuman powers after an accident at work and creates his alter-ego El Verde.
The Virginia Avenue Project is also offering a one on one program focused on giving local underprivileged youth writing and performing opportunities, as well as in-depth contact with professional artists and mentors.
The Santa Monica Museum of Art will present “Cause for Creativity: The Art Cycle,” centering on a bicycle tour of various art attractions in Santa Monica. Participants will design flags to fly from their bikes as they tour art venues throughout the city.
Girls 12-18 years old are offered a free, twelve-session Shakespeare workshop by the L.A. Women’s Shakespeare Company to rehearse for and perform in a free production of “The Dangerous Dozen.” Workshops will take place from May 27 to June 27, 2010.
Third graders in the Santa Monica/Malibu School District are treated to interactive professional theater field trips provided by the Santa Monica Playhouse. Students can participate in a pre-show introduction to theater appreciation, see a professional production in which they directly affect the outcome of the show and more.
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