Every month, the Arts Council funds wonderful community art projects and professional development opportunities at up to $1,000. Here are the five diverse projects that received funding last month:
- Santa’s Slippers is an original community theatre event starring students from Arts & Services for Disabled, musicians from Rock for Vets and choir students from Long Beach Unified School District. The performances take place at the historical Ernest Borgnine Theater on December 2 and 9.
- The popular Meet the Masters program takes place throughout elementary and middle schools and educates students, teachers and parents about the lives and works of famous artists. Our microgrant helps fund the program at David Burcham School (K–8) for 600 students.
- Healing Through Creativity A Creative Warrior’s Journey is a workshop series put on by local artist and 14-year cancer survivor Richard Harvey. The workshops promote healing through art, and the May 21 workshop will be filmed. This grant helps fund the production of a video that will allow the workshops to reach a larger audience.
- For the seventh year, artists from throughout the city are invited to open their home studios to the public during the Long Beach Open Studio Tour, taking place October 8–9. An interactive map will be provided soon on the LB Open Studio Tour website and via printed brochures to tour visitors.
- Precious Cargo is a public art installation by Shelby Batalla and Helen Cheuk that aims to increase safety and beautify Pine Avenue between Seaside Way and Shoreline Drive. It is a modular system with four standard units used as seating, bike racks and signage. Solar collectors will harvest energy from the sun and illuminate at night. Wayfinding messages will be branded into upcycled wooden pallets using pyrography giving the furniture a distinctive cargo-like look that speaks to Long Beach’s nautical and industrial history.
Apply for a microgrant today! Applications are due the 15th of each month. The Arts Council recently revised microgrant guidelines to streamline the process and make it easier to apply and receive funding. For more information and to apply, please visit www.artslb.org/services/grants.
We are also in need of more microgrant funding. Our popular program results in many wonderful projects being un- or under-funded each month. To make a tax-deductible donation to the Arts Council, please visit artslb.org/40thann.