Photo courtesy of the Historical Society of Long Beach.

Every month, the Arts Council funds wonderful community art projects and professional development opportunities at up to $1,000. Four projects received funding last month:

How a Child Builds Legacy is an exhibit, literary reading and interactive lecture to introduce and encourage young students to preserve daily journal entries and artifacts to create a record of their lives. The program is taught by local author Sunny Nash and will take place at Smith Elementary School on February 17, 2017 to mark the one year anniversary of the school’s renaming after the first African American elected to the Long Beach school board, Bobbie Smith.

The Southern California Poetry Festival is a two-day annual celebration of poetry and spoken word. The inaugural festival took place at the Aquarium of the Pacific on September 10 and 11. This free event brought together a number of exciting and diverse poets who are active in Southern California.

Home Front Press Club introduces former service members who are pursuing a career in media arts to established professionals for mentoring and collaboration opportunities. The first of three events took place at Environ Architecture in September. The events will provide outreach to veterans, connect media arts professionals to veterans to serve as mentors and help provide scholarships for continuing education.

Long Beach Remembers Pearl Harbor is a multi-year project of the Historical Society of Long Beach. The microgrant will support the exhibition portion for the project which opens on December 7, 2016 at 4260 Atlantic Ave. Commemorating the 75th anniversary of the attack by Japanese Navy on the United States Military while in Hawaii, the exhibition will demonstrate how the event changed Long Beach and the people who live here.

Apply for a microgrant today! Applications are due the 15th of each month. For more information and to apply, please visit www.artslb.org/services/grants.