What's New

Language is Also Music: Au Co Vietnamese Cultural Center

A family looks on as master musician Vanessa Vo Van Tranh demonstrates the bamboo xylophone known as the dan t'rung. Photo: Lily Kharrazi

Lily Kharrazi, Living Cultures Grants Program Manager

Twenty-two years ago, twelve Vietnamese children were transported to a location outside of their San Francisco Tenderloin neighborhood for Saturday language school.  It was one way in which working parents could be assured that their children were under supervision and away from the tough and transitional neighborhood where many refugees were living.  What had begun with a modest number of participants has evolved into a thriving language and culture school serving over 200 youth, ages 6-18, on a weekly basis.  “We only had a van that could seat six at a time and so we did two trips that first year,” explained Mr. Anh Ngo, a parent-volunteer who shared the history of the school with me on a recent visit to this current Living Cultures Grants Program grantee.

Read more about the Au Co Vietnamese Cultural Center’s Saturday school on ACTA’s website.

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ACTA Hosts Statewide Informational Meetings

Beginning next month and throughout May and June, ACTA will be hosting seven informational meetings throughout the state, in Santa Cruz (April 17), Los Angeles (April 26), Fresno (May 4), San Jose (May 7), Oakland (May 12), San Diego (May 13), Riverside (TBA).

Join ACTA staff for an informational meeting in your area to learn more about funding opportunities for folk & traditional artists and organizations.  (New guidelines and application forms for ACTA’s programs will be available beginning April 15, 2009.)

New this year: online seminar!  ACTA will also be hosting an online seminar (webinar) on June 12, 2009 at 1 p.m.  Those with internet and telephone access may join us for a “virtual” informational meeting.  Visit ACTA’s website to register for the webinar by Friday, May 22, 2009.  (The same information presented in our in-person meetings will be shared on the webinar.)

Visit ACTA’s website for a full schedule of informational meetings.

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In Memoriam: Archie Green

Archie Green at home, circa 1993. Photo: Hazen Robert Walker

Folklorist and cultural/labor advocate Archie Green passed away on March 22, 2009, in San Francisco, at the age of 91.

Archie Green (June 29, 1917 – March 22, 2009) was a scholar of laborlore, defined as the special folklore of workers.  He gathered and commented upon the speech, stories, songs, emblems, rituals, art, artifacts, memorials, and landmarks which constitute laborlore.  After many years of tireless volunteer advocacy, he won Congressional support for passage of the American Folklife Preservation Act of 1976 (P.L. 94-201), which established the American Folklife Center.  A Fellow of the American Folklore Society, he also received the Benjmain Botkin Prize for outstanding achievement in public folklore from the American Folklore Society.  In August 2007, he received the Living Legend award from the American Folklife Center of the Library of Congress.

Read more about Archie Green and his career in public folklore on ACTA’s website.

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The Alliance’s Traditional Arts Development Program makes contracts up to $1,500 to support consultancies, mentorships, and travel opportunities that foster a new level of growth for individual folk & traditional artists and organizations engaged in this field in California.  Requested services may be focused on organizational, program, and/or artistic development goals.  Individual artists and cultural practitioners, as well as organizations, whether incorporated or not, may apply.

A sampling of past contracts include:

Artistic Mentorships

Gen Taiko (San Francisco), an organization dedicated to promoting, preserving and presenting Japanese traditional arts including taiko (traditional Japanese drumming), traditional folk dance, and folk song forms. Its artistic director, Melody Takata, was trained by National Heritage Fellow Madame Fujima Kansuma to learn the Nihon Buyo (Japanese classical) dance called Kojo No Tsuki (Moonlit Castle Ruins). Ms. Takata taught the dance to four of her students and performed it at Gen Taiko’s 10th Anniversary Concert in November 2005.

Organizational Consultancies:

Kwashi Amevuvor (Los Angeles), a master drummer from Ghana, West Africa, worked with consultant Janet Planet, who assisted him with marketing and web design to develop professional promotional materials to publicize the work of the artist and the traditional cultural arts of Ghana. In addition, Ms. Planet’s consultancy supported Mr. Amevuvor’s efforts in organizing a cultural study tour of Ghana.

Travel Opportunities

The Eszterlánc Hungarian Folk Ensemble (Foster City) traveled to Southern California to perform for an audience of over two thousand at the annual Magyar Sajtónap (Hungarian Press Day) hosted by the newspaper California Hungarians. At this event Eszterlanc dancers had the opportunity to perform with members of the Karpatok Folk Ensemble of Southern California, which is led by Istvan Szabo.

Requests for organizational consultancies, artistic mentoring, and travel support may be submitted to the Alliance at any time.  Download the application and application instructions from the Alliance’s website or call (559) 237-9812 to request a copy be mailed to you.

The Alliance’s Traditional Arts Development Program is supported by grants from the California Arts Council, the Walter and Elise Haas Fund, and the National Endowment for the Arts.

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Native Arts @ NEFA
The National Native Artists Exchange
New England Foundation for the Arts

Deadline – Ongoing

The Native Artist Exchange, a program of the New England Foundation for the Arts (NEFA), provides support for Native artists residing in any of the 50 United States to travel to different regions of the country so that they may exchange artistic knowledge and skills. This fund is designed to encourage and assist American Indian, Alaskan Native and Native Hawaiian artists, and provides an opportunity for Native artists to teach, learn, and collaborate in traditional and/or contemporary Native art forms through travel from one region to another across the nation.

For more information, including guidelines and application materials, visit the New England Foundation for the Arts’ website.

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The Guitar Center Music Foundation

Deadline – Ongoing

The Guitar Center Music Foundation’s mission is to aid nonprofit music programs across America that offer music instruction so that more people can experience the joys of making music.

The Guitar Center Music Foundation accepts grant applications throughout the year from 501(c)(3) organizations that offer music instruction programs to participants of any age.  The applicant program must successfully enhance the state of music education in the United States.  The Grant Committee reviews all applications three times yearly, and grant awards range from $500 to $5,000.

For more information visit the Guitar Center Music Foundation’s website.

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San Francisco Creative Capacity Fund

Deadline: In 2009, the 15th of Each Month

The San Francisco Arts Commission (SFAC) and Grants for the Arts (GFTA), have joined together to establish the San Francisco Creative Capacity Fund, a special field-building initiative to support professional development and peer learning opportunities for San Francisco artists and arts administrators.

Launched in 2009 as a pilot program, the Creative Capacity Fund (CCF) will provide scholarship reimbursements to eligible applicants, including individual artists and arts administrators of small and emerging arts organizations, to attend classes and workshops that will enhance their knowledge and administrative skills and help sustain their work in the arts.  A number of service organizations and workshop providers will be involved as partners in this endeavor, and the Fund will be administered by the Center for Cultural Innovation (CCI), a California training and financial services incubator for the arts, in San Francisco.

For more information, including guidelines and application instructions, visit the San Francisco Creative Capacity Fund’s website.

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Young Ambassadors Program
Smithsonian Latino Center

Deadline: March 31, 2009

The Smithsonian Latino Center's Young Ambassadors Program consists of an in-depth seminar designed to encourage Latino youth to examine and embrace their cultural identity and an internship opportunity that increases the participants exposure to the arts and culture field.  The goal of the program is to foster knowledge and pride in Latino cultural identity, as well as provide the participants with financial support with which to seek higher education.  Through the program, we empower Latino youth to develop leadership and academic skills.  This program is made possible through the generous support of Ford Motor Company Fund.

For more information, including guidelines and application materials, visit the Smithsonian Latino Center’s website.

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Common Ground Initiative
First Nations Composer Initiative
Deadline: April 1, 2009

The First Nations Composer Initiative, a program of the American Composers Forum, is dedicated to serving the needs of American Indian, Alaska Native, First Nations, and Indigenous makers of new music throughout Indian Country.

The Common Ground Initiative seeks applications from indigenous makers of new music (composers, performers, groups, sound artists, songwriters, etc.) from the United States and Canada to support creation, performance, and audience/community building activities involving native musical artists.

The goals of Common Ground are to support activities that boost traditional and contemporary indigenous creative musicians through commissions, residencies, performance and production, travel/study, and outreach.

Individual awards will range from $500 to $7,500.  Grants are designed to give an immediate financial boost to makers of new music at a time when this help would have a significant career-enhancing effect.

For more information visit the First Nations Composers Initiative’s website.

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California Story Fund
California Council for the Humanities

Deadline: April 1, 2009

The California Story Fund is a small grants program to fund unique story projects in communities throughout the state.  The projects that make up the California Story Fund provide opportunities for Californians to contribute their stories to the evolving story of our state.

The Council will award grants of up to $10,000 to nonprofit organizations for public humanities programs that bring to light compelling stories from California’s diverse communities and provide opportunities for collective reflection and public discussion.

For more information about the California Story Fund, including guidelines and application forms, visit the California Council for the Humanities’ website.

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National Arts Marketing Project
2009 Bay Area Advanced Marketing Boot Camp

Deadline: April 9, 2009

The San Francisco Foundation and Grants for the Arts/San Francisco Hotel Tax Fund are pleased to announce a request for proposals for the National Arts Marketing Project’s (NAMP) 2009 Bay Area Advanced Marketing Boot Camp.  This unique, two-part program sponsored by The San Francisco Foundation, Grants for the Arts/San Francisco Hotel Tax Fund, and The Wallace Foundation, through the Arts & Business Council of Americans for the Arts, is designed to help arts organizations capture the minds, hearts, and wallets of today’s arts consumer through marketing and earned income strategies.

Created for arts organizations at critical junctures in their growth (meaning the point at which the organization’s growth can be stimulated by an infusion of audience development marketing skills, research information, and implementation funding), this advanced training program provides organizations with the potential opportunity to receive seed money for new projects.

Up to 25 mid-sized nonprofits will be selected to participate in the boot camp (two full-time staff members of each organization must attend).  Of these participants, as many as ten will then qualify for implementation funding and will be granted up to $50,000 over a two-year period.

For more information, including guidelines and application instructions, visit The San Francisco Foundation’s website.

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Engaging Dance Audiences
Dance/USA

Deadline: May 4, 2009

With support from the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation and the James Irvine Foundation, Dance/USA has launched Engaging Dance Audiences (EDA), a $1.9 million pilot program that enables Dance/USA to analyze current dance-going activities, and its members to explore and research methods of engaging audiences for dance, learn from peers, and share the learning nationally.  EDA consists of four components, three of which involve direct support to Dance/USA members.  The fourth component involves field-wide research on dance audiences:

1. Project Support. Grantees will be funded to develop new or refine existing engagement practices and share their discoveries with the dance field. Projects could enhance ongoing activities or be completely new.
   
   Timeline: Grantee project activities may begin as early as January 2010 and must be completed no later than June 30, 2011. See the Program Calendar for the full timeline.
   
   Grant amounts will range according to the size of the project and the organization’s operating budget, but will generally be between $25,000 and $125,000, and no greater than $150,000.
2. Audience Engagement Research. Grantees will cooperate with consultants Alan Brown and Jennifer Novak of WolfBrown to conduct research on their own audience engagement.  WolfBrown will provide technical assistance to the grantees in designing and executing audience surveys.
3. Learning Community.  At its core, EDA is a learning initiative.  Grantees will participate in a learning community about engaging audiences, including regular meetings and conference calls. Results of projects will be posted on Dance/USA's website.
4. Additional Audience Research.  Dance/USA will also commission additional field-wide research on audiences to be conducted by WolfBrown, the scope of which is to be determined.

Both organizational and individual members of Dance/USA may participate in EDA.  Applicants must have 501(c)3 status and be an organizational member in good standing by May 4, 2009.  Individual members may be part of a consortium or upgrade their membership to become an organizational member and be eligible to apply on their own.

For more information, including guidelines and application instructions, visit Dance/USA’s website.

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Opportunities & Resources

Evolve & Vocalize: A Spotlight on Next Generation Arts Leadership

Saturday, April 11, 2009
SOMArts
934 Brannan Street
San Francisco, California

Join the San Francisco Bay Area Emerging Arts Professionals, a community of emerging arts leaders in building the foundation for a stronger collective future.  This is a special invitation to rising leaders and their allies from across the arts spectrum to take part in a pro-active, collective approach to emerging challenges. During this interactive event, we will ask:

• What broad trends do you see in the emerging arts sector, and what are the implications of those trends on your work/involvement in the field?
• Given the picture you’ve just identified, what could we enact now that will make a positive, powerful impact on your art practice or arts sector career in the future?
• What would it take to move forward in this area?

We understand that many of you are feeling the pressures of change. On Saturday, April 11th, add your voice to an in-depth conversation that will offer a “big picture” view about current issues and set the stage for developing ways to help sustain your visionary work in a recessionary economy.

For more information, please contact the San Francisco Bay Area Emerging Arts Professionals via email.  To register, please visit the event’s website.

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Legacy Oral History Workshop

June 11-13, 2009
San Francisco, California

Presented by the Legacy Oral History Program of the Museum of Performance & Design, this three-day workshop will provide the training necessary for participants to launch their own oral history projects.  While drawing on references and examples in the performing arts, the workshop is designed to be equally appropriate for those involved in anthropology, cultural studies, institutional history, social history, regional history, family history, master’s or doctoral studies, or other projects.

The 15th annual oral history training workshop will be carefully designed to match the experience levels of all participants – beginning, intermediate, or advanced.  The lecture/discussion format will include opportunities to apply the material presented.  The workshop will cover:

• Project Design
• Legal/Ethical Issues
• Technology  and Funding
• Interviewing
• Transcription and Editing: producing research-quality documents or other final products

Fee: $300 (Early registration: register by May 1, 2009).  $350 (After May 1, 2009). Pre-registration required. Major credit cards accepted.  A $50 discount will be given if you mention that you heard about the workshops through ACTA’s e-newsletter.

Fee includes a 200-page syllabus/guidebook containing all the material taught in the workshop, special readings, and other vital information.  In order to give personal attention to each participant and project, the workshop is strictly limited to 22 participants.

For more information or to register, visit the Legacy Oral History Workshops’ website.  To register, contact them via email or at (415) 255-4800, ext. *823.

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Disaster Relief Assistance
Craft Emergency Relief Fund

The Craft Emergency Relief Fund (CERF), a national organization supporting craft artists, would like to make sure that any professional craft artists who may have been affected by California’s wildfires is aware of the disaster relief assistance available from CERF.

CERF’s programs include:

• Grants up to $1,500

• Loans up to $8,000

• Booth fee waivers at craft shows

• Discounts on materials and equipment from craft suppliers

• Assistance with business development

• Disaster forums to facilitate craft community disaster preparedness and recovery

For more information visit CERF’s website.

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Americans for the Arts Archived Webinars

Americans for the Arts produces a series of webinars presented by field experts; topics range from leadership succession in the arts to arts in rural communities to the election’s impact on the arts.  Americans for the Arts has recorded and archived each webinar produced from September to December 2008 and has made them available for purchase and download.

The webinars are flexible enough to meeting demanding schedules and affordable enough for multiple use.  Each webinar is $85 for members and $125 for non-members.

For more information visit Americans for the Arts’ Webinars website.

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Health Insurance for Artists: Information and Resources

According to the Urban Institute's 2003 study, Investing in Creativity: A Study of the Support Structure for U.S. Artists, access to quality, affordable healthcare is one of the most difficult challenges facing artists today in the U.S.  Indeed, it is one of the most difficult challenges facing many Americans.  Artists in the workforce, in particular, exhibit a clear need for better information about healthcare and health insurance options, and about how to improve access to resources locally.

In an effort to deliver information and resources to artists, organizations, and communities on options for affordable, local healthcare and health insurance, The Artists Health Insurance Resource Center (AHIRC) and Leveraging Investments in Creativity (LINC), both in partnership with the Actors Fund, have compiled extensive information regarding health insurance and healthcare for artists.  The information is available to everyone without charge.

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Online Training Courses to Master Proposal Writing

The Foundation Center hosts several online training courses in proposal writing.  The Statement of Need helps novice or inexperienced grantseekers master a critical component of proposal writing – preparing a statement of need.  The Project Description is an in-depth look into the preparation and writing of the project description section of a proposal.  The Budget demystifies the preparation of the project budget included in funding proposals.  The Comprehensive Course is a thorough, step-by-step guide to preparing an effective proposal for foundation support, covering every section of the proposal.  The courses include interactive exercises and assignments, case studies, a final exam, and a printable certificate of completion.  Lessons can be taken at any pace, and can be reviewed often.  For more information visit the Foundation Center’s website.

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FEATURES

What's New

Funding

Events

Opportunities & Resources

ABOUT ACTA

The Alliance for California Traditional Arts strives to "ensure California's future holds California's past" by providing programs and services to support the state's diverse living cultural heritage. The Alliance cultivates the growth of traditional arts and culture through Stewardship, Services to Artists, and Connection-Making.

Support ACTA

CONTACT ACTA

Website:
http://www.actaonline.org

Staff:
Amy Kitchener, Executive
Director
akitch@actaonline.org
559.237.9813

Sherwood Chen, Associate Director
sherwood@actaonline.org
415.346.3800

Lily Kharrazi, Living Cultures Grants Program Manager
lilyk@actaonline.org
415.346.5200

Suzanne Hildebrand, Administrative Coordinator
The New Moon Editor stoler@actaonline.org
559.237.9812

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Melanie Beene
Executive Director, Community Initiative Funds
San Francisco Foundation
San Francisco, CA

Emmett Castro, V.P. of Finance and Administration
Certified Public Accountant, Castro Accountancy Corporation
Fresno, CA

Jo Farb Hernandez, Secretary
Director, Natalie and James Thompson Art Gallery, School of Art and Design, San Jose State University
Director, SPACES
Principal, Curatorial and Museum Management Services
Watsonville, CA

Joel Jacinto,
Executive Director, Search to Involve Pilipino Americans
Los Angeles, CA

Sojin Kim, Ph.D.
Curator,History Department, Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County
Los Angeles, CA

Amy Kitchener (ex officio)
Executive Director, ACTA
Fresno, CA

Frank LaPena
Professor Emeritus, American Indian Studies, CSU Sacramento;
Traditional Maidu dance master; Visual Visual Artist
Sacramento, CA

Malcolm Margolin
Founder and Publisher, Heyday Books
Executive Director, Heyday Institute
Berkeley , CA

Libby Maynard
Co-founder and Executive Director, Ink People Center for the Arts
Eureka, CA 

Chike Nwoffiah, V.P. of External Development
Executive Director, Oriki Theatre
Mountain View, CA

Peter Pennekamp, Executive Director
Humboldt Area Foundation
Bayside, CA

Amy Rouillard
Senior Programs Manager, California Council for the Humanities
San Diego, California

Charlie Seemann, Board President
Executive Director, Western Folklife Center
Elko, NV

Daniel Sheehy, Ph.D.
V.P. of Governance
CEO, Smithsonian Folkways Recordings
Washington, D.C.

Deborah Wong, Ph.D.
Professor of Music
University of California, Riverside

Honorary

Bess Lomax Hawes
Retired Former Director, Folk & Traditional Arts Program, National Endowment for the Arts
Woodland Hills, CA

FUNDERS

THE COLUMBIA FOUNDATION

EAST BAY COMMUNITY FOUNDATION

EVENTS

Shibui – The Subtle Beauty of Japanese Craft

She Made It! – The Tradition of Women’s Arts and Crafts in Santa Clara Valley

The Costumes of Korean Dance and Drumming

Hula for Kupuna

Kumeyaay: Indigenous People of Southern California

Jewish Music Festival

Namad Ensemble Presents: Ossyan (Rebellion)

International Roma Day Celebration

Danzantes Unidos Festival

Indian Music and Dance Festival 2009

Ana Nitmar and Ixim Tinamit Marimba Ensemble

Esperanza and Luz: A Tale of Two Immigrant Women

13th Annual California Herdelijezi Festival

Viva el Cinco!

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