New Funding Opportunities for 2019: ACTA's Living Cultures and Apprenticeship Programs

Applications are NOW OPEN for the following ACTA funding opportunities:

LIVING CULTURES GRANT 
Deadline to apply: JUNE 29, 2018
 
The Living Cultures Grant seeks to sustain and strengthen the folk and traditional arts in the state of California with grants of $5,000 to California-based nonprofits, as well as other organizations who work with fiscal sponsors.
 
To learn more about ACTA's Living Cultures Grants Program, click here .
 
APPRENTICESHIP PROGRAM 
Deadline to apply: JUNE 29, 2018
 
The Apprenticeship Program encourages the continuity of California's traditional arts and cultures by contracting master artists to offer intensive, one-on-one training to qualified apprentices. Each $3,000 contract will support a period of concentrated learning for apprentices demonstrate a committed engagement with and talent for a specific folk and traditional art form or practice.
 
To learn more about ACTA's Apprenticeship Program, click here .
 
Join a webinar with ACTA staff to learn more about these programs.
See dates + find out how to register on our website.

From top middle to bottom left, clockwise: Rhodessa Jones, Omnira Institute, Au Co Vietnamese Cultural Center's youth ensemble, La Familia Peña-Govea, and Özden Öztoprak and Isik Berfin.
Join us Tomorrow, April 29, for the Sounds of California at San Francisco's Bayview Opera House

In this Sounds of California concert , featured musical artists ponder displacement, migration, and creating a new sense of home. You'll experience a lively afternoon of concerts + conversations from the Bay Area's African-American, Vietnamese, Kurdish, and Chicano communities.

Sunday, April 29, 2018 | 2PM
4705 3rd Street, San Francisco, CA 94124
To RSVP and reserve tickets, visit the Facebook event page or Eventbrite page

Featured musicians include:  
Program notes from ACTA's  Lily Kharrazi:

As a child in Turkey,  Isik Berfin grew up surrounded by her mother, Özden Öztropak's songs and instruments made by her great-grandfather. Her family belongs to the minority Kurdish-Alevi community, which historically suffered persecution in Turkey. Berfin and her mother later moved to San Francisco, where music took on even more meaning in their lives.
 
"It was something I was born into," 21-year-old Berfin says,"but when I came to the U.S., I understood that I have to keep this alive; I have to tell people who I am so that it won't die."
 
For the  Peña-Govea Family, music is a key part of their lives. Miguel Govea and Susan Peña raised their two daughters in San Francisco's Mission District, where they grew up singing regional Mexican music around the kitchen table. Today, Mr. Govea teaches music to youth from Central America who recently arrived in this country alone.  
Rewind to the 1970's, when Vietnamese refugees arrived into the U.S. at the end of the Vietnam War. As a teenage refugee, Hang Le To settled in San Francisco, where she later began a Saturday school to keep the Vietnamese language alive. Today, she is the executive director of the Au Co Cultural Center , which hosts a dynamic Vietnamese zither  (Đàn Tranh) ensemble that wows audiences nationwide.
 
The music of the Omnira Institute 's choir preserves West African musical traditions and honors their ancestors, who came to this country as slaves. They also respond to present-day events by bringing their sacred songs and drumming to communities where police violence has claimed the lives of African-American men.

Top Photo: Isik Berfin plays traditional Kurdish-Alevi music. Photo by L. Kharrazi.
Bottom Photo: The Au Co Cultural Center's youth ensemble plays the Vietnamese zither. Photo courtesy of Au Co.

Meet ACTA's New Accounting Assistant, Donna R. Middleton

Donna will be supporting ACTA's administrative work, working alongside our operations manager in our Fresno office. Donna has more than three decades of experience in financial, medical, and legal services. She's offered business consultation to start-ups and non-profits, prepared taxes for small businesses at her own boutique tax prep and bookkeeping firm, held real estate and insurance licenses, and also served as a public notary.

Native Cultures Fund Grants, Due May 1
The Native Cultures Fund supports the cultural revitalization of California's Native people through grants from $1,000 to $10,000. Preference will be given to proposals that include art projects by Native artists, cultural mentorship between generations, and/or creation of California Indian cultural models. Individuals, organizations, or community partnerships may apply by May 1. Click here for the application.
 
California Arts Council's (CAC) Professional Development Grants, Due May 2
The California Arts Council's (CAC) Professional Development program offers grants up to $1,000 for access to professional development resources and networks for arts organization employees. Apply by May 2 for projects taking place between October 2018 and January 2019. Visit the CAC's Professional Development program page for more information.
 
Indian Classical Dance and Music Workshop on May 27-28
Learn the art of traditional Kathak dance, known for its rhythmic foot movements. The workshop takes place on May 27-28 at the California Dance Academy in Chatsworth, near Los Angeles. The workshop includes sessions for beginner, intermediate, and advanced students, as well as a public showcase at the end. Contact Kathak dance instructor Rachana Upadhyay at rachanau@yahoo.com for more information.

Investing in Artists Bay Area Ally Matching Grant, Due June 1
The Investing in Artists Bay Area Ally Fund is a new, matching grant program for past and present "Investing in Artists" grantees in the Bay Area. The Center for Cultural Innovation will match donations of $10 up to $5,000 from artists' individual donors. Click  here for more information and guidelines.
The Alliance for California Traditional Arts is the California Arts Council's official partner in serving the state's folk and traditional arts field.
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