GREENFIELD — California Arts Council has awarded $15,250 to First Night Monterey for the Greenfield Cultural Arts Center as part of its Local Impact program, which provides support to small arts organizations for projects that extend their reach to underserved populations with limited access to the arts.
“The support of the Arts Council is key to the success of producing our free summer program to the youth of Greenfield who might not have access to any other programs during the summer,” said Ellen Martin, executive director of First Night Monterey and Greenfield Cultural Arts Center.
With this support, the Greenfield Cultural Arts Center will continue to provide accessible, high-quality art programs to low-income residents of Greenfield. The grant will expand the summer art camps to include guitar lessons in addition to a new mariachi music program. Classes are free for Greenfield youth, ages 10 to 17, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
“We are expanding the camp to not only include the visual arts, but also music with the inclusion of guitar lessons,” Martin said.
First Night Monterey, which established the Greenfield Cultural Arts Center in 2014 through its outreach program ArtWorks! with assistance from the Arts Council for Monterey County, was one of only 130 organizations selected to receive the Local Impact program grant.
“The Local Impact program eliminates barriers keeping low-income, rural and historically underserved communities from equal access to arts programs,” said Donn K. Harris, chair of the California Arts Council. “The Greenfield Cultural Arts Center project helps to further the Arts Council’s vision of enriching the lives of all Californians through arts participation, while allowing the local community to access their own creativity.”
The California Arts Council’s grant programs are administered through a multistep, public process, beginning with an open call for applications that are then adjudicated by peer review panels made up of experts from the arts field. Based on these panel recommendations and available funds, the Council voted on grant awards at two recent public meetings.
According to Harris, grant programs will serve a groundbreaking 51 percent more grantees than the previous year.
“These funds can be life-changing for our grantees, who often point to Arts Council support as a pivotal moment in their future success,” Harris said. “To witness that exponential return on our state’s investment, the ripple effect in our communities’ health and vitality, is the greatest reward.”
Greenfield Cultural Arts Center, located at 215 El Camino Real, provides services to more than 8,500 Spanish-speaking, multigenerational families each year with free public performances and tailored outreach classes and workshops that include music, dance and the visual arts. For more information, go to greenfieldartscenter.org.
