Arts Council Santa Cruz grant is among 24 projects funded statewide in support of transforming communities through the arts
SANTA CRUZ – The California Arts Council announced it plans to award $50,000 to Friends of Olympia Station dab Tandy Beal & Co as part of its new Creative California Communities program. This award will expand the Company’s pilot ArtSmart project, bringing to the Central Coast concerts in circus, music and dance along with classes for adults, children and teachers. ArtSmart will initiate the First Family Concert Series on First Saturdays at the Veterans Memorial Building at 11 am as well as an adult evening concert.
Tandy Beal, artistic director, said, “What a thrill to help build a stronger community through the arts! Creativity is key to our humanity. It’s not just about art—using our imagination is also the way we develop empathy.”
A central component of ArtSmart is arts education. As Michael Watkins, Santa Cruz County Office of Education Superintendent, says, “Through arts in education, students develop the creative thinking and problem solving skills that are crucial to successful life and work in the 21st century.”
To support this expansion, Tandy Beal and Company welcomes two new hires: Programs Manager, Jennifer Radakovich (MA, Dance – University of Hawaii), and New Projects Director, Meridian Lin Negilski. Jennifer has focused her career on dance research and arts administration. Meridian has dedicated her career to cultural arts education and performance and is presently co-director of the Tannery Arts Center summer arts camp. Partners in ArtSmart are the ArtSmart Leadership Circle, the Downtown Association, The Tannery World Dance and Cultural Center, the Steinbeck Center, the Vets Hall, and the public schools.
Board President, Maggie Collins, said, “As we embark upon our 40th anniversary year, we give great gratitude to the CAC for helping us make dreams come true. After ArtSmart’s successful pilot year reaching 10,000 children and teachers, we are expanding this program to reach adults and families. The programs will be in Santa Cruz, Watsonville, Salinas and King City. The circus, music and dance artists who will participate in this project—Linda Tillery, Keith Terry, Jeff Raz, Paula Bliss, Saki Tamao, Esteban and Elda Ortiz, SoVoSo, Micha Scott and more—mirror the face of America and speak across the cultural divides.”
The California Arts Council received 157 applications for this highly competitive grant program, which is supported by one-time funds from the California State Assembly. After an open application process, a peer advisory panel reviewed all grant applications, followed by a review and vote from the Council at a public meeting in Los Angeles on June 18, 2014. The twenty-four projects supported by this grant program will reach nineteen counties across California. Projects supported by the Creative California Communities program represent a wide range of arts disciplines, and aim to revitalize neighborhoods through the arts, foster new arts engagement, stimulate tourism, create jobs for artists, invest in young people, and build relationships between local arts, business, and government entities.
“The Creative California Communities program supports many significant projects in large and small communities across California, demonstrating the power of the arts to transform our state,” said Wylie Aitken, Chair of the California Arts Council. “Our Council was inspired by the overwhelming response to this program, which revealed the scope of unmet needs for the arts in our communities.”
For a complete listing of projects supported by the Creative California Communities program, visit the California Arts Council website at www.arts.ca.gov.
Since 1974, Tandy Beal and Company (TBC) has created original projects in dance, theatre, circus, music & in education. A major regional arts organization, TBC has toured 48 states & four continents. With collaboration as a hallmark, TBC has worked with: Korean National Treasure AeJu Lee, Frank Zappa, film director Tim Burton, Japanese artist Ibe Kyoko, composers Lou Harrison, Jon Scoville, the Moscow Circus, Carl Sagan, Esperanza del Valle, Corazon en Flor, Bobby McFerrin (creating together an Emmy winning PBS special among many projects) & public schools throughout the county & the nation.