LFCAC Uniquely Selected to Receive $50,000 Grant
LFCAC Uniquely Selected to Receive $50,000 Grant
Lynda Fairly Carpinteria Arts Center Uniquely Selected to Receive $50,000.00 Grant from the National Endowment for the Arts as part of the American Rescue Plan
Carpinteria, CA —The Lynda Fairly Carpinteria Arts Center is pleased to announce they have been approved to receive an American Rescue Plan grant from the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) to help them recover from the pandemic. The Center is recommended to receive $50,000.00 to support two staff positions that are critical to their programming: Operations Specialist and Outreach Director.
“We are deeply honored to be one of the fifty-six recipients of the NEA Grants awarded in California, and the only organization between Los Angeles and the Bay Area to receive this generous funding,” explained Linda Rosso, Executive Director of the Arts Center. “Just eleven months after opening our newly renovated Charles Lo Bue Gallery and Arts Center, we faced significant challenges due to the pandemic, forcing us to close our doors in March 2020. In efforts to continue to engage with our growing audience, we immediately transitioned our offerings to a virtual platform with a record number of participants. Our adult and youth classes were offered online via Zoom with no cost to participants. As a result, the Arts Center did not earn any income from class fees and operated at a loss although we continued to pay our teaching artists their full fees. In April 2021 we successfully transitioned all our programs back to in-person activities and the NEA funds will greatly benefit us as we continue to offer highly acclaimed programming such as exhibitions, arts education, workshops, concerts, community receptions, Teen Mural Project, Artists Studio Tours, and the Arts by the Sea Summer Youth Camp.”
During the pandemic the Arts Center also offered creative community-building projects to engage the entire community such as: Signs of Hope, Postcards from the Pandemic, Mask up Carp, Bookmarks for Seniors, and the RockStar Garden.
“This grant is a recognition that the Carpinteria Arts Center is an incredible resource, a play and learning ground for Carpinterians of all ages.” commented Supervisor Das Williams, 1st District Santa Barbara County.
Alan Koch, Board Chairman reflects “The Board leadership team immediately took action in March of 2020 and made the commitment to have the Arts Center remain a steady presence, providing much needed connection and comfort to the community during unprecedented times when the entire country was shut down. The crisis gave us an opportunity to unite community members by offering programs which encouraged creativity, connection and solidarity so that no one felt alone.”
“The success of the Carpinteria Arts Center lies with its public engagement and giving our community what it needs. When we were dealing with the pandemic, the Arts Center supported the Chalk Art project that uplifted.
our city with beautiful and creative art. They continue to come up with creative ideas and events we all enjoy. With the daily reminders of the pandemic, we need an outlet to get us back on track and feeling good, and the Arts Center is doing just that.” states City of Carpinteria Mayor Wade Nomura.
"The American Rescue Plan is providing vital relief to our country during the pandemic and it's wonderful to see some of those funds will benefit the Carpinteria Arts Center," said Rep. Carbajal. "This grant means the center will continue supporting arts for local students and adults and allow artists of all ages an opportunity to express themselves. I'm proud to have voted for the American Rescue Plan and will continue to advocate for funding that strengthens and protects our communities."
“Our nation’s arts sector has been among the hardest hit by the COVID-19 pandemic. The National Endowment for the Arts’ American Rescue Plan funding will help arts organizations, such as the Lynda Fairly Carpinteria Arts Center, rebuild and reopen,” said Dr. Maria Rosario Jackson, chair of the NEA. “The arts are crucial in helping America’s communities heal, unite, and inspire, as well as essential to our nation’s economic recovery.” In total, the NEA will award grants totaling $57,750,000 to 567 arts organizations in all 50 states, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and Washington, DC.
The American Rescue Plan was signed into law in March 2021 when the NEA was provided $135 million for the arts sector. This funding for organizations is the third installment providing more than $57.7 million for arts organizations. In April 2021, the NEA announced $52 million (40 percent) in ARP funding would be allocated to 62 state, jurisdictional, and regional arts organizations for regranting through their respective programs. The second installment in November 2021 allocated $20.2 million to 66 local arts agencies for subgranting to local artists and art organizations.
For more information on the NEA’s American Rescue Plan grants, including the full list of arts organizations funded in this announcement, visit www.arts.gov/COVID-19/the-american-rescue-plan.
