Art and Performance in Northeast L.A. – Two NELA Nonprofits Get Generous Grants

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By Mary Lynch

Two nonprofits in Northeast Los Angeles have received generous grants for their arts and culture programming from the LA County Department of Arts and Culture.

The grants, known as Community Impact Arts Grants, were awarded in September by Los Angeles County to Mujeres de la Tierra, headquartered at the L.A. River Center and Gardens in Cypress Park, and the Optimist Boys Home and Ranch in Highland Park. Mujeres de la Tierra received $6,900. The Optimist Boys Home and Ranch received $14,000.

Mujeres de la Tierra, which helps women become leaders on local social and environmental issues, will use the money for Project Telenovelas in the Park, theatre presentations that educate and inform families about environmental problems.

Cast members of the social theater project, Telenovelas in the Park. The project, run by the nonprofit Mujeres de la Tierra, has received an arts grant from L.A. County. Univision / Viviana Borroel

Optimist Boys Home and Ranch, which provides housing and other services to at-risk youth, will use the grant to provide art and music therapy to its resident youth.

Community Impact Arts Grants are made through the county’s Department of Arts and Culture, but they do not go to organizations that focus directly on the arts. Rather, they are earmarked for nonprofits that use art and culture activities to further social justice and social service goals.

In all, Community Impact Arts Grants totaling $750,000 were awarded this year to 58 nonprofits countywide. Other recipients include the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights in downtown L.A. ($14,800), El Centro Del Pueblo, a family services organization in Echo Park ($14,400), and Proyecto Pastoral, a community building organization in Boyle Heights ($14,600).