Pasadena Community Foundation revealed the nonprofit recipients for its 2024 Arts and Culture Grant Program.
The 16 selected nonprofits represent emerging and established organizations, and the grants, totaling $302,000, provide flexible support in addressing ongoing challenges from the COVID-19 pandemic.
PCF program director Jeannine Bogaard said the organization is grateful for the generous support of 14 families who have established endowments for the arts, which provide core funding for this grant program. Moreover, for a second year, arts patrons Terri and Jerry Kohl augmented PCF’s funding with a $100,000 gift, allowing the foundation to expand its grant assistance to more organizations.
This year’s arts and culture funding supports a range of programming and organizational needs. Light Bringer Project’s Locavore Lit and The High Notes of the Pasadena Chorale will continue programs that bring the arts directly into PUSD classrooms.
Boston Court Pasadena will stage a new production, while Parson’s Noise Theater will grow its Reader’s Theater Series through the work of women and Latinx playwrights. The Mount Lowe Chamber Players and MUSE/ique will expand concert offerings for the community. PCF also welcomes two organizations that are first-time arts and culture grantees: Sierra Madre Playhouse and Nancy Evans Dance Theatre.
Together, these organizations represent a sector that is working through the challenges of pandemic recovery to expand capacity, diversity and audience support, Bogaard said.
“We recognize that for our local arts organizations, this post-COVID period continues to be complex, and we are committed to providing flexible support that can be used in a way that organizations see fit and that strengthens their unique missions,” Bogaard said.
“The arts are so important to the Pasadena area, and we are proud to help maintain their vibrancy in our community.”
The art and culture grants are part of a long history of the foundation’s support for the arts. PCF’s first arts grant was in 1973, and since that time, with the help of PCF donors and Endowment Builders, it has awarded more than 500 grants totaling more than $3 million to local arts and cultural organizations.