Ahead of an informational meeting for Santa Clarita’s community services and arts grants, the Arts Commission is expected to appoint one of its own to serve on a new review panel that decides who receives the aforementioned funding.
Over the last three decades, the city has offered the grants program to support local nonprofits’ programs and services. For 2020, the City Council approved in January $180,000 for 35 organizations.
A grant committee, comprised of two council members, commissioners and city staff have typically taken charge of the rating process. After a City Council vote on Jan. 14, the procedure changed by having a new, three-tier process of developing arts grants and public art projects with an outside panel of peers.
The process consists of, according to a city agenda report:
- Tier I: Establish a five-member review panel with one arts commissioner, a local art educator (a representative from local colleges or school districts) and an advocate (a representative from an organization that supports the arts community, and a regional arts advocate (a representative from a different municipality) and arts expert (a representative from an arts organization outside of the Santa Clarita Valley).
- Tier II: Present funding recommendations to the Arts Commission for review.
- Tier III: Present funding recommendations to the City Council for approval.
The appointment of a commissioner is expected to take place during the Sept. 10 meeting that starts at 6:30 p.m.
Informational meeting
Local nonprofit organizations interested in learning more about the grants program for the 2021 cycle, which has $180,000 available in funding, can receive more information via an upcoming Zoom meeting on Wednesday, Sept. 23, at 4 p.m., the city recently announced.
Participants will be allowed to ask questions and learn about the grant timeline, funding eligibility and criteria. The application will become available Sept. 23 on santaclarita.com/grants and Zoom details will also be posted on the website prior to the start of the meeting, according to a city news release.
For more information, contact city manager analyst Tyler Pledger at 661-286-4165.
