Tuolumne County artists to benefit from $423K grant
About $423,000 in state grant funding to help support new art projects and artists in Tuolumne County is coming, and artists who live and work in the county are being urged to connect with grant administrators in Merced County.
The most important thing Tuolumne County artists can do to learn more about the process of applying for portions of the new grant funding to create new art projects is to visit United Way of Merced County online at https://bit.ly/3gh6thi and subscribe to receive email updates on a grant cycle expected to begin in April, May or June 2023.
The grant funding for Tuolumne County is part of a larger, threecounty grant from the California Arts Council, a state agency, and its Creative Corps Program for Stanislaus, Merced, and Tuolumne counties totaling $4.23 million, which has been awarded to United Way of Merced County, the grant administering organization for all three counties.
United Way of Merced County staff have touted the $4.23 million in grant funding in recent announcements, emphasizing that the funding has been secured to support the health, safety and resiliency of communities through the arts in Stanislaus, Merced, and Tuolumne counties.
The grant program, California Creative Corps, was developed by the California Arts Council in partnership with state lawmakers.
California Creative Corps is an economic and workforce recovery pilot program intended to support COVID-19 pandemic recovery and environmental, civic, and social engagement of California’s most dis
proportionately impacted communities, according to state communications staff and the United Way of Merced County.
As the grant administering organization for three counties, United Way of Merced County will regrant funds to individual artists, to cultural workers, and to arts and social service organizations in Stanislaus, Merced, and Tuolumne counties.
The United Way of Merced County describes the California Creative Corps initiative as an unprecedented collaboration between county-designated arts agencies from all three counties. The arts agencies will work cooperatively to support grant administration and serve as primary partners, service providers, and communication conduits in their respective counties.
It’s important to keep in mind the California Creative Corps grants come from a statewide pilot program, so there may be adjustments in terms of resources county-to-county, Laurie Livingston, executive director of Tuolumne County Arts said Thursday in an interview in downtown Sonora.
For example, if Tuolumne County Arts needs more funding for mentoring, the nonprofit may be eligible.
“It’s planned that this money will be going to Tuolumne County artists,” Livingston said, “and it will enhance the Tuolumne County economy because the funded artists will be spending their resources here in Tuolumne County.”
It’s also important for everyone to know that more than half of the funding coming to Tuolumne County will go directly to artists, to pay their salaries, to help them recover their livelihoods from impacts sustained during the pandemic, and to help pay their bills while they are creating new art here in Tuolumne County, Livingston said.
For more information about the $423,000 in state grant funding to help support Tuolumne County artists and new art projects, the Creative Corps Program in Stanislaus, Merced, and Tuolumne counties, and the process of applying for portions of the new grant funding, visit United Way of Merced County online at https://bit. ly/3gh6thi.
Interested artists, cultural workers, and arts and social service organizations can also visit Tuolumne County Arts on Facebook or email info@tuolumnecountyarts.org.