It was also awarded with the California Arts Council “Arts Education Exposure” Grant
San José, CA – Today the California Arts Council announced grant awards to Teatro Visión of $18,000 as part of its Local Impact program and $9,000 as part of its Arts Education Exposure program. The State funds support arts projects fostering equity, access, and opportunity and student field trips and assemblies.
Local Impact supports community-driven arts projects for small and mid-sized arts organizations to foster equity, access, and opportunity in historically marginalized communities by centering the arts as a vehicle for building strong, healthy, vibrant, and resilient communities. Historically marginalized communities may include but are not limited to African and African American; Arab; Asian and Asian American; Latinx; Middle Eastern; Native American and Indigenous Californian; Pacific Islander; lesbian, gay, bisexual, queer, transgender and gender-variant people; people with disabilities; women; low-income, rural, or immigrant and refugee communities.
Teatro Visión’s Local Impact grant will support our 2019 production of Macario. Teatro Visión’s Macario, an original stage adaptation by Evelina Fernández featuring music by composer Russell Rodríguez, is an audience favorite. Performed in Spanish with English supertitles, Macario is an exuberant celebration of Día de los Muertos full of music, dance, and spectacle – an inspiring theatrical experience for audiences of all ages and cultures. Macario will take place this October at the School of Arts and Culture at the Mexican Heritage Plaza, with additional community engagement activities and special performances including a student matinee, Girl Scout Day at the Theater, College Night, and an ASL interpreted performance.
Arts Education Exposure supports attendance at high-quality performances and exhibits for students with limited access to these experiences. Experiences will offer deep cultural resonance with the student communities served and will be complemented by pre- and post-attendance activities, such as artist talkbacks, teaching artist workshops, and facility tours.
Teatro Visión’s Arts Education Exposure grant will support student engagement in our youth production in April 2020. In addition to offering a special student matinee that served many underserved schools throughout the Bay Area, Teatro Visión will provide study guides and post-performance classroom visits to help teachers integrate the performance into their curricula.
“We are so thrilled by these grant awards,” said Teatro Visión’s Managing Director Leigh Henderson. “Teatro Visión is growing and thriving. This level of support from the California Arts Council will help us continue to produce innovative theater and share our art with everyone in our community.”
Teatro Visión is one of 190 grantees chosen for the Local Impact program and 124 grantees chosen for the Arts Education Exposure program. These awards were featured as part of a larger announcement from the California Arts Council, with grant funds totaling a projected $24,508,541 for 2018-19, the highest investment in statewide arts programming since the 2000-01 fiscal year.
“Arts and culture are inextricably linked to our humanity,” said Nashormeh Lindo, California Arts Council Chair. “They serve as a universal touchpoint for understanding and addressing our societal issues—dismantling inequity, healing trauma, reframing justice, inspiring truth and shaping futures. The Council is humbled to support the vital work of Teatro Visión and its passionate efforts to make a better California for us all.”
To view a complete listing of all Arts Education Exposure grantees, visit http://arts.ca.gov/programs/program_files/1819/CurrentGrantees/FY18-19_Project_Descriptions_EXP.pdf.
