Foundation awards $60,000 to local arts programs

Grants will support the Sacramento region’s arts ecosystem

The Foundation recently granted nearly $60,000 to support local arts programs in the capital area.

Six of the recipient programs were selected as part of the Foundation’s Dennis Mangers Fund for Young Performing Artists to improve access to performing arts education and training for underserved youth. Those grants, which total $29,828, support an array of opportunities in dance, music, theater, and theater production at Department of Sound, Focus on Family Foundation, Sacramento State Performing Arts Collective, Sacramento Master Singers, Sacramento Theatre Company, and Studio T Urban Dance Academy.

Launched in 2015, the Fund was named for Dennis Mangers, who serves on the Foundation’s Board of Directors and whose career in public service in California has spanned five decades. As a child, Mangers’ family was unable to afford the costs of private arts instruction, which prevented him from advancing his passion for the performing arts.

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“From providing arts scholarships to underserved students to ensuring all young people have access to high-quality instruments and arts training, these grants help talented local youth enjoy the opportunities Dennis could not,” said Niva Flor, the Foundation’s Interim Chief Impact & Strategy Officer. “They make it possible for young people to discover and develop their artistic passions and contribute their burgeoning talents to our vibrant region.”

Among the grants awarded is one that will fund music equipment and instruction for 150 elementary and middle school students in South Sacramento, another that will purchase portable equipment for mobile dance classes, and another that will bring summer arts instruction from Sacramento State faculty and staff to 100 low-income students in the region. Another will use its $5,000 award to bring month-long music and audio production workshops to 100 underserved youth in Sacramento. 

The Dennis Mangers Fund for Young Performing Artists awards complement three Creative Collaborations grants the Foundation made late last year as part of its Transforming the Creative Economy Strategic Initiative, which aims to foster a thriving cultural community in the Sacramento region by supporting arts organizations as they innovate, diversify, and develop new audiences to meet the evolving needs of the area’s communities.

The recipients of the Creative Collaborations grants are the Latino Center of Art and Culture, Sacramento Gay Men's Chorus, and E. Claire Raley Studios for the Performing Arts.

Learn more about our arts initiative

“These grants encourage partnerships between local organizations and artists, generating productive exchanges of ideas and bringing arts to diverse and new audiences,” said Flor.

All nine awards are the latest in the Foundation’s sustained effort to support a flourishing and equitable creative community in the capital area, and follow the Foundation’s sustained investment in Sacramento Creative Edge Cultural Plan and its leadership in the Sacramento Arts Education Consortium.