The Los Angeles County Arts Commission has announced $4,518,000 in two-year grants to 216 nonprofit arts organizations through its Organizational Grant Program.

Two Santa Clarita Valley arts groups — the Santa Clarita Philharmonic Orchestra and the Santa Clarita Shakespeare Festival — are among the grantees.

The county has earmarked $3,100 for the Philharmonic to support its 2018-2019 and 2019-2020 seasons of concerts at the Santa Clarita Performing Arts Center at College of the Canyons.

The Shakespeare Festival Santa Clarita will receive $7,300 to support ongoing efforts to increase artist and administrative compensation, and develop a shared space for rehearsals and educational work.

Since its inception in 1947, the Arts Commission has provided funding for arts and culture programming. For the last 20 years, the OGP has extended that support to include local small and mid-size arts organizations providing cultural services for the benefit of the more than 10 million residents of LA County.

“We want every person in this County to have access to the breadth, depth and diversity of the arts in Los Angeles,” said Supervisor Sheila Kuehl, chair of the County Board of Supervisors. “These grants support local arts organizations and help bring concerts, theater, exhibitions and school education programs to all 10 million County residents.”

Grantees received awards that range from $2,100 to $133,900, depending on the needs and size of the organization. A flexible award, the OGP can be used by grantees to support any number of current critical needs.

This year, grantees are using funds from their OGP awards to support activities that range from programming to marketing, and staff salaries to organization infrastructure. Of the 216 grantees—located in 54 of the County’s 88 municipalities—nearly 10 percent are receiving this funding for the first time.

“The OGP is a cornerstone to our activities at the Arts Commission,” said LA County Arts Commission Executive Director Kristin Sakoda. “When we support local arts organizations, we not only support the organizations themselves, but we support the communities they serve and are part of—helping to ensure that all LA County residents have equitable access to arts and culture.

Applications were reviewed and scored by more than 70 expert panelists from LA County’s robust community of artists, nonprofit arts administrators and arts educators.

Additional facts and figures about the 2018-19 OGP grantees can be found at below. To view a full list of the 2018-19 OGP grantees, visit LACountyAarts.org/OGPGrantees. To learn more about OGP, visit LACountyArts.org/OGP.

The Los Angeles County Arts Commission fosters excellence, diversity, vitality, understanding and accessibility of the arts in the county. The Commission provides leadership in cultural services for the County, encompassing 88 municipalities, including funding and job opportunities, professional development and general resources.

For more information, visit lacountyarts.org.

2017-18 Organizational Grants Facts and Figures
* $4,518,000 in grants awarded to 216 county arts organizations.
* 22, or 10 percent, of these organizations are receiving County arts grants for the first time. Of these, 16 are in the small budget category, and six are in the mid-size budget categories.

2018-19 grants are broken down by size of organization as follows:
* Small Budget OGP 1 (under $200,000): 115 grants totaling $1,263,000
* Mid-size Budget OGP 2 ($200,000-$1,000,000): 66 grants totaling $1,523,400
* Mid-size Budget OGP 3 ($1,000,000-$15,000,000):32 grants totaling $1,369,300
* Large Budget OGP 4 (more than $15,000,000): 3 grants totaling $362,300

In addition to the 216 arts organizations whose grants were approved by the Board of Supervisors on July 3, 196 organizations are receiving the second installment of two-year grants that awarded last year. These grantees bring the total number of arts organizations receiving County funds during the current fiscal year to 412.

The breakdown of 2018-19 grantees by discipline is as follows:

Arts Education: 46*
Arts Service: 8**
Dance: 16
Literary: 2
Media Arts: 6
Multidisciplinary: 39
Music-Choral-Opera: 17
Music-Instrumental: 22
Presenting: 5
Theatre: 38
Traditional and Folk Art: 6
Visual Arts: 11

*Arts Educations organizations have missions centered around or providing opportunities for children (including students) between the ages of 5-18 with the goal of increasing their knowledge and skills in one or more arts discipline or an arts education-related program or project.

**Arts service organizations provide support services to the arts and cultural community.