Good money in bad times for L.A. artists

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Forget the recession for a minute. The California Community Foundation, in partnership with the Getty Trust, is still doling out money to Los Angeles County’s visual artists. In this year’s round of fellowships, to be announced today, 10 mid-career artists will receive $20,000 apiece and four emerging figures will each get $15,000.

‘Funding for the arts is often the first thing to go when times are tough, so it’s critical that we continue supporting these important artists at a time when they need it most,’ said Antonia Hernandez, the foundation’s president and CEO. ‘We’re proud to be one of the largest supporters of individual artists in the region.’

Jennifer Steinkamp, an installation artist known for video projections such as ‘Daisy Bell’ (above), is among the winners of mid-career fellowships, intended to acknowledge contributions of established artists and nurture their work. The other awardees are Pae White, Sandeep Mukherjee, Mineo Mizuno, John Malpede, Euan MacDonald, Sharon Lockhart, Andrea Bowers, Edgar Arceneaux and Rheim Alkadhi.

The grants to emerging artists are designed to encourage promising talents in early stages of development.

One of the winners, Juan Capistran, who has used images of himself break dancing on a billboard (left), was featured in ‘Phantom Sightings: Art after the Chicano Movement,’ a 2008 exhibition at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.

Other fellowship recipients in the emerging artist category are Elana Mann, Zachary Drucker and Sara Daleiden of Los Angeles Urban Rangers, a group of urban environmentalists.

The foundation plans to launch a web gallery of the artists at www.calfund.org/artistgallery, to coincide with today’s announcement. A more complete gallery, including bios, artist statements and additional works of art, will go online in August.

-- Suzanne Muchnic