BILINGUAL FOUNDATION GETS ADVANCEMENT GRANT

The National Endowment for the Arts has awarded the Bilingual Foundation of the Arts an advancement grant of up to $75,000.

The amount of the grant to the Highland Park foundation will depend on its ability to provide a three-to-one match in non-federal funds in the next three years. The three-year advancement grant program is designed to help emerging arts organizations.

The Bilingual Foundation of the Arts is a theater company that develops and presents Latino theater performed in Spanish and English to promote the heritage of Latino culture in the United States. It was co-founded by its president Carmen Zapata in 1973 and also presents children’s theater and offers acting classes.

In 1985, the endowment awarded the foundation a start-up grant of about $10,000, accompanied by technical assistance and on-site consultation to develop management and fund-raising skills.

Nationally, 35 groups in 16 states, Puerto Rico and the District of Columbia are receiving advancement grants. In California, CenterArts/Humboldt State University, the Oakland Ensemble Theatre and Sew Productions/Lorraine Hansberry Theatre in San Francisco received advancement funding.

In a prepared statement, NEA chairman Frank Hodsoll said “artistic excellence” is of “primary concern” when awarding grants.

Ironically, the California Arts Council, which has funded the Bilingual Foundation for 10 years, nearly denied the group’s grant this year, after a council advisory panel cited continuing “uneven artistic quality.” The foundation, which had applied for a $34,000 council grant, successfully protested the action, but wound up with only $6,800.