Countywide : State Grant to Fund Arts Organizations

A Ventura County endowment foundation will receive more than $34,000 from a state agency to help finance local art projects.

The Ventura County Community Foundation, which receives money from private and public donors and redistributes them to other organizations, accepted the grant from the California Arts Council last month.

The foundation will hold fund-raisers throughout the fall and winter to match that amount with local money before distributing it to other arts organizations in the spring, said Sonya Tower, who works with the foundation.

The alliance will use $12,500 for administrative costs, foundation President Kate McLean said. The remaining $21,888 will be distributed among arts organizations to help fund projects, she said.

Last year’s grants assisted about 14 organizations--including the Ventura County Symphony, Tower said. The grants enabled the Plexus Dance Theatre to hold free performances and helped staff the Conejo Valley Art Museum, she said.

Groups that apply for grants are judged on a project’s artistic quality, she said.