Post-Riot Arts Grants Expected to Be OKd

The first grants are about to be awarded in an arts program designed to help the city recover from the riots that followed the Rodney G. King beating trial verdict.

The Los Angeles City Council on Wednesday is expected to approve $420,000 for 146 arts projects, as recommended by the city’s Cultural Affairs Commission. The grants, the main thrust of the Cultural Affairs Department’s L.A. Arts Recovery Program, range from $750 to $3,000 each, with the majority of applicants recommended for the top amount.

“The big issue for us is developing something significant to respond to these issues, and these programs will do that,” said Adolfo V. Nodal, cultural affairs general manager. “We already have something significant here with these grants--we’ve been able to raise an incredible amount of money and get it out on the street.”

The recovery fund, which began with $100,000 scrounged from the department’s current budget during the week of the riots, has been supplemented with contributions from partners including the J. Paul Getty Trust ($100,000), National Endowment for the Arts ($50,000) and California Arts Council ($25,000). Nodal has vowed to raise a total of $1 million for the fund, however, and plans to award a second batch of grants in January.

While the the grants currently recommended are for small amounts, Nodal said he hopes each project will inspire future arts activity throughout the city, especially in areas blighted by the recent riots.

“We’re not trying to build a major infrastructure here, what we’re doing is scattering seeds all throughout the city to start a dialogue,” he said. “(These projects) can start that involvement, discussion and dialogue that’s needed for recovery. And I hope that new friendships will be developed between the artists and the community to start ongoing projects.”

Among the recommended projects are: “Tales on Trial,” a children’s theater program developed by the L.A. Superior Court to teach better understanding of the judicial process; a seven-day Pan-African Film Festival showcasing more than 25 black films from Africa, the Caribbean, Europe, Latin America and the United States; the development of student-run, minority radio programs by Radiowest and KGFJ-AM to address the unrest, and the creation of a 16-page comic book by visual artist David Brown featuring a multiethnic hero who teaches people how to get along and rebuild Los Angeles.

Other programs include: the establishment of the Watts Community Band/Orchestra and a Rebuild-Rejoice! Community Choir; a Saturday school program on the historical and artistic impact of African culture taught by the Alliance of African-American Educators; “Voices From the Neighborhood,” a 60-minute video by Funmilayo Makarah bringing together four teen-agers from different ethnic backgrounds to discuss ways to rebuild L.A.; and “Mestizo Voices,” a two-day festival of American Indian, Latino and African-American poetry, performance art, music and dance.

Nodal noted that the department received 493 applications, and so decided midway through the process not to fund artists or organizations that had already received regular 1992-93 cultural grants.

“We’re not just funding the same old thing here. We’re really bringing new people into the process,” he said, adding that while projects have been recommended for all of the city’s geographical areas, the “lion’s share” are in areas hard hit by the riots like South-Central Los Angeles and Hollywood.

Although the recommendations must still pass a technical review by Nodal’s department after City Council approval, grantees should have their checks in hand in early September, according to Susan Fong of the California Community Foundation, which will administer the grants.

“It’s much faster than the city usually works, and we’re certainly ahead of Rebuild L.A.,” Fong said.

Also on Wednesday, the council is expected to decide whether $1 million should be used for a recovery-themed “Art in Urban Areas” program, which would include grants, expanded youth programs and community arts projects. The proposal, sponsored by Councilmen Joel Wachs and Richard Alatorre, would augment the department’s existing $10.3-million 1992-93 budget. Funding would come from untapped elements of the Los Angeles Endowment for the Arts, such as special fees on public and private developments. If approved by the City Council, it would be funded in steps as additional money flows into the endowment.

“Art in Urban Areas” would initiate new programs, such as a $70,000 plan for an “Arts Caravan,” which Nodal described as a “traveling stage” that would take musicians, performance artists, circus performers and others to sites including parks, community centers and senior citizen homes to present carnival-like entertainment for families.

Other elements include $100,000 to beef up the department’s existing community arts centers, which have been hard hit by city budget cuts; $160,000 for a slate of new Youth Arts Programs; and $350,000 for a Community Arts Plan, which would allocate $10,000 to each of 35 different city neighborhoods to select a key public art project for the area.