Dana Point Group, Opera Pacific, Laguna Museum Win NEA Grants

The Dana Point Cultural Commission has won the largest of three gifts totaling $63,000 given to Orange County organizations in the first round of 1993 National Endowment for the Arts grants.

The 4-year-old commission--which annually gives out $50,000 in grants of its own, mostly to fledgling South County arts groups appearing in Dana Point--received $30,000 to develop a cultural master plan for the city. Opera Pacific received $25,000 to support its 1993-94 season, and the Laguna Art Museum won $8,000 for a yearlong pilot program to teach children about design.

Dana Point Cultural Commission vice chair Colene Schwandt called the NEA grant “a miracle, because it was the first time we applied (to the NEA) and we are a brand new city,” incorporated in 1989.

Nationwide, the NEA awarded nearly 1,100 grants totaling $25.5 million. The grants must be matched dollar for dollar with non-federal funds. The NEA previously announced a $20,000 1993 choreographer’s fellowship to Ramya Harishankar, who directs Irvine’s Arpana Dance Company.