New county grants bring global influx to L.A. arts

During the next 12 months, eight local arts organizations will be able to expand the scope of already scheduled appearances by visiting international artists with the aid of new grants from the Los Angeles County Arts Commission.

Arts groups were invited to apply for the grants earlier this year through the commission’s new Inter/Arts program. The grants, which range from $2,500 to $6,000, do not cover the costs of bringing the artists to Los Angeles but rather will provide the money to support artistic exchange through workshops, symposia, master classes and other satellite activities for L.A. artists.

The first Inter/Arts event takes place Saturday when some 30 local musicians will attend a workshop with Pakistan’s Rizwan-Muazzam Qawwali, masters of the art of qawwali singing. The sponsoring or- ganization, Grand Performances, will present a free performance by the Pakistani singers that evening at California Plaza.

Other artists involved in Inter/Arts collaborations include Polish pianist Stanislaw Drewiecki, Australian-born multimedia artist Heidi Wood, Hong Kong’s City Contemporary Dance Company, the Mexican percussion ensemble Tambuco, the Malayerba Theatre Company of Ecuador and Costa Rican-born curator Jens Hoffman.

The program is funded by a $55,000 grant from the National Endowment for the Arts and a matching grant from the Los Angeles County Quality and Productivity Commission. A second round of grants will fund activities from Jan. 1, 2005, through June 30, 2006.