Hurricane aid from foundation

The New York-based Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts has announced grants totaling $750,000 to benefit individual Gulf Coast artists and visual arts organizations devastated by hurricanes Katrina and Rita.

“We felt strongly that the arts have an important role in the healing of the area,” foundation President Joel Wachs said Wednesday. “There are a lot of creative people who are suffering who are important to the fabric and the life of the community.”

Receiving grants are the New Orleans Museum of Art ($200,000); Contemporary Arts Center, New Orleans ($100,000); Contemporary Art Museum, Houston ($100,000); Ohr-O’Keefe Museum, Biloxi ($100,000); Louisiana Cultural Foundation ($100,000); Craft Emergency Fund ($50,000); Mississippi Arts Council ($50,000); and Lower Manhattan Cultural Council ($50,000), which is providing studios for displaced artists.

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-- Chris Pasles