Luther Burbank Memorial Foundation Awarded Three New Grants

The Luther Burbank Memorial Foundation the non-profit organization that owns and operates Luther Burbank Center for the Arts (LBC), announced today that it is the recipient of three new grants to help offer increased support and service to Northern California youth. Two grants were awarded by the California Arts Council (CAC), which helps maintain California's unique identity by investing in organizations that keep its artistic energy thriving and make its diverse communities healthy and vibrant. An additional grant was awarded by The Hearst Foundations, which supports well-established nonprofit organizations that address significant issues within their major areas of interests-culture, education, health, and social service.

The CAC's Artists in Schools (AIS) grant will allow the organization to increase equitable access to arts education, by moving from fee-based to no-fee AIS residencies. It will ensure that an additional 20 classrooms (460 students), will be provided residencies at no-cost to the schools in the coming year.

The CAC's Youth Arts Action grant will allow LBC to offer-free of charge-safe learning spaces for 285 underserved youth during free Mariachi Camps and a year-round after-school Mariachi Ensemble that includes a summer intensive. Expert instructors teach music fundamentals and the cultural practices of this powerful Mexican art form, while youth strengthen key social and life skills by being part of a collective ensemble offering public performances.

The Hearst Foundations' Cultural Grant will support the expansion of youth access to arts in education programming at LBC. LBC's slate of arts and education programs have developed over time in response to the region's most-pressing needs around the accessibility. The programs serve as a fundamental pathway for nurturing and developing artistic talent and providing important social-emotional life skills, all enabling them to be their best selves and thoughtful citizens. This partnership with The Hearst Foundations will reach more students and fulfill the goal of delivering lasting and impactful arts-integrated programming to the students of this diverse and expansive region.

Throughout the year, LBC's education and community engagement programs serve more than 40,000 children and adults by presenting nearly 30 educational matinees, reach 850 students in their learning environments through our artists in the schools residencies, offering summer camps reaching over 350 students, maintain a 1,000 piece instrument lending library, and offering more than 1,100 hours of professional development for educators and teaching artists to help foster an appreciation for the blending of the arts with learning. LBC is honored to provide exposure to the arts through world-class performances and experiential opportunities for students, teachers, and the broader community.

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