[Orange, CA] – Today the California Arts Council announced a grant award of $4,750 to Chapman University’s Phyllis and Ross Escalette Permanent Collection of Art at Wilkinson College as part of its Veterans in the Arts program.

The grant will fund creative arts workshops in sculpture, photography, and ceramics, for veterans. The project is grounded in an exhibition of artwork by veteran artists from Chapman University’s Escalette Permanent Collection of Art, which will be up for the rest of the year in Argyros Forum. We aim to use the exhibition and the workshops to inspire and help veterans to develop an artistic language to tell their stories.

Chapman University was featured as part of a larger announcement from the California Arts Council of more than 1,500 grants awarded to nonprofit organizations and units of government throughout the state for their work in support of the agency’s mission to strengthen arts, culture, and creative expression as the tools to cultivate a better California for all. The investment of nearly $30 million marks a more than $5 million increase over the previous fiscal year, and the largest in California Arts Council history.

Organizations were awarded grants across 15 different program areas addressing access, equity, and inclusion; community vibrancy; and arts learning and engagement; and directly benefiting our state’s communities, with youth, veterans, returned citizens, and California’s historically marginalized communities among them. Successful projects aligned closely with the agency’s vision of California where all people flourish with universal access to and participation in the arts.

Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the California Arts Council recognizes that some grantees may need to postpone, modify, or cancel their planned activities supported by CAC funds, due to state and local public health guidelines. The state arts agency is prioritizing flexibility in addressing these changes and supporting appropriate solutions for grantees.

“Creativity sits at the very heart of our identity as Californians and as a people. In this unprecedented moment, the need to understand, endure, and transcend our lived experiences through arts and culture is all the more relevant for each of us,” said Nashormeh Lindo, Chair of the California Arts Council. “The California Arts Council is proud to be able to offer more support through our grant programs than ever before, at a time when our communities’ need is perhaps greater than ever before. These grants will support immediate and lasting community impact by investing in arts businesses and cultural workers across the state.”

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Chapman University is a private university offering a personalized approach to education so students can rise to the world’s challenges and become catalysts for change. We strive to become multidimensional, original thinkers — the kind of people who flourish in a challenging world. The kind of people who rise to every occasion. The kind of people who can accomplish anything imaginable.

The California Arts Council is a state agency with a mission of strengthening arts, culture, and creative expression as the tools to cultivate a better California for all. It supports local arts infrastructure and programming statewide through grants, initiatives, and services. The California Arts Council envisions a California where all people flourish with universal access to and participation in the arts.

Members of the California Arts Council include: Chair Nashormeh Lindo, Vice Chair Jaime Galli, Larry Baza, Lilia Gonzales Chavez, Jodie Evans, Kathleen Gallegos, Stanlee Gatti, Donn K. Harris, Alex Israel, Consuelo Montoya, and Jonathan Moscone. Learn more at www.arts.ca.gov.

The California Arts Council is committed to increasing the accessibility of its online content. For language and accessibility assistance, visit http://arts.ca.gov/aboutus/language.php.

 

Funding provided by the Escalette Endowment, and Wilkinson College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences. This exhibition is produced by the Escalette Permanent Collection of Art in partnership with the Center for American War Letters and the Veteran Prints Project.

Chapman’s resources for veterans include the Veterans Resource Center, Chapman Veterans club, and the Military and Veterans Law Institute.