Other season highlights include

- The Ford’s first evening devoted to Thai arts: Mantra Theatre’s original production, The Legend of Chao Phraya, Siamese River of Life
- A hip hop take on Fahrenheit 451 by Culture Shock Los Angeles Dance Troupe
- Brazilian Latin Grammy winner Djavan on his U.S. tour
- A 40th anniversary celebration of taiko drumming in the U.S. by TAIKOPROJECT
- Comedian Cheech Marin headlining a benefit for Tia Chucha’s Centro Cultural
- the trip-hop group Pacha Massive

Complete 2008 season information is available on the Ford web site, www.FordTheatres.org or by calling the Ford box office, 323 461-3673 (GO 1-FORD). The season brochure can be viewed online at http://www.fordtheatres.org/en/events/fordbrochureseason08.pdf

The Ford Amphitheatre season is a program of the Los Angeles County Arts Commission and is produced in collaboration with Los Angeles County-based arts organizations.

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APPLICATIONS OPEN FOR PILOT GRANT PROGRAM FOR ARTS SERVICES TO HOMELESS

The Arts Commission has launched the nation’s first regional effort to reach the homeless population by including the arts as an important component of supportive services and to provide data that can be used in the future to help solve the challenges of homelessness. Artful Solutions: Pathways from Homelessness Grant Initiative is an 18-month pilot project that will award up to six grants at a maximum award level of $15,000 to arts organizations whose projects will maximize the role of the arts in alleviating homelessness in Los Angeles County and evaluate the results. Projects must take place between July 1, 2008 and June 30, 2009.

Guidelines, instructions and application may be downloaded at /interntl_inttv.htm

An application workshop will be held on Wednesday, May 21, 2008, 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. at the LA County Arts Commission’s downtown office at 1055 Wilshire Blvd., Suite 800, Los Angeles, CA 90017. Validated parking is available at the Athena Parking lot on the corner of Bixel and Wilshire. To register for the workshop email: grants@arts.lacounty.gov

Applications must be received by Wednesday, June 11, 2008 at 5:00 p.m.

Artful Solutions: Pathways from Homelessness Grant Initiative supports the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors’ Homeless Prevention Initiative, which funds a variety of projects within the County to address homelessness by providing housing and supportive services to those at risk of and/or experiencing homelessness. The program is funded by the National Endowment for the Arts and the L.A. County Quality and Productivity Commissions’ Productivity Investment Fund.

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NATIONAL ENDOWMENT FOR THE ARTS AWARDS ARTS COMMISSION/FORD THEATRES $100,000 IN GRANTS

The Arts Commission has received a $70,000 grant from NEA’s Learning in the Arts for Children and Youth program to support the Arts for All Artists-in-Residence Program. The project, part of the 10-year Arts for All initiative to return quality, sequential arts education to all 80 school districts in L.A. County, will assist participating school districts to develop artist residencies in music, dance, and visual arts for students in kindergarten through 12th grades utilizing arts organizations on www.LAArtsEd.org. For more information about the initiative please visit /artseducation.html

The Ford Theatres, a program of the Arts Commission, received two grants through their non-profit support arm, the Ford Theatre Foundation.

Through the Access to Artistic Excellence – Theatre program, the foundation received $15,000 to support the [Inside] the Ford Winter Partnership Program. Building on the success of the Ford Amphitheatre’s summer partnership program, this program addresses the fact that many Los Angeles County-based theatre companies do not have permanent performance homes and that the cost of renting space has become prohibitively expensive in the area. It offers theatre companies the opportunity to produce in [Inside] the Ford at a highly subsidized cost and with significant promotional support. The first Winter Partnership Season will run November 2008 through April 2009.

The foundation’s Community Bridges Program was awarded $15,000 in the Access to Artistic Excellence – Presenting category to facilitate participation of local Latino and Asian-Pacific Islander communities in Ford Theatres activities through programming, marketing, and audience development strategies.

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CIVIC ART BLOSSOMS THROUGHOUT L.A. COUNTY

In 2005 Los Angeles County began implementing a Civic Art Policy that allocated one percent of the cost of County capital projects for art. The results of this policy are now becoming a reality across the County.

The Los Angeles County Administration Building, the first developed under the civic art policy, was dedicated in December 2007 and its large murals by artist Ken Gonzalez-Day have a positive effect on a stark urban landscape. In a recent article in the Los Angeles Times writer Daniela Perdomo observed, “The new Los Angeles County Administration Building rises four stories above Vermont Avenue, between 83rd and 84th streets, its clean lines and green-glass front striking a contrast with the auto body shops and parking lots nearby. But something else also sets the county social services hub apart from the squat concrete structures around it: tile murals inside and outside the building, glazed with digitally manipulated photographs of oak trees to soften the bustle of South Los Angeles.”

Artist Terry Braunstein played on themes of sunlight, warmth and healing to creating a comforting ambience for the Sun Valley Health Center in the east San Fernando Valley, dedicated in April. Made from Byzantine glass and handmade ceramic tiles, her dazzling mosaic murals frame the center’s entrance and wrap around the rotunda lobby. The lobby mosaics are strategically placed along a lower wall so that children and adults can touch and experience the textures and rich colors.

Some of the many children who use Ted Watkins Park in Watts helped create the mural on the façade of the new Pool House, dedicated in mid-May. Entitled “Gifts from Mother,” the mural contains images of children diving into blue water surrounded by sky. Artist Robin Strayhorn wanted to create a link between people and nature. Her design reflects movement and water, with the bordering tiles representing elements from nature.

This summer a series of works depicting the life of Clara Shortridge Foltz, the first woman lawyer in California and founder of the alternate public defender system, will be dedicated in the downtown Criminal Justice Center that bears her name. Dozens of art projects for libraries, firehouses, the Coroner’s Office and parks are underway. To find out more about the Civic Art Program and the County’s art collection, log on to www.lacountyarts.org.

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COLLEGE UNDERGRADUATES GET WORK EXPERIENCE THROUGH PAID SUMMER ARTS INTERNSHIPS

This spring 124 college students will start 10-week paid internships with 87 arts organizations in L.A. County. Supported by grants totaling $496,000, the L.A. County Arts Internships provide a rich summer experience for the undergraduates and much-needed staff for arts organizations. In addition to their every day work, all the interns gather for an Arts Congress and an Art Bus Tour and take field trips in small mentoring groups led by an experienced arts professional. Through the program, interns gain a deeper understanding of the work involved in nonprofit arts administration and the role of the arts in a community and develop business skills that can be put to use in their future careers. Internship host organizations help mold and shape these undergraduates who often go on to arts leadership positions on staffs, boards or as volunteers.

For more information about the internship program, visit /internship.html

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FREE SUMMER CONCERTS SCHEDULE ANNOUNCED

The Arts Commission sponsors free concerts at community venues to provide residents access to quality music programming. Now through the end of July, 25 concerts covering the musical spectrum will take place across L.A. County. Concerts in the next few weeks include

Wednesday, May 21, 2008, 6:00-8:00p.m.
Cal Bennett Band
(Smooth Jazz)
Pathfinder Park, 18150 E. Pathfinder Road, Rowland Heights, 91748
(626) 333-1369

Saturday, May 23, 2008, 6:30-8:30 p.m.
Belle Aire Brass
(Popular Standard)
Richard Rioux Park, 26233 W. Faulkner Drive, Stevenson Ranch, 91381
(661) 294-0849

Sunday, June 1, 2008, 12:45-1:45 p.m.
Mariachi Divas
(Mariachi)
Sycamore Grove Park, 4700 N. Figueroa, Los Angeles, CA 90065
(818) 622-6896

Saturday, June 7, 2008, 2:00-4:00 p.m.
Arpas y Aulos
(Classical)
Norwood Library, County of Los Angeles Public Library, 4550 N. Peck Road, El Monte, 91732
(626) 443-3148

Thursday, June 12, 2008, 7:00-9:00 p.m.
String Theory
(Contemporary String Trio)
Craft and Folk Art Museum, 5814 Wilshire Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90056
(323) 937-4230

For complete free concert information, visit /free.html

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