California Community Foundation Awards A Record $415,000 For 24 Artist Fellowships

LOS ANGELES, July 22, 2014 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- California Community Foundation (CCF) announced the 24 recipients of its annual CCF Fellowship for Visual Artists – breaking the record for the largest number of grants to Los Angeles County artists in the program's history. Since its inception in 1988 with a generous contribution from The J. Paul Getty Trust, the Fellowship program has supported more than 250 of L.A.'s emerging and mid-career visual artists working in a multitude of media and forms with more than $2.5 million in grants and access to business development support. With strong donor support, this year's Fellowship grants totaled $415,000, with grants of $15,000 for individual emerging artists and $20,000 for mid-career artists.

The CCF Fellowship for Visual Artists is part of the portfolio of the Arts Program of the California Community Foundation, a public charitable organization committed to strengthening the cultural vitality of L.A. County by increasing the operational capacity of small and mid-size arts and cultural organizations, increasing arts opportunities that are affordable and accessible to underserved communities, improving participation in the arts by diverse, low-income residents and professional artists and helping visual artists develop successful, sustainable careers in Los Angeles.

"The arts can inspire and delight, but they can also engage and challenge us," said Antonia Hernandez, president and CEO of the California Community Foundation. "As Los Angeles County is fertile ground for creative expression, we are committed to helping the artistic community thrive through efforts such as the CCF Fellowship for Visual Artists."

For many recipients, receiving a Fellowship enables them to continue the creative process for complex projects that can take them around the world to complete, such as Diane Thater's pieces for a retrospective of her work at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art in 2015.

"Winning a Fellowship is life-changing, but it's not just because of the money," said 2014 Fellow Audrey Chan "The Fellowship acknowledges the power of art in this community."

Receiving a Fellowship is a first for mid-career artist Mark Flores. "Winning this encourages me to keep believing in myself," he said. 

To find out how you can support the CCF Fellowship for Visual Artists, visit my.calfund.org/artist-gallery/support/.  100 percent of donor contributions for CCF Fellowship for the Visual Arts go directly to the artists.

California Community Foundation (CCF) unites the power of philanthropy with innovative strategies to create greater equity, opportunity and prosperity in Los Angeles County. We have served as a public, charitable organization since 1915, empowering donors to pursue their own personal passions and to collaborate with us in transforming Los Angeles.  CCF stewards nearly $1.4 billion in total assets and manages more than 1,700 charitable foundations, funds and legacies. For more information, visit www.calfund.org or follow us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/calfund.

Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20140719/128719

SOURCE California Community Foundation