Grant Program Open for Artists, Practitioners to Increase Awareness of Local Issues

A grant program for artists and cultural practitioners through the city of San Diego and regional partners went live Wednesday.

The program is funded through a $4.75 million California Creative Corps grant from the California Arts Council, and will grant recipients funds to “develop artistic content and carry out public campaigns that increase regional awareness of issues impacting San Diego and Imperial counties, including public health, energy and water conservation, climate mitigation, civic engagement and social justice matters,” a city statement said.

“The Far South/Border North program offers artists and cultural practitioners in our region an extraordinary opportunity,” said Jonathon Glus, executive director of the city’s Commission for Arts and Culture. “We know artists and cultural practitioners bring an important engagement perspective to intersectional work in environmental, civic and community health, and we appreciate the California Arts Council’s investment in San Diego and Imperial counties’ most disproportionately impacted communities.”

The funding is intended to help support communities in the lowest quartile of the California Healthy Places Index in the two counties — all while continuing to enrich creative, artistic and cultural practices.

“We are pleased to partner in this work that will shine a light on and grow public and private funding for artists and cultural practitioners,” said Megan Thomas, president and CEO of Catalyst of San Diego and Imperial Counties. “We are excited about this opportunity to artistically and creatively elevate the dialogue about equitable resources for health, environmental, and other social justice issues across San Diego and Imperial counties.”

Grant guidelines and information sessions to assist potential applicants are available at farsouthbordernorth.com. Applications will be accepted through 5 p.m. on March 22.

A second round of grant applications for organizations to regrant to artists and cultural practitioners will be released in the spring.

City News Service contributed to this article.