Non-profit arts organizations, festivals and arts learning programs in Yuma and Somerton will receive more than $56,000 combined thanks to grants from an Arizona state arts commission.
Officials with the Arizona Commission on the Arts announced late last week that seven groups in Yuma and one in Somerton were awarded grants from the commission.
The City of Yuma, Arts and Culture Commission received the largest grant of $16,000. The Yuma Art Center on Main Street in Downtown Yuma is home to the City of Yuma's Division of Arts and Culture.
The Children's Museum of Yuma County, also located on Main Street in Downtown Yuma received the second highest grant in the amount of $12,000.
Other Yuma nonprofits and festivals receiving grants from the Arizona arts commission are:
- Ballet Yuma $8,600
- Bordertown Arts Project $3,9
- Dia de los Muertos Festival $2,500
- Yuma Art Symposium $5,000
- Yuma Orchestra Association $3,920
The Somerton Tamale Festival, the annual South County tradition that brings tens of thousands of Yuma County locals and winter visitors to Somerton will receive a grant of $5,000. The tamale festival, which is held every year on a Saturday in late December, raises money for scholarships for Yuma County students attending Arizona State University.
In a released statement, Christina You-sun Park, Executive Director of the Arizona Commission on the Arts, said “Creative expression is central to Arizona’s innovation, prosperity, and cultural vitality. Through strategic grantmaking the Arizona Commission on the Arts directs public funds to organizations, festivals, and programs that strengthen communities, support the state’s creative workforce and enhance quality of life across Arizona.”
