Names of Note: Grants boost Stanislaus arts, including opera for the coronavirus era
The California Arts Council granted $186,716 to promote dance, music, drama and other endeavors in Stanislaus County.
The money went to Opera Modesto, Ballet Folklorico Anahuac, the Gallo Center for the Arts, the Central California Art Association and Modesto Sound.
The news came amid a coronavirus emergency that bars the large gatherings that are vital to many arts groups. Some of the recipients are adapting with remote instruction and other means of staying in touch. They hope to be back at full strength as they put the grants to use over the next year or so.
Opera Modesto is not sure of the format for Summer Opera Institute, which is getting $20,000 from the state. The teenage students might do some or all of the July 21-30 session via Zoom rather than a live stage, General Director Roy Stevens said in an email Friday.
”In the context of the COVID-19 pandemic and all the associated cancellations of all in-person performing arts activities, Opera Modesto feels it is more important than ever to provide a safe opportunity for regional teens,” he said.
The grants were among nearly $30 million statewide that were announced on Monday, May 4. Much of the funding aims to involve young people in the arts, such as the Mexican dances of Ballet Folklorico or the audio technician skills taught by Modesto Sound. The details:
Gallo drama for fifth-graders
The Gallo Center will use its $18,000 grant to immerse 300 fifth-graders from Modesto in a play called “Holes.” It is based on a 1998 novel by Louis Sachar about an innocent boy sent to a Texas juvenile camp.
The students will take part in classroom theater workshops in January 2021, then see on-stage performances in February, said an email from Amber Flores, director of development for foundation and annual giving.
The cast and crew will do a “talk back” with the students afterward. “Holes” is part of the Gallo Center Repertory Company’s upcoming season.
Audio technician training
Modesto Sound received two grants to support training of young people as audio technicians at live events and recording studios. One is for $5,000 to overhaul its website. The other is for $3,461 for the summer youth camp.
Modesto Sound can’t put on major gatherings for now, Executive Director Janet Seay said by phone. Its current website has recent podcasts recorded under social distancing guidelines.
Dance from Mexico
Ballet Folklorico Anahuaca received $13,300 through the council’s Artists in Communities grant category, which promotes the arts as “vehicles for community vitality.” The Modesto-based group plans to use the money to waive tuition for some of its low-income students.
A Facebook post said the Tenth Street dance studio will be closed through May because of the coronavirus. Instructors are providing online videos in the meantime.
Art Association
The Central California Art Association received a $91,000 grant for general operations and $18,000 in the Artists in Schools category. The latter involves 12 weeks of instruction for some of the students at Fremont and Hickman elementary schools.
The league promotes painting and other visual arts in Stanislaus County and is based at the Mistlin Gallery in downtown Modesto. It recently was designated the official arts agency for the county and is moving into music and other non-visual arts as part of that, said an email from Education Coordinator Linda Knoll and board President David Schroeder.
Updates on its status during the pandemic shutdown are at www.ccaagallery.org.
More on Opera Modesto
Opera Modesto also is getting an $18,000 grant for its Story into Song Literacy Initiative, Stevens said. This effort started with January performances of an opera based on “Mansfield Park,” part of a Modesto celebration of 1800s author Jane Austen.
The grant will help with the production of an opera called “The Race,” based on “The Tortoise and the Hare” and four other Aesop fables. It will be videotaped in late fall and made available to literacy advocates.
“The Race” was composed by Deborah Kavasch, coordinator of music theory and composition at California State University, Stanislaus. The lyrics are by Linda Bunney-Sarhad, retired director of the Office of Global Affairs on the Turlock campus.
The Story into Song Literacy Initiative was supposed to feature live performances in January 2021 of operas based on the novels “Don Quixote” and “Bless Me Ultima.” They will be postponed a year because of the coronavirus.
Names of Note recognizes people and organizations for their contribution to their communities. Submit items to jholland@modbee.com.
This story was originally published May 9, 2020 at 3:53 PM.
