CARLSBAD–The Carlsbad Charitable Foundation (CCF), an affiliate of The San Diego Foundation, was awarded a total of $107,403 to five outstanding programs dedicated to enhancing arts and culture in the Carlsbad community.
The programs – Carlsbad Community Theatre Showcase Company ($18,613); Carlsbad Music Festival ($15,080); The Hacienda Project ($25,238); Harps in the City ($15,663); and Shakespeare Network ($32,809) — were presented at the Foundation’s 5th annual Grants Award Ceremony at the City of Carlsbad Faraday Building on June 25.
George Wooldridge, CCF Grants Committee Chair, stated, “We’re extremely honored to support projects that advance the arts and culture of our wonderful city. The CCF grants support activities and programs that unify and inspire Carlsbad residents of all ages to improve our community through the arts. CCF allows all of us to make an impact greater than we could alone.”
Now in its fifth year of grantmaking, the Carlsbad Charitable Foundation has attracted more than 145 members, granted more than $230,000 to Carlsbad nonprofits over four cycles of grantmaking, and raised more than $370,000 for a permanent endowment that will support Carlsbad causes into the future.
The grants celebration also marked the first distribution of grants in Carlsbad from the Matt McLaughlin Live Here, Give Here Matching Program. The late Matt McLaughlin of Rancho Bernardo left a generous legacy gift to The San Diego Foundation for use by the Affiliate Foundations in North County. Thanks to the creation of the matching program, all CCF membership generated grantmaking funds (half of each yearly donation) will be matched, dollar for dollar, for at least three years. The Live Here, Give Here match doubled this year’s grants, from $53,701 to $107,403.
“We’re deeply honored to recognize these five outstanding contributors to arts and culture in Carlsbad,” said Hollyce Phillips, CCF Board Chair, “And, thanks to the Matt McLaughlin Live Here, Give Here program, we were able to give out a record number of grants and dollars this year, funding all five of the proposals recommended by our hardworking grants committee.”
Incoming CCF Chair, Tom Applegate, added “The Live Here, Give Here program will allow us to have an incredible impact on Carlsbad over the next two years. Now is the perfect time to become a member.”
Support of the Carlsbad Charitable Foundation will enable New Village Arts (NVA) to combine the early success of the Shakespeare Network with the strengths that have become hallmarks of New Village Arts: the professional acting Ensemble, the long history of production success and the importance of community engagement. Support allows for professional Shakespeare to be available to all residents and the mentoring and growth of the Junior Ensemble. The expansion includes creating three “out of theatre” productions including one at the Pacific Ridge School in the summer of 2012, at the Dove Library in the early spring of 2013 and at the Flower Fields in the summer of 2013; producing 10 Junior Ensemble performances throughout the community; and enhancing the mentorship opportunities between the Junior Ensemble and the NVA Ensemble.
The CCF grant will enable the Carlsbad Community Theatre (CCT) Showcase Company, comprised of youth age six to eighteen, to operate outside of the normal production schedule of the theatre. The goal of the year-round program is to create, establish and develop a house company to provide continued performing arts education and performance opportunities for Carlsbad youth. The Theatre also hopes to enhance the footprint of the CCT with the ability to create new relationships with other community organizations through performances and educational workshops.
The Carlsbad Music Festival will create a dedicated “Community Stage” for this year’s Festival at a location within the Village. The Community Stage will be anchored by two curated festival concerts by Carlsbad and San Diego-based groups and musicians. The introduction of the Community Stage will strengthen the Festival’s community ties by providing a stage for local performers and a weekend of free, high-quality music performances to the citizens of Carlsbad. The addition of the Community Stage to the other offerings of the Festival will provide the critical mass of performances the Festival needs to become a destination event, with the ability to attract audiences from throughout Southern California.
The Hacienda Project will create four site-specific dances at the Magee Park by members of San Diego Dance Theater, including Artistic Director Jean Isaacs and in collaboration with the Dance Program at La Costa Canyon High School and its director, Marsi Wigand Rushing. Trained tour guides will lead up to 1,000 students and the general public to view these world-premier dances, which will be loosely strung together to create a narrative of the hacienda period in California’s history. The program will provide employment of 18 professional dancers in the community (including eight from the core company of San Diego Dance Theater) and four choreographers. In addition, the program will enable student dancers to be mentored by and perform alongside dance professionals and will provide access to viewing live dance of the highest quality within Carlsbad.
Harps in the City public programming will create accessibility to unique and high-quality arts in Carlsbad by engaging residents of all ages in culturally diverse opportunities both in and out of the Museum. Harps in the City will include a pilot music mentorship and education program for the Carlsbad Boys and Girls Club, collaboration with professional harpists, outreach to area senior centers, and the commissioning of a community art project involving local visual and performing artists. The diversity in the program will deepen the Carlsbad community’s cultural awareness, helping to create a well-rounded, educated population that can be proud to be a part of its culturally savvy, artistically rich and broad-minded community.
