Kid City Awarded California Arts Council Arts & Youth Grant
Author: Leidy Vasquez at leidyvasquez@kidcityhopeplace.org
Date:Thursday, November 20th 3:00 P.M 2025
State funds support free music education to low-income, first-generation teens and young adults living in South and Central Los Angeles.
Los Angeles – The California Arts Council has announced a grant award of $18,500 to Kid City Hope Place as part of its Arts & Youth program during its 2025-26 fiscal year grant cycle.
With support from the California Arts Council,Kid City provides music instruction, performance group guidance, performances, workshops, and field trips with a modern band approach – which is highly engaging to young people who are fans of Spanish rock, punk, pop, and jazz.
Kid City was featured as part of a larger announcement from the California Arts Council of a total of 679 awards for nonprofit organizations and units of government throughout California will be disbursed across seven different programs, including a second year of funding for the State-Local Partners program awarded in the previous fiscal year. These grants comprise an investment of more than $19.5 million in support for the state’s arts and cultural landscape and creative workforce.
“Arts and culture are a powerful tool for community connection, well-being and a critical pilar of our state’s creative economy,” said California Arts Council Executive Director Danielle Brazell. “This year’s investment of $19.5 million in grant funding is provided in every corner of the state. Funding to nonprofit arts and cultural organizations ensures the public has access to high-quality artistic and cultural programming reflective of the people of California. This funding is a vital investment in the state’s creative workforce, furthering that the power of art and creative expression can continue telling the stories of our communities. Congratulations to all grantees!”
“On behalf of the Council, I would like to thank Governor Newsom and the Legislature for this critical funding, ensuring the arts remain an important force in sustaining our democracy,” Council Chair Roxanne Messina Captor said. “The Council is often faced with the difficult task of balancing the overwhelming need for arts funding with the total amount allocated to fund, but we are incredibly proud of our collective work to assert and support priorities that expand our resources as far as we can. As we look ahead to the CAC’s 50th anniversary in 2026, this robust investment sets the foundation for another five decades of cultural growth, civic engagement, and artistic excellence across California.”
State funds support free music education to low-income, first-generation teens and young adults living in South and Central Los Angeles.
Los Angeles – The California Arts Council has announced a grant award of $18,500 to Kid City Hope Place as part of its Arts & Youth program during its 2025-26 fiscal year grant cycle.
With support from the California Arts Council,Kid City provides music instruction, performance group guidance, performances, workshops, and field trips with a modern band approach – which is highly engaging to young people who are fans of Spanish rock, punk, pop, and jazz.
Kid City was featured as part of a larger announcement from the California Arts Council of a total of 679 awards for nonprofit organizations and units of government throughout California will be disbursed across seven different programs, including a second year of funding for the State-Local Partners program awarded in the previous fiscal year. These grants comprise an investment of more than $19.5 million in support for the state’s arts and cultural landscape and creative workforce.
“Arts and culture are a powerful tool for community connection, well-being and a critical pilar of our state’s creative economy,” said California Arts Council Executive Director Danielle Brazell. “This year’s investment of $19.5 million in grant funding is provided in every corner of the state. Funding to nonprofit arts and cultural organizations ensures the public has access to high-quality artistic and cultural programming reflective of the people of California. This funding is a vital investment in the state’s creative workforce, furthering that the power of art and creative expression can continue telling the stories of our communities. Congratulations to all grantees!”
“On behalf of the Council, I would like to thank Governor Newsom and the Legislature for this critical funding, ensuring the arts remain an important force in sustaining our democracy,” Council Chair Roxanne Messina Captor said. “The Council is often faced with the difficult task of balancing the overwhelming need for arts funding with the total amount allocated to fund, but we are incredibly proud of our collective work to assert and support priorities that expand our resources as far as we can. As we look ahead to the CAC’s 50th anniversary in 2026, this robust investment sets the foundation for another five decades of cultural growth, civic engagement, and artistic excellence across California.”
Grant awards and outreach for the season emphasized the Council’s three previously identified priorities for 2025-26 local assistance funding: organizations serving historically and systemically underserved communities located in the lower two quartiles of the Healthy Places Index (HPI); first-time CAC grantees; and small organizations with total revenues of $250,000 or less.
“We are thrilled and deeply grateful to the California Arts Council for its commitment to young people and for entrusting Kid City with this essential funding. This investment empowers our music arts program to continue nurturing youth talent, promote healthy self-expression, and foster community engagement, especially during difficult and uncertain times,”
Dr. Ghecemy Lopez, Executive Director of Kid City Hope Place.
Read the full announcement by the California Arts Council for more details and complete listings of all 2025-26 CAC grantees.
Kid City’s mission is to activate the innate potential of young people in South and Central Los Angeles through holistic youth development programs that cultivate self-empowered leaders and build a community committed to equitable college and career success.
CAC Media Inquiries Only:
Kimberly Brown
California Arts Council
Public Affairs Specialist
kimberly.brown@arts.ca.gov
The California Arts Council is a state agency with a mission of strengthening arts, culture, and creative expression as the tools to cultivate a better California for all. It supports local arts infrastructure and programming statewide through grants, initiatives, and services. The California Arts Council envisions a California where all people flourish with universal access to and participation in the arts.
Members of the California Arts Council include: Roxanne Messina Captor, Chair; Leah Goodwin, Vice Chair; Gerald Clarke; Caleb Duarte; Vicki Estrada; Roy Hirabayashi; Alex Israel; Dorka Keehn; Phil Mercado; Nicola Miner; Rick Stein. Learn more at www.arts.ca.gov.