$195,270 in Annual Arts Grant Awards Go Before Pasadena Arts Commission

Money for a youth orchestra’s spring concerts, student field trips into a contemporary art exhibition, and a textile “river” focused on post-fire healing is on the table this week, as the Pasadena Arts & Culture Commission takes up $195,270 in recommended grant awards for the city’s Fiscal Year 2026-2027 Annual Grants Program.

The commission is scheduled to consider the awards when it meets Wednesday, July 8, an action that could direct public funding to 29 local arts organizations, individual artists and arts-education projects. The awards, which the commission is being asked to approve, would support work ranging from student theater to public art tied to post-fire community healing, reflecting the role municipal grants play in the city’s creative life and the value the city places on reaching audiences across Pasadena.

The recommended total would draw $138,684 from the Cultural Trust Fund and $56,586 from the General Fund. The City Council’s adopted Fiscal Year 2026-2027 budget already includes $195,184 for the program — $138,684 from the Cultural Trust Fund and $56,500 in General Fund dollars — and staff is requesting an additional $86 from the General Fund to round out the award amounts.

Staff has proposed a tiered structure based on panel scores. Ten proposals scoring in the 90th to 99th percentile would receive $84,530, or 89% of their requested amounts; 13 proposals in the 80th to 89th percentile would receive $89,300, or 76% of requests; and six proposals in the 70th to 79th percentile would share $21,440 — five funded at 45% of their requests and one applicant at a set amount. The proposed total would exceed last year’s $191,490, and the two higher scoring tiers would receive a larger share of their requests than in Fiscal Year 2025-2026.

The city received 31 applications by the May 11 deadline, of which 29 were deemed eligible for review by panels of local arts and culture professionals. All 29 eligible proposals scored 70 or above — the threshold for funding — and are recommended for awards. On June 24, the recommended structure was presented to the commission’s Grants Subcommittee, which concurred with staff.

Proposed grantees include Pasadena Playhouse, in line for $8,900 toward a production of “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof,” and A Noise Within, recommended for $7,600 for August Wilson’s “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom.” Other awards would support the Armory Center for the Arts’ teaching-artist field trips for Pasadena Unified School District fifth graders, the Pasadena Youth Symphony Orchestra’s spring 2027 concerts, and artist Kate Lain’s “Watershed,” a large-scale textile installation planned for Arlington Garden that focuses on post-fire healing.

The Annual Grants Program supports individual artists, classroom arts education and cultural programming from institutions that reach audiences throughout Pasadena. Ahead of the current cycle, the city posted applications and guidelines online on Feb. 9 and held three virtual grant-writing workshops in March and April, along with a workshop on cultural equity and inclusion in May for Pasadena-based arts and culture organizations.

The Arts & Culture Commission is scheduled to meet at 5:30 p.m. on Wednesday, July 8, in the Grand Conference Room of the City Hall basement, 100 N. Garfield Ave., in Pasadena. For more information call (626) 744-7062 or visit https://www.cityofpasadena.net/commissions/agendas/.