The James Irvine Foundation made 24 grants totaling $1 million through the final round of the Creative Connections Fund in Fall 2011. Grants of up to $50,000 were awarded to organizations across the state working in a broad range of artistic disciplines, including dance, music, theater, literary, visual and multidisciplinary arts.

Supported projects focus on the creation of new artistic works, the reinterpretation of classical works and audience-development strategies. Following is a list of the 24 grantees and a brief description of their projects.

To apply to our new open, competitive grantmaking fund, learn more about the Exploring Engagement Fund.

Artistic Creativity

Arts Council For Monterey County
$50,000
To create "One Voice/One Planet," an original musical in English and Spanish with five artists in collaboration with 150 affordable housing residents in Monterey.

Long Beach Opera
$50,000
To produce the West Coast premiere of Osvaldo Golijov's opera "Ainadamar" in an outdoor redevelopment area of downtown Long Beach.

Machine Project
$50,000
To develop two large-scale collaborative installations in a Los Angeles storefront with multi-disciplinary teams of artists and then adapting them for non-traditional public sites.

Mural Music and Arts Project
$40,000
For the development of a collaborative project that commissions four hip hop artists to produce original artwork in East Palo Alto.

Odyssey Theatre Foundation
$50,000
To commission 6-10 short plays from established playwrights and to produce "Theatre in the Dark," a two-evening theater festival in Los Angeles.

The Rancho Cucamonga Community Foundation
$40,000
To commission and produce a contemporary reinterpretation of "Aesop's Fables" for children and families through the Main Street Theatre Company in the Inland Empire.

Shotgun Players
$50,000
To support the creation of "The Berkeley Stories Project," a community-based play bringing together stories from six different neighborhoods in Berkeley.

Southern California Library For Social Studies & Research
$20,000
To develop, produce, and present a series of storytelling performance pieces in South Los Angeles based on community history archives.

Cultural Participation

About Productions
$30,000
To broaden young adult Latino audiences in the Central Valley by touring the play "Evangeline, the Queen of Make-Believe" and related workshops.

Arte Americas The Mexican Arts Center
$50,000
To broaden, deepen, and diversify its audiences through the Regeneracion Project, which offers programming for younger Latino residents in the San Joaquin Valley.

Arts Orange County
$50,000
For a partnership with El Centro Cultural de Mexico to present a free one-day festival diversifying its audiences by reaching Latino residents in Santa Ana.

College of the Canyons Foundation
$50,000
To deepen and diversify the participation of underserved residents in Santa Clarita by offering three new Latin American art and culture programs.

Fresno Art Museum
$50,000
To broaden and diversify the participation of visitors through "Soul Calling," an exhibit highlighting stories of the Hmong community in the San Joaquin Valley.

Friends of McGroarty Cultural Arts Center
$50,000
To broaden the participation of low to moderate income adults and seniors in Sunland-Tujunga by offering arts classes and expanding the immobile senior program to two new sites.

Media Arts Center San Diego
$50,000
To broaden the participation of urban youth in San Diego by supporting MobileStories, a program that enables teens to become storytellers through the media arts.

Mo'olelo Performing Arts Company
$36,000
To deepen its relationship with African American audiences in San Diego by developing partnerships with community groups and increasing the number of plays by African American writers.

Music in the Mountains
$42,000
To diversify audience participation from four rural counties in Sierra by offering two free Family Music Faires that includes two live classical music concerts, two picnic lunches and free transportation.

Plaza de la Raza
$50,000
To broaden participation among Latino residents of East and Northeast Los Angeles by offering musical performances that will attract Spanish speaking audiences.

Plumas County Arts Commission
$42,000
To diversify participation among families and low income residents in Plumas County by partnering with organizations that will offer a range of performing arts presentations.

Red Hen Press
$23,500
To attract new audiences from geographic areas not normally served by Red Hen Press with author tours and writing workshops throughout California during 2012.

Santa Monica Symphony Association
$30,000
To diversify its audiences in Santa Monica by targeting young adult Latinos and their families with flamenco and folklorico dance presentations as well as tango dance instruction.

Sew Productions
$50,000
To diversify participation in the Bay Area by targeting outreach activities toward young adults and Asian and Hispanic communities by promoting African American stories as a universal experience.

Tulare County Symphony Association
$30,000
To diversify its audiences by attracting young adults between 21 and 30 years old using social media to identify amateur performers to play with the Tulare County Symphony.

Watts Village Theater
$16,500
To diversify its audiences by collaborating with arts organizations, cultural museums and historical societies for its "Meet Me @ Metro" artistic expedition through Los Angeles.