Support the active engagement of Californians from all socioeconomic and ethnic backgrounds with quality art from a variety of sources and cultures.

Arts have the unique capacity to enrich the lives of Californians and their communities. Through this priority, we support the active engagement of Californians from all socioeconomic and ethnic backgrounds with excellent artistic expression from a variety of sources and cultures. We aim to broaden, deepen and diversify participation in arts and culture in California through a variety of cultural participation strategies. Irvine is interested in supporting mainstream institutions, as well as ethnic-based, experimental and community-based organizations to reach beyond their current constituencies and serve more people in a deeper way.

Types of activities supported

We consider focused and strategic project grants for activities within this priority area. The Foundation supports activities that:

• Involve a broad cross-section of Californians in relevant cultural activities
• Deepen people’s engagement with the arts by exposing them to new art forms, new genres and new ways of participating in cultural activities
• Acknowledge and promote the diverse art forms and cultural expressions represented in the state
• Experiment with new systems of connecting people to artistic experiences and new collaborations that deliver arts activity in under-resourced geographic areas and to underserved populations
• Foster greater civic engagement, cross-cultural understanding and mutual respect

Competitive projects will:

• Clearly link cultural participation goals to the organization’s overall goals, as well as specific program strategies
• Demonstrate a knowledge of current and potential constituents and their needs and interests
• Clearly articulate audience targets
• Provide clear assessment of current programs and rationale for new activities
• Be undertaken by organizations with the capacity (artistic, financial and managerial) to successfully implement the project

While we accept unsolicited inquiries from grantseekers, we are able to fund very few of them. Please click here if you would like to learn more about submitting a letter of inquiry. Full proposals are accepted by invitation only.

Profile of an illustrative grant:

The following grantee profile is illustrative of the type of work the Arts program seeks to fund through its Cultural Participation priority:

• Community Youth Performing Arts Center