CAF Awarded One of 817 NEA Art Works Grants Totaling $26.3 Million In Funding Nationwide

National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) Acting Chairman Joan Shigekawa announced today that Santa Barbara Contemporary Arts Forum (CAF) is one of 817 nonprofit organizations nationwide to receive an NEA Art Works grant. CAF is recommended for a $15,000 grant to support Forum Lounge.

Forum Lounge is a series of free, multi-disciplinary, performance-based events that reflect CAF’s mission to sustain, encourage and promote the contemporary arts. Forum Lounge ensures that creative expression and appreciation of performance art flourishes in and beyond Santa Barbara. The series is an opportunity for local audiences to experience unique performance pieces ranging from the theatrical to the avant-garde that are typically found only in larger, more urban venues.

“With this crucial funding, CAF will continue to present a rigorous, diverse and challenging series that celebrates the thriving and often under represented medium of performance art,” says CAF Executive Director Miki Garcia. “We promise a varied selection of new and emerging American and international artists who work at the forefront of this genre.”

Acting Chairman Shigekawa said, “The National Endowment for the Arts is proud to support these exciting and diverse arts projects that will take place throughout the United States. Whether it is through a focus on education, engagement, or innovation, these projects all contribute to vibrant communities and memorable opportunities for the public to engage with the arts.”

“We’re thrilled to have the continued support of the NEA for Forum Lounge,” said Heather Jeno Silva, Forum Lounge curator. “Not only does NEA funding enable us to continue to bring experimental performance art to the Santa Barbara community for free, but it also reiterates the quality of the performances and their importance in contemporary arts practices.”

Artists for the 2013/2014 Forum Lounge Season include: Animal Cracker Conspiracy, The Bridge Club, Ellie Ga, and Julia Landosa Barbois.

In August 2012, the NEA received 1,547 eligible applications for Art Works grants requesting more than $80 million in funding. Art Works grants support the creation of art that meets the highest standards of excellence, public engagement with diverse and excellent art, lifelong learning in the arts, and the strengthening of communities through the arts. The 817 recommended NEA grants total $26.3 million and span 13 artistic disciplines and fields. Grant applications were reviewed by a panel of outside experts wo were convened by NEA staff. Each project was judged on its artistic excellence and merit.

For a complete listing of projects recommended for Art Works grant support, please visit the NEA website at arts.gov.

About Santa Barbara Contemporary Arts Forum: Santa Barbara Contemporary Arts Forum (CAF) is a non-profit, non-collecting alternative art space dedicated to the exhibition, education, and cultivation of the arts of our time. Celebrating its 37th anniversary in 2013, CAF is the premier venue for contemporary art between Los Angeles and San Francisco. CAF is located at the Paseo Nuevo Shopping Center Upper Arts Terrace in downtown Santa Barbara, CA. Visit our second location, CAF Satellite @ Hotel Indigo Santa Barbara at 121 State Street.

Santa Barbara Contemporary Arts Forum, 653 Paseo Nuevo, Santa Barbara, CA 93101

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