Brentwood Westwood Symphony Orchestra to Receive Arts Grant

The Brentwood Westwood Symphony Orchestra is one of 194 arts organizations across the L.A. County awarded grants Monday for the continuation of cultural services.

The orchestra will be receiving $11,100 to support a free concert series.

“These grants ensure that a wide variety of cultural services will continue to reach county residents,” said L.A. County Arts Commission President Peter Lesnik in a released statement. “Many organizations are receiving funding to pay for salaries or job creation. This will positively impact the residents of Los Angeles County through increased job opportunities.”

Grant amounts range from $3,500 to $214,400. Grantee organizations are spread throughout L.A. County with offices located in over 40 of the county’s 88 municipalities. Over 80 knowledgeable panelists from the arts community, including artists, nonprofit arts administrators and members of the academic community, reviewed and scored the applications.

In response to the challenging economic climate that has impacted local arts organizations, for the last three grant cycles the Arts Commission approved a temporary guideline change that provided applicants with the flexibility to request support for their current critical needs, rather than require they request support for specific types of projects based on their budget size.

“We’re grateful for the important role our Board of Supervisors played in sustaining jobs at hundreds of organizations through the grant program for the past several challenging years,” said Laura Zucker, executive director of the Arts Commission. “We are coming out of the recession with our region’s arts ecology relatively intact and poised to move forward in innovative ways as exemplified by this year’s grantees.”

Additional facts and figures about the 2013-14 OGP grantees can be found below, along with an alphabetical list of current grantees. Detailed grant information is available at http://lacountyarts.org/1314grantees.html.