The California Arts Council has announced two grant awards totaling $30,050 to ArtReach for its 2025–26 fiscal year cycle. Funds support ArtReach’s mission to ignite youth creativity through visual arts expression and community connection.
CALIFORNIA ARTS COUNCIL | A STATE AGENCY
NOVEMBER 18, 2025
[San Diego, CA] – ArtReach is excited to announce that we have received two grants from the California Arts Council: $12,300 in General Operating Support and $17,750 for Arts and Youth — funding that will support our upcoming mural project at Palomar Elementary. Here’s what ArtReach Mural Artist Josué Baltézar had to say about the impact of this funding:
“We are so excited to work directly with students at Palomar Elementary to co-create a mural for the front of their school, which our grant from the CAC is directly funding. As an artist who grew up in Chula Vista, having access to art in school was crucial to my education. Art teaches us about culture, history, and about the creativity within ourselves. I hope students see themselves in my work and know that they are capable and deserving of a bright future.”
This news was part of a larger announcement from the California Arts Council of a total of 679 awards for nonprofit organizations and units of government throughout California that will be disbursed across seven different programs, including a second year of funding for the State-Local Partners program awarded in the previous fiscal year. These grants comprise an investment of more than $19.5 million in support for the state’s arts and cultural landscape and creative workforce.
“Arts and culture are a powerful tool for community connection, well-being, and a critical pillar of our state’s creative economy,” said California Arts Council Executive Director Danielle Brazell.“This year’s investment of $19.5 million in grant funding is provided in every corner of the state. Funding to nonprofit arts and cultural organizations ensures the public has access to high-quality artistic and cultural programming reflective of the people of California. This funding is a vital investment in the state’s creative workforce, furthering the power of art and creative expression can continue telling the stories of our communities. Congratulations to all grantees!”
“On behalf of the Council, I would like to thank Governor Newsom and the Legislature for this critical funding, ensuring the arts remain an important force in sustaining our democracy,” Council Chair Roxanne Messina Captor said.“The Council is often faced with the difficult task of balancing the overwhelming need for arts funding with the total amount allocated to fund, but we are incredibly proud of our collective work to assert and support priorities that expand our resources as far as we can. As we look ahead to the CAC’s 50th anniversary in 2026, this robust investment sets the foundation for another five decades of cultural growth, civic engagement, and artistic excellence across California.”
Grant awards and outreach for the season emphasized the Council’s three previously identified priorities for 2025-26 local assistance funding: organizations serving historically and systemically underserved communities located in the lower two quartiles of the Healthy Places Index (HPI); first-time CAC grantees; and small organizations with total revenues of $250,000 or less.
Read the full announcement by the California Arts Council for more details and complete listings of all 2025-26 CAC grantees.
You May Also Like:
