MONTEREY COUNTY — Arts Council for Monterey County (Arts4MC) has announced the awardees of its Fall 2025 Community Arts Grants, allocating $130,000 to 25 local organizations to bolster access to arts and culture across all five supervisorial districts.
The grants, providing up to $7,500 each, are designated to fuel public arts projects, cultural events and community-driven programs that foster creative expression and local connectivity. This investment is made possible through dedicated funding from the Monterey County Board of Supervisors, alongside significant contributions from the David and Lucile Packard Foundation and the Todd Lueders Fund of the Community Foundation for Monterey County.
This cycle’s grantees convened at the Marina Public Library on Dec. 15 to officially receive their funds and share details about the projects and community events the grants will be supporting.
“The diversity of these organizations speaks directly to the richness and passion present throughout Monterey County,” stated Jacquie Atchison, executive director of Arts4MC. “By funding these art programs, we are fundamentally ensuring that vibrant, impactful arts programming is not just supported, but actively accessible and flourishing in every corner of our community.”
Following are the Fall 2025 Community Arts Grant recipients and their respective supervisorial districts: Alisal Center for the Fine Arts (D1), ARIEL Theatrical (D1), Natividad Medical Foundation (D1), Hidden Hills Ranch (D2), Prunedale Senior Center (D2), Salinas Area Reading For Fun (D2), First Night Monterey (D3), Monterey County Agricultural and Rural Life Museum (D3), Monterey County Dance Foundation (D3), Salinas Valley Arts and Innovation Hub (D3), YOSAL (D3), Enchantrix (D4), Marina Youth Arts (D4), New Canon Theatre Co (D4), Big Sur Fiddle Camp (D5), Grange742 Big Sur (D5), I Cantori di Carmel (D5), Monterey County Pops! (D5), Monterey History and Art Association (D5), Monterey Jazz Festival (D5), Monterey Symphony (D5), Museum Foundation of Pacific Grove, Inc. (D5), SpectorDance (D5), Stagekids (D5) and Youth Arts Collective (D5).
The grants will support a wide range of creative projects across Monterey County, including visual arts training, museum exhibitions, community classes for all ages, music and dance instruction, and local theater performances.
“Crucially, the distribution of these funds is guided by a commitment to equity. The program prioritizes financial assistance for organizations serving historically marginalized and under-resourced communities,” according to Arts4MC.
All applications were evaluated by an independent panel of 15 community jurors, bringing a breadth of artistic and cultural expertise to the process: Jose Moran, Denise Estrada, Teri Storelli, Sandie Borthwick, Terrence Gargiulo, Athena Ereno, Mary Linzer, David Orta, Michelle Findlay, Patricia Schulte Werts, Thom Taft, Andres Ortiz, Chris Hasegawa, Susan Breen and Laurie Iwami.
For more details about the Community Arts Grants and the upcoming funding cycle in the spring, visit arts4mc.org/communityartsgrants.
