25J - AGMT - ARTS GRANT PROGRAM - Laserfiche WebLink

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Name of Applicant: Amount Requested: Category: Score: Downtown Inc. $10,000 Organization 87.0 -2nd Place Brief Description of Project: Since 1999, the "First Saturday" Artwalk in Downtown Santa Ana has been an epicenter of creativity, expression and inspiration for artists, art enthusiasts and those who simply want to engage in a vibrant, living city filled with culture. The event is the single best night of the month for Santa Ana artists, galleries and restaurants alike because of the 4,000+ monthly attendees visiting around 20 galleries /museums, arts and artisan street vendors, live art performances and special events going on downtown. Currently, Downtown Inc. holds the special event permit and covers insurance for the event, books the art vendors, live art and music on the Artists Village Promenade, hires a videographer and photographer to document it, shares the event on social media and prints a downtown -wide event map each month. We have also helped coordinate with local artists and institutions like Santa Ana Unified School District and Santa Ana College who want to plug into Artwalk, or a specific business /gallery on Artwalk. However, it's important to note that the main engine behind Artwalk is the "unwritten" pact of dozens of special events and arts openings happening on the first Saturday of the month. That being said Downtown Inc. is Artwalk's primary facilitator and we view First Saturday Artwalk as a critical arts and culture engine for downtown that we support with approximately $15- 20,000 or 15 -20% of our annual budget, plus additional resources we've leveraged including the City of Santa Ana arts grant we received last year. Community Benefit: Artwalk is Santa Ana's monthly celebration of our shared, organic arts and culture scene. It's a chance for the arts community, arts institutions and creatives to encounter local families, visiting artists, art buyers and spectators. We believe Artwalk contributes to downtown being recognized as one of the top places for artists and creatives to work and visit in Orange County. Despite the presence of great artwalks in Laguna Beach, Huntington Beach and Fullerton -- Downtown Santa Ana's First Saturday Artwalk consistently wins "Best Artwalk" by OC Weekly editors and readers' choice. Lastly, our ability to hire and showcase local artists at Artwalk leads to real tangible opportunities for artists to further their craft and stay in Santa Ana to thrive. We would not be able to have made all this happen without the support of the City of Santa Ana's Investing in the Artist Grant. 25J -11