HomeMy WebLinkAbout09 - Cultural Arts Grants Fiscal Year 2025-26Q �EwPpRT
CITY OF
s NEWPORT BEACH
`q44:09 City Council Staff Report
February 24, 2026
Agenda Item No. 9
TO: HONORABLE MAYOR AND MEMBERS OF THE CITY COUNCIL
FROM: Melissa Hartson, Library Services Director - 949-717-3801,
mhartson@newportbeachca.gov
PREPARED BY: Rebecca Lightfoot, Library Services Manager - 949-717-3819,
rightfoot@newportbeachca.gov
TITLE: Cultural Arts Grants Fiscal Year 2025-26
ABSTRACT -
The sum of $30,000 has been provided in Fiscal Year 2025-26 to fund specific cultural or
artistic programs as approved by the City Council. The City Arts Commission has the
responsibility to review all programs and requests for support from arts groups and make
recommendations for funding to the City Council. The Arts Commission reviewed grant
funding proposals from eight local arts organizations and recommends funding for all
eight organizations, totaling $30,000.
RECOMMENDATIONS:
a) Determine this action is exempt from the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA)
pursuant to Sections 15060(c)(2) and 15060(c)(3) of the CEQA Guidelines because
this action will not result in a physical change to the environment, directly or indirectly;
and
b) Approve recommended recipients for Fiscal Year 2025-26 Cultural Arts Grants as
selected by the City Arts Commission in accordance with City Council Policy 1-10,
Culture and Arts Grants.
DISCUSSION:
City Council Policy 1-10, Culture and Arts Grants (Attachment A) recognizes the
importance of promoting culture and arts within Newport Beach. In Fiscal Year 2025-26,
$30,000 is budgeted for specific cultural or artistic programs as approved by the City
Council.
The City Arts Commission (Commission) is responsible for reviewing all programs and
requests for support from arts groups and then making recommendations for funding to
the City Council for its review and approval. City Council Policy 1-10 defines arts groups
as those involved in visual, musical, theater, dance, crafts, performing and literary
activities. The Commission considers the following in order of preference for granting
support:
Cultural Arts Grants Fiscal Year 2025-26
February 24, 2026
Page 2
1. Local arts groups located within the City of Newport Beach and offering programs
to city residents; and
2. Regional arts groups located in Orange County and offering programs to city
residents; and
3. Arts groups located in California and performing or offering programs to city
residents.
Groups not offering programs or services to local residents are not eligible for support
from the City.
The Commission received written grant proposals from eight organizations, which
combined totaled $34,700 for free cultural arts programming for the Newport Beach
community in Fiscal Year 2025-26. Grant applications included:
ORGANIZATION
Backhausdance
REQUEST
$4,000
Baroque Music Festival, Corona del Mar
$4,500
Choral Arts Initiative
$3,500
Emerald Magic Events Inc.
$5,000
Pacific Chorale
$5,000
Pacific Symphony
$5,000
South Coast Repertory
$5,000
Wildlife Jewels
TOTAL-
$2,700
00
The Commission considered the eight applications using the guidance as defined in City
Council Policy 1-10. Furthermore, each arts organization was evaluated considering the
following additional criteria:
Baseline Criteria:
• application and report complete and on time
• arts organization (not individual artists)
• nonprofit organization
• Newport Beach geographic focus
Selective Criteria:
I. Service to the Public
• promotion and outreach
• audience development and participation
• safety and accessibility
• program diversity
• community service
11. Artistic/Programmatic Excellence
• ideas and creativity
• production
Cultural Arts Grants Fiscal Year 2025-26
February 24, 2026
Page 3
III. Managerial/Fiscal Competence
• mission and goals
• organizational management
• financial management
After careful deliberation, the Commission approved grant funding for eight arts
organizations, totaling $30,000, at its regular meeting on February 12, 2026.
The recommended grantees and funding include:
ORGANIZATION
Backhausdance
RECOMMENDED•
$4,000
Baroque Music Festival, Corona del Mar
$4,500
Choral Arts Initiative
$3,000
Emerald Magic Events Inc.
$4,000
Pacific Chorale
$5,000
Pacific Symphony
$5,000
South Coast Repertory
$3,000
Wildlife Jewels
TOTALii0
$1,500
Backhausdance will present Dance Expressions: Creativity and Choreography, a school -
community based contemporary dance residency in partnership with Newport -Mesa
Unified School District (NMUSD) secondary schools (Corona del Mar Middle/High School,
Back Bay High School and Newport Harbor High School) from September -December
2026, and culminating in a Fall 2026 Student Showcase. This program offers students an
immersion into working with a professional dance company.
The Baroque Music Festival, Corona del Mar, will present music by Handel. Grant funds
will support fees and travel for two soloists and eight Los Angeles -based singers. They
will also subsidize student rush tickets, open dress rehearsals, and a Baroque 101
symposium for local music educators, students, festival subscribers and donors. Newport
Beach NMUSD students will be able to attend the dress rehearsal and opening concert
in June, and will learn about the detailed dress rehearsal process, ask questions and
explore instruments.
Choral Arts Initiative proposes Memory and Renewal, a public contemporary choral
performance in May 2026 featuring works exclusively by living composers and offers
Newport Beach residents an engaging artistic experience centered on themes of memory,
community and renewal.
Emerald Magic Events will present Classical in the Park, featuring two classical music
concerts at the Bonita Creek Community Center and the Newport Beach Junior Lifeguard
Building in August and September 2026, respectively. The concerts will showcase
performers from the Orange County Youth Symphony, showcasing their talent alongside
professional musicians.
Cultural Arts Grants Fiscal Year 2025-26
February 24, 2026
Page 4
Pacific Chorale's chamber choir will present a performance of Eric Whitacre's The Sacred
Veil at Our Lady Queen of Angels Church in March 2026. This deeply moving work —
created in collaboration with poet Charles Anthony Silvestri — traces a journey of love,
loss and healing. The program will also feature Whitacre's transcendent Three Songs of
Faith. The Chorale will also present December's Carols by Candlelight, a favorite of locals
and visitors alike.
Pacific Symphony will use grant funds for the Class Act Music Education Program at
Newport Coast Elementary School. This program places union musicians into local
schools where students receive the value of music learning from teaching artists.
South Coast Repertory will utilize grant funding for the Theatre for Young Audiences free
school -day matinee performances of Cinderella: A Salsa Fairy Tale, a bilingual family -
friendly musical, including 14 free school -day matinees for local students from schools
within Newport Beach.
Wildlife Jewels will use the grant to fund a new visual arts program consisting of three
free public -collaborative painting events where Newport Beach residents will collectively
create three -large-scale artworks on textile canvas, culminating in a public community
showcase event. The project promotes community involvement and awareness of the
visual arts while celebrating Newport Beach's coastal wildlife and sense of place.
FISCAL IMPACT:
The adopted budget includes sufficient funding for this purchase. It will be expensed to
the City Grants account in the Cultural and Arts Division, 01060603-821006.
ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW:
Staff recommends the City Council find this action is not subject to the California
Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) pursuant to Sections 15060(c)(2) (the activity will not
result in a direct or reasonably foreseeable indirect physical change in the environment)
and 15060(c)(3) (the activity is not a project as defined in Section 15378) of the CEQA
Guidelines, California Code of Regulations, Title 14, Chapter 3, because it has no
potential for resulting in physical change to the environment, directly or indirectly.
NOTICING:
The agenda item has been noticed according to the Brown Act (72 hours in advance of
the meeting at which the City Council considers the item).
ATTACHMENT:
Attachment A — City Council Policy 1-10, Culture and Arts Grants
ATTACHMENT A
I-10
CULTURE AND ARTS GRANTS
The City Council hereby recognizes the importance of promoting culture and the arts within Newport
Beach. Pursuant to City Council Policy A-12, the City budget specifically allows the City Council to direct
revenue towards worthy projects and programs which the City Council deems beneficial to the quality of
life for Newport Beach's residents. A number of individuals and groups have been organized with the
express purpose of developing and promoting culture, theatre and the arts.
In regard to the City's role in financially sponsoring art and cultural events, up to $55,000 shall be expended
from the General Fund for culture and arts grants each fiscal year. The City Arts Commission shall review
all programs and requests for support from arts groups. The Commission shall forward its recommendations
for funding to the City Council for final approval. For the purpose of this policy, arts groups shall be defined
as those involved in visual, musical, theatre, dance, crafts, performing and literary activities.
The following priorities shall be considered by the Commission. The order of preference for granting
support shall be as follows:
A. Local arts groups located within the City and offering programs to City residents;
B. Regional arts groups located in Orange County and offering programs to City residents; and
C. Arts groups located in California and performing or offering programs to City residents.
Groups not offering programs or services to local residents shall not be eligible for support from the City.
History
Adopted F-20
— 5-11-1981 ("Reserve Fund for Culture and Arts")
Amended F-22
— 6-22-1981
Adopted I-20 —
1-24-1983 ("Co -Sponsorship for Cultural Events and Arts Groups")
Amended F-20
— 11-14-1983
Amended F-20
— 1-23-1984
Amended F-20
— 3-28-1988
Amended F-20
— 10-28-1991
Created I-12 —
1-24-1994 (incorporating 1-20 and F-20, and renaming "Financial Support for Culture
and Arts")
Amended I-12
— 5-8-2001
Amended I-12
- 4-8-2003 (changed to I-10)
Amended I-10
— 8-8-2017
Amended I-10
— 11-12-2024