MIDDLETOWN, Calif. — The Middletown Art Center has received a major grant award for a new project focused on the Latinx community.

The $188,744 grant from the California Natural Resources Agency and California Cultural and Historical Endowment will fund the center’s “Raíces Hermosas — Gorgeous Roots” project.

The Middletown Art Center, or MAC, designed “Raíces Hermosas” to uplift and connect the Latinx community, both seen and hidden, to the center to the community at large through art, culturally focused events and art making.

“We have to build trust with our Latinx community so that they feel welcome at all decision-making tables,” said Zabdy Neria, a MAC Board director, Konocti Unified School Board trustee and behavioral health practitioner who initiated the project. “Through the shared language of art, music and dance, we can instill the message that they (we) belong.”

At the center of the Raíces Hermosas project is a curated exhibit of contemporary expressions of Latinx culture, roots, and issues by local and regional Latinx artists.

Project activities include guided school field trips to the gallery and art studio during the exhibit for 3,600 Lake County students as well as pre/post visit curriculum, weekend artmaking workshops and cultural events at MAC, and community-engaged artmaking at festivals.

“We are excited to share this project with the people of Lake County! It raises awareness, has a robust education component, and brings us together. It also brings funding for jobs into our local economy during the year-long grant period,” said MAC’s Executive and Artistic Director Lisa Kaplan. “We are grateful for the opportunity to contribute to the local economy and community in a meaningful way and look forward to welcoming people from across Lake County and beyond to MAC.”

Right now, the MAC is seeking bilingual project coordination support. You can learn more about this job opportunity on MAC’s website.

“This funding will support projects across the state that lift up history and culture that has been underrepresented in the past and enable more people to learn these remarkable stories,” said California Natural Resources Secretary Wade Crowfoot.

Learn more about the scope and significance of this state funded grant visit the California Natural Resources Agency website.

This grant award, while a significant amount, is entirely dedicated to the Raíces Hermosas project, meaning, MAC must continue its regular fundraising activities and relies on community support for regular operations.

Visit https://middletownartcenter.org/index.html to support and be a part of their impactful work in Lake County.