ACTA's Programs


The Alliance for California Traditional Arts administers three core programs which provide grants and contracts to folk & traditional artists and organizations.

Traditional Arts Development Program

Master Haitian drummer Frisner Augustin holds a workshop in the Bay Area.The Traditional Arts Development Program supports consultancies, mentorships, and travel opportunities that foster a new level of growth for individual folk & traditional artists and organizations.

Contracts up to $1,500 focus on supporting new strategic opportunities for growth and development.

Apprenticeship Program

Master artists Leanne Mounvongkham (right) and her apprentice and daughter Kami Thepphavong.The Alliance for California Traditional Arts (ACTA) Apprenticeship Program encourages the continuation of the state’s traditional arts and cultures by contracting master artists to offer intensive, one-on-one training to qualified apprentices.

Each $3,000 contract will support a period of concentrated learning for apprentices who have shown a commitment to and a talent for a specific artistic tradition.

Living Cultures Grants Program

Students celebrate having passed through ‘uniki: an intense period of study of ancient Hawaiian hula which demands knowledge of chant, dance, implement making, plant knowledge, lei making, history, and lineage.  Na Lei Hulu I Ka Wekiu students under kumu (mater) Patrick Makuakane are given leis by their families and friends upon completion of the ‘uniki.  This ceremony was supported in part by a 2006 Living Cultures Grants Program grant.The Living Cultures Grants Program funds nonprofit organizations to support exemplary projects in traditional arts in California.  Grants up to $7,500 are awarded to projects that demonstrate significant impact on a particular cultural tradition. 

Traditional Arts Roundtable Series

Artists and folk & traditional arts stakeholders at an ACTA Traditional Arts RoundtableWith generous support from The William & Flora Hewlett Foundation and the San Francisco Arts Commission, ACTA presents its free 2010 Traditional Arts Roundtable Series at various Bay Area venues with sessions for traditional artists, organ