2018 ACTA apprentice in Philippine Pangalay dance, Jasmine Orpilla, presents at a Traditional Arts Roundtable Series (TARS) event in 2019. Photo: Timo Saarelma/ACTA.

Supporting California's thriving cultural communities

Celebrating ACTA's 2023 Living Cultures Grantees

As the Administering Organization for the California Arts Council’s Folk and Traditional Arts Grant Program, ACTA is awarding 98 grants totaling $850,000—its largest investment ever.

Meet the Grantees

Welcoming ACTA's 2023 Apprenticeship Recipients

The 2023 Apprenticeship Program cohort of 48 artists (24 pairs) represents California’s breadth of cultural diversity and intergenerational learning.

Meet the Artists

New Report on Traditional Arts funding in the United States

Read or download ACTA's new report, "Tending the Taproot: Opportunities to Support Folk & Traditional Arts in the United States"

Tending the Taproot

The Oakland Asian Cultural Center, a 2008 Living Cultures Grant Program awardee, hosts a National Dishes series of culinary workshops. Photo: Lily Kharrazi/ACTA.

Our Mission

The Alliance for California Traditional Arts (ACTA) promotes and supports ways for cultural traditions to thrive now and into the future. Since our founding in 1997, we have distributed more than $7 million in grants to more than 1,660 artists and organizations throughout the state.

Learn more about ACTA

Artist Marty Natividad leads a Danza Azteca class at the Substance Abuse Treatment Facility and California State Prison in Corcoran as part of ACTA's Arts in Corrections Program. Photo: Peter Merts, courtesy of the California Arts Council.

Supporting California’s living cultural heritage for more than 20 years

With more than a dozen staff members, ACTA is a statewide and national leader dedicated to supporting cultural practitioners and their communities. We travel up and down California from our offices in Fresno, Los Angeles, and San Francisco, reaching every corner of the state. We aim to serve as a bridge between cultural communities through our programs, providing opportunities for exchange, collaboration, and connection to new resources.

Explore our programs

Master artist Flavio “Paps” Alvarez and his grandnephew and apprentice Carlos Gonzales—both from Los Angeles—participated in ACTA's 2009 Apprenticeship Program focusing on their work in Garifuna Wanaragua song and dance. Photo: Sherwood Chen/ACTA.

Our vision is for a culturally and racially equitable California

In our increasingly fractured society, we believe ACTA plays a critical role in shaping a positive future for California where the unique value of every culture is respected, sustained, and appreciated. Through our programs, services, and funding opportunities for the traditional arts, we are weaving a more integrated, just, and empathetic social fabric across California.

Join the vision