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Arts & Entertainment

New Foundation Promotes Local Artists in Tough Times

The Manhattan Beach nonprofit showcases the work of filmmakers, musicians and others and supports arts education for neighborhood schoolchildren.

In times of financial hardship, the arts struggle to remain afloat. Arts education in schools is often the first to get slashed from budgets, and theaters have a harder time filling seats. Manhattan Beach's newest nonprofit arts organization, the Foundation of Local Arts (FOLA), is working to counter the effects of a difficult economic climate on local artists, including filmmakers, visual artists, dancers, actors, writers and musicians, as well ensuring schoolchildren receive an arts education.

Backed by Manhattan Beach Councilwoman Portia Cohen, FOLA achieved its nonprofit status in August 2009. Angela Silverman, FOLA's executive director, says the foundation was three years in the making. "I got involved because I was doing all kinds of volunteer work in the community, and I really enjoy the arts. I also knew Portia Cohen," Silverman said. "I started off volunteering for the city of Manhattan Beach. We worked it out to have some outdoor art exhibitions within the city. But the city couldn't really move it to the next level, which is getting art in more public places and supporting local artists."

Rick Norris, chief financial officer of FOLA and a 22-year Manhattan Beach resident, says the foundation's objectives are two-fold—host events in public and private spaces that showcase the talents of local artists, and raise funds for organizations that support artists and arts education in schools.

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"FOLA's mission is to take artists and make stars out of them," Norris said. "We try to use our organization to open doors for them. We're trying to make Manhattan Beach the West Coast Greenwich Village."

In November, FOLA raised money for Young at Art, an all-volunteer arts education program that brings fine arts into the classrooms of children in kindergarten through eighth grade. Young at Art serves 12 public and private schools in Manhattan Beach, Hermosa Beach and Redondo Beach. The program features 300 docents who teach art to 6,000 students.

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"My own kids benefit from this," Norris said. "This organization was going to be cut due to budget cuts."

FOLA has also raised funds for its first scholarship, to be awarded June 21 to a Mira Costa High School visual arts student. "In the future, we want to expand the scholarship program to more students and additional fields of the arts…," Silverman said. "We're a very young nonprofit. We're still in the building stages."

FOLA holds events in local restaurants, galleries and boutiques to raise money and display the talent of Manhattan Beach's artists. Silverman says FOLA "looks for artists who are already masters at their art or who are developing their art and have great potential. We want to find ways to exhibit their work in venues. We are creating interest in art that the Manhattan Beach public might not otherwise see."

For artists just starting out in their careers, gigantic performance spaces such as the Redondo Beach Performing Arts Center are too large. FOLA's mixers, held in smaller settings, allow the artists to interact with the public and promote their art on a more intimate level. The next fundraiser, May 16 at Memphis Café, will feature a screening of I Am Comic, a Sundance Film Festival documentary about  comedians.

Norris' favorite moment with FOLA took place at the November fundraiser for Young at Art. The talented Manhattan Beach Jazz Quartet, composed of high school musicians, played at the event, inspiring one attendee to spontaneously offer the group a $1,000 scholarship. "A person from the crowd was so impressed that she decided on the spot to give them this scholarship," Norris recalled.

Silverman understands how the arts can have that kind of effect on people. "Art creates a legacy, and art creates an experience," she said. "Art enriches us. It's not always about the financial gain—it's also about enrichment of the spirit."

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