By Gina Young
Los Angeles Performance Practice is overjoyed to be one of the 238 grantees of the 2024-25 Organizational Grant Program (OGP) from the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors through the Department of Arts and Culture. I recently spilled the tea with artist and LAPP Development Specialist, Marsian De Lellis, and Interim General Manager, Terence McFarland. Marsian shared a memorable experience from a recent trip to Trader Joe’s:
“As I navigated the aisles, I was still spinning from work— thinking about new ways we could fill in the gaps of creative infrastructure for artists in L.A.,” Marsian mused. “Cyndi Lauper echoed over the sound system. I forgot how much I love Money Changes Everything— it brought a smile to my face as I made my way to the prepared foods section. By the time I got home, the tune was stuck in my head. When I opened an email from the County announcing that LAPP got its OGP grant, I was so excited that I knocked over my grocery bag. A spicy lentil wrap went careening. But it didn’t matter. We got funded!”
Terence interjected– “…and $30K is a significant increase from the previous cycle!” He added, “Continued support helps LAPP to sustain our staffing levels and strengthen our capacity to serve and resource LA County artists.’”
“Between regranting $760K to artists by administering the CAC artist fellowships, to securing a much coveted multi-year operational grant from the Mellon Foundation supporting our leadership transition, it’s been an incredible couple of years,” Marsian furthered. These funds will strengthen the four main pillars of LAPP’s year-round programming: Programs for Artists, Field Initiatives, Creative Producing Projects, and The Live Arts Exchange [LAX] Festival.
McFarland enthusiastically recapped, ”2024 is shaping up to be a transformative year. I know the board and I are excited about building on this momentum with our two new co-directors when they come aboard later this summer.”
For their final hot-take, Marsian proclaimed, “Money may change everything— but L.A. artists are the engine making it happen!”
We are deeply grateful to the Los Angeles County Department of Arts and Culture and the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors. We can’t wait to co-create the coming year with you!
If you’d like to make a donation to Los Angeles Performance Practice, CLICK HERE.
