JACS PR 8/07

JACS Announces 2007 Grantees

The Japanese American Community Services of Southern California (JACS) announced their 2007 grant recipients and announced the launching of the Cecilia Nakamura Arts Fund at a reception held in Little Tokyo on August 2nd. JACS awarded $15,000 to the following community projects.

The Nikkei Federation was funded for an internship program for college-aged students with the opportunity to serve the Nikkei community by working on the Rising Starts Youth Leadership Program, the New Generations Summer Concert held annually during Nisei Week, and a Directory of Community Resources.

The Tuesday Night Cafe project is a multidisciplinary arts space that provides a gathering point for work from teh Asian Pacific Islander American and local LA artist to connect through artistic expression, on the 1st and 3rd Tuesdays of every month.

California Japanese Amewrican Community Leadership Council proactively addresses the challenges and changes affecting the Nikkei community and was funded for the Nikkei Community Internship, a summer internship program for Nikkei college students working at various nonprofit organizations in Los Angeles and San Francisco.

Triumvirate Pi Theatre is dedicated to producing provacative live theater that breaks down barriers. Their project "The Pink Dress" is a family puppet theater presentation inspired by Leslie Kitashima-Gray's mother's experiences in Amache Internment camp during WWII. "The Pink Dress" is now touring to elementary schools in Los Angeles County with the Music Center on Tour.

Koreatown Youth and Community Center serves the multi-ethnic Koreatown community in greater Los Angeles. Their Multi-Ethnic Youth Leadership program works with at-risk youth to build bridges in their community to promote cultural understanding, particularly among Latino and Korean American youth.

At the reception, JACS formally announced the launching of the Cecilia Nakamura Arts Fund. The organization recently received $295,000 to establish a fund in Nakamura's name to support a new generation of individual artists, arts organizations and their work.

Nobuko Miyamoto, a long-time family friend of Nakamura presented a moving tribute to Nakamura. "Cecilia would be so happy to know that her work as a dancer, a costume designer and a lover of the arts will be continued on."

For over 40 years, JACS has provided funds to emerging groups and projects with a focus on community service, health and human services, cultural arts and leadership development in the Nikkei and Asian Pacific American communities.