3 Downey non-profits selected for county arts grants

Guitar students from the Downey Foundation for Educational Opportunities.

DOWNEY — Three Downey non-profit groups have been awarded grants by the Los Angeles County Department of Arts & Culture. 

The Downey Foundation for Educational Opportunities was awarded $16,300. The organization will use the money to pay music instructors at its after-school classes. 

The Downey Symphonic Society, which operates the Downey Symphony, was selected to receive $15,400. The orchestra operates a Music in the Schools program for Downey third- and fifth-grade students. 

Lastly, Japanese Culture and Traditions Inc. was awarded $4,400 in support of its annual Coming of Age Ceremony, a Japanese cultural tradition.

The Department of Arts & Culture distributed $4.518 million in grants in total to 231 nonprofit arts organizations. 

L.A. County Supervisor Hilda Solis called the grant program “critical to helping the local arts ecosystem thrive through the inclusion of arts organizations that exemplify culture, traditions, and artistic creativity that celebrate the diversity of this county.” 

The program “ensures our residents, especially those in historically under-served areas, have access to arts and culture services, and all the individual benefits and community connections that those services bring,” Solis said.