Santa Monica announces arts and culture grants to support community
August 25, 2025 9:15 AM
by Lindsey D. Schoenholtz
Photo of Elemental Music, courtesy of Angel Origgi.
The city of Santa Monica has a longstanding legacy of support for local nonprofit arts and culture organizations, ensuring that residents and visitors have access to diverse, high-quality creative and cultural experiences through consistent investment in the city’s cultural institutions.
As part of this commitment, the city is proud to announce grant awards for the 2025–27 Organizational Support Program, or OSP, and the 2025–26 Community Access & Participation, or CAP, program. These grants provide multiyear operating support to 26 nonprofit organizations and project-based funding to 25 groups offering public arts and culture programs.
“Given the current instability in arts funding nationally, support from the city of Santa Monica is more important than ever,” Josephine Moerschel, executive director of Elemental Music, an OSP and CAP grant recipient, said. “In the 2024–25 season, Elemental Music served nearly 800 students, 67 percent of whom received need-based scholarships and tuition-free programming. Continued support from the city of Santa Monica made that possible.”
“The organizations we support through these grants are the heart of Santa Monica’s nonprofit cultural life,” Cultural Affairs Manager Sofia Klatzker said. “They create opportunities for connection, expression and belonging across our neighborhoods, and provide a lifeline that keep artists creating and communities thriving especially as arts funding diminishes elsewhere.”
To find out more about the arts grantees, their work, and how you can experience their work in Santa Monica, please view the full list of grantees here and sign up for their mailing lists. New OSP grantees this cycle include Crow Comedy, Human Family Educational & Cultural Institute (Humanitas) and the Santa Monica Pier Corporation.
Authored By
Lindsey D. Schoenholtz
Cultural Affairs Supervisor