SACRAMENTO — An obscure state board awarded six- and seven-figure grants Wednesday to dozens of museums and cultural groups, including several that legislators long have championed.
The California Cultural and Historical Endowment Board gave out more than $35 million for projects that included rebuilding a military fort at an Indian reservation outside Fresno, restoring murals at the Santa Monica Public Library and remodeling a downtown Los Angeles building to house the Latino Theater Company.
The theater company received the single largest grant at $4 million.
"Fantastic," said Jose Luis Valenzuela of the theater company. "We deserve it. We need it."
In a process that ended at 3 a.m. Wednesday, the new California Cultural and Historical Endowment Board allocated money for 33 proposals, culled from 276 groups that sought more than $400 million. The amounts are tentative. The board must pare $2 million from the $37-million total.
The money comes from Proposition 40, a bond measure approved by voters in 2000. The bulk of the $2.6-billion proceeds was spent on parks acquisition and rehabilitation.
But the bond included $276 million for "acquisition, development and preservation of culturally and/or historically significant properties, structures and artifacts."
Half of that money went to projects specified by the bond. The panel is doling out the rest. It plans to make more awards in two cycles starting next year.
The 10-member board includes people active in arts and politics. The governor appoints three members, and the Senate and Assembly appoint two each. The chairwoman is State Librarian Susan Hildreth.
In 2002, then-Senate Leader John Burton pushed the Legislature to establish the board as a way to avoid an overly political process in the dispersion of the money.
But lawmakers and board members got involved, adding 20 projects to a list of 37 that had been nominated for funding by the board's paid staff. The board funded 10 of the 20 added projects, giving them a combined $9.3 million.
Projects nominated by the staff accounted for the rest, including some that received the largest grants.
The Golden State Museum in Sacramento was among the notable recipients Wednesday, receiving $375,000 to help it create a California Women's History Museum. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's wife, Maria Shriver, has pushed for a women's museum.
