African drumming workshop at Valley State Prison, featuring Djembe drumming taught by Abdullatif Bell Touncara as part of ACTAs Arts in Corrections program. Photo: Peter Merts.

Supporting California's thriving cultural communities

Sounds of California San Joaquin Valley Corrido Contest

ACTA and Radio Bilingüe invite Corrido Composers in the San Joaquin Valley to participate in our 2024 Corrido Contest!

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Meet our 2024 Apprenticeship Cohort

Our 2024 Apprenticeship Program cohort of 22 mentor-apprentice pairs received a total of $110,000 to preserve and advance California’s diverse cultural traditions.

See the Artists

Announcing the national Taproot Fellowship!

A project of ACTA's Taproot Artists & Community Trust, 50美元,000 Taproot Fellowship provides catalytic support and recognition for accomplished traditional artists and culture bearers across the United States and Territories.

Meet the Fellows

The Oakland Asian Cultural Center, a 2008 Living Cultures Grant Program awardee, hosts a National Dishes series of culinary workshops. Photo: Lily Kharrazi/ACTA.

Our Mission

The Alliance for California Traditional Arts (ACTA) promotes and supports ways for cultural traditions to thrive now and into the future. Since our founding in 1997, we have distributed more than $7 million in grants to more than 1,660 artists and organizations throughout the state.

Learn more about ACTA

Artist Marty Natividad leads a Danza Azteca class at the Substance Abuse Treatment Facility and California State Prison in Corcoran as part of ACTA's Arts in Corrections Program. Photo: Peter Merts, courtesy of the California Arts Council.

Supporting California’s living cultural heritage for more than 20 years

With more than a dozen staff members, ACTA is a statewide and national leader dedicated to supporting cultural practitioners and their communities. We travel up and down California from our offices in Fresno, Los Angeles, and San Francisco, reaching every corner of the state. We aim to serve as a bridge between cultural communities through our programs, providing opportunities for exchange, collaboration, and connection to new resources.

Explore our programs

Master artist Flavio “Paps” Alvarez and his grandnephew and apprentice Carlos Gonzales—both from Los Angeles—participated in ACTA's 2009 Apprenticeship Program focusing on their work in Garifuna Wanaragua song and dance. Photo: Sherwood Chen/ACTA.

Our vision is for a culturally and racially equitable California

In our increasingly fractured society, we believe ACTA plays a critical role in shaping a positive future for California where the unique value of every culture is respected, sustained, and appreciated. Through our programs, services, and funding opportunities for the traditional arts, we are weaving a more integrated, 只是, and empathetic social fabric across California.

Join the vision