LACE, OTHERS GET NEA GRANTS

Los Angeles Contemporary Exhibitions is one of 129 visual-artists organizations nationwide to receive part of $1.87 million in grants recently awarded by the National Endowment for the Arts.

LACE, given $42,000, joins 20 other California organizations awarded endowment grants for the current federal fiscal year. Others include Los Angeles Institute of Contemporary Art, given $35,000; Los Angeles Center for Photographic Studies, $25,000; and the Women’s Community, also of Los Angeles, $15,000.

The grants, ranging from $5,000 to $50,000, were awarded to both large and small nonprofit organizations, most artist-run, created for or by visual artists.

Richard Andrews, director of the endowment’s visual arts program, said: “The grants help ensure continued vitality and strength in the visual-arts community. . . . Such artists’ groups, centers and organizations provide important alternatives to major museum and commercial gallery exhibition space, enabling artists to gain exposure and recognition for their work.”