(InEDC) BY Marya Osucha 07/18/23 7:47 PM ET
(PLACERVILLE, CA) – Arts and Culture El Dorado recently received a 2023-2024 National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) Big Read grant, one of only 62 organizations selected nationwide. It was also one of only six selected from California. The grant will support a community reading program focusing on Roz Chast’s “Can’t We Talk About Something More Pleasant” from January to July 2024. An initiative of the National Endowment for the Arts in partnership with Arts Midwest, the NEA Big Read broadens our understanding of our world, our communities, and ourselves through the power of a shared reading experience.
“The El Dorado County Library is excited to participate in the Big Read and offer opportunities for the community to come together through stories, art, and the humor of Roz Chast,” noted Sandra Kelsey, Senior Library Assistant at the El Dorado County Library in Placerville, “It’s an honor to be one of the communities selected to participate in the Big Read, and we’re grateful to Arts and Culture El Dorado and the NEA.”
The NEA Big Read offers a range of titles that reflect many different voices and perspectives, aiming to inspire meaningful conversations, artistic responses, and discoveries and connections in each community.
El Dorado County’s Big Read will begin with a kick-off event at the Placerville branch library in January 2024 and continue with programs and events throughout the region until July 2024, including book talks, an exhibition, an original graphic anthology drawn from local oral histories, portrait-drawing workshops, and more. Readers can learn more at https://artsandcultureeldorado.org/the-big-read.
Arts and Culture El Dorado is a catalyst for good works throughout the region, serving as the State-Local Partner to the California Arts Council and providing targeted programs and services. It also curates a vibrant gallery exhibition series and focuses on initiatives that support and sustain the region’s cultural life. Founded in 1984 as El Dorado Arts Council, the organization offers programs for veterans and students, families and young people, artists and arts organizations, and residents and visitors to the region. Tax-deductible charitable donations may be made at https://artsandcultureeldorado.org.
Established by Congress in 1965, the National Endowment for the Arts is an independent federal agency that is the largest funder of arts and arts education in communities nationwide and a catalyst of public and private support for the arts. By advancing equitable arts participation and practice opportunities, the NEA fosters and sustains an environment where the arts benefit everyone in the United States. Visit arts.gov to learn more.
![Grizzly Flat [ca. 1851-1852]](http://www.inedc.com/23/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/GrizzlyFlats-1851-1852-350x250.webp)
