Art Explorers receives grant from the National Endowment for the Arts

FORT BRAGG, CA., 3/5/25 — Art Explorers, a nonprofit organization in its 25th year dedicated to supporting adult artists with disabilities, is the recent recipient of a Challenge America grant from the National Endowment for the Arts. If actually disbursed, the money would support the development of a project called Film School, which aims to introduce its artists to the world of filmmaking. However, due to recent reviews of federal funding, grant support for Film School has become uncertain.

Founded in 1999 by Joan Burleigh and Kristin Otwell, Art Explorers began as a small Saturday morning workshop around a kitchen table. Over the years, it has expanded significantly, now offering creative opportunities to 40 artists in a downtown Fort Bragg studio on Franklin Street. The nonprofit provides access to painting, drawing, ceramics, printmaking, weaving, and textile arts, fostering an inclusive and dynamic creative environment that enriches not only the lives of the artists, but the greater Fort Bragg community. 

“This is the most amazing place I’ve ever worked and been a part of,” said Maria Trombetta, Program Director at Art Explorers, who has been with the organization for eight years. 

Adele Horne, a board member, filmmaker and former professor at California Institute of Arts, who joined a year and a half ago, echoed the sentiment: “I light up every time I walk in here because of the vibrant creativity happening in the space.”

Art Explorers has played a crucial role in the Fort Bragg artistic community, offering a creative space for people with disabilities, a demographic that has historically been underserved. 

“For many of our artists, this is more than just a studio—it’s their livelihood,” Trombetta explained. “People with disabilities were institutionalized, they were marginalized, they were pushed off into the wastelands…. That’s sort of the beauty of when people come into the studio and they see the artists working and they see the artwork that they’ve produced and folks are just like, wow, it sort of dawns on them that these are real, dedicated artists. We’re not just spending time. We’re not just moving through the day here with something to do. This is their work.” 

Art sales from the program provide an important income stream for participants, who receive 50% of their artwork proceeds.

Film School workshops

The idea for Film School originated from the artists themselves, many of whom have long expressed interest in filmmaking, acting, and screenwriting. Thanks to a $10,000 Challenge America grant from the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), the program is set to host three workshops featuring visiting artists, culminating in a film featuring Fort Bragg as seen through the eyes of Art Explorers artists. Filmmakers from Los Angeles are among those who have been invited to host Film School workshops, further enriching the artistic exchange between rural and urban creatives. 

“Artists need stimulation, we need outside influences, we need to interact with a wider community,” Horne explained. “And so to bring in people from outside is really stimulating to the artists here. We feel like learning to work with media, but having more skills as media makers is very empowering because it allows artists to tell a story through their own eyes and to share that story with a wider audience. One of the projects is to make a kind of portrait of Fort Bragg through the eyes of the Art Explorers artists. So we’re super excited to see how they portray this town.”

According to the NEA, Challenge America grants are awarded in all artistic disciplines and offer support primarily to small organizations for a wide variety of arts projects that extend the reach of the arts to underserved groups and communities that may have limited access for reasons of geography, ethnicity, economic status, and/or disability.  

When asked about the feeling of being recognized by a prestigious organization such as the NEA, Horne replied, “We’re pretty thrilled about that. It’s a real kudos for Art Explorers. This is such a deserving organization. There’s so much great creative work being done here, and we are just thrilled that we’ve been recognized in this way by the National Endowment for the Arts. These are very competitive grants and it’s a really big deal for us to get this grant.”

Suddenly in limbo

However, in a sudden turn of events, Art Explorer’s NEA grant has been clouded by a federal review of funding mandates by the new Trump administration. “We’re in limbo right now,” Trombetta explained. “We planned for the workshops to take place this summer, but we’re waiting to hear whether or not the funding will be released.” Trombetta recently inquired about the expected disbursement date for the funding, and received a reply from the NEA stating, “The National Endowment for the Arts continues to review the recent executive orders and related documents to ensure compliance and provide the required reporting. Offer processing has been delayed. Thank you for your continued patience.”

The delay has left the organization and its artists in an uncertain position. “Congress did approve these funds for the National Endowment for the Arts,” Horne explained. “And if the current administration unlawfully refuses to actually give out the money that we have been approved for, that would be really disappointing.”

As the organization awaits more information from the NEA, they encourage community support in any form, whether through donations, attendance at exhibitions, or simply spreading awareness. On Friday March 7 from 5-7 pm, Art Explorers will present Naturally Derived, a group exhibition in the Art Explorers studio featuring artwork by studio artist Kristin Hock at 333 N Franklin St. in Fort Bragg.

With or without the grant, Art Explorers is determined to give its artists the chance to bring their cinematic visions to life through Film School — enriching not only their art practice, but the entire community to which they belong.

“I think I can speak for us all that we plan to figure out a way to do this no matter what, because we don’t want to disappoint the artists here,” Hofrne said. “They’re so excited.”

For more information, visit the Art Explorers website or contact Art Explorers by phone at (707) 961-6156 or email contactus@artexplorers.org.