The Mike Kelley Foundation for the Arts announced the 2020 recipients of its Artists Project Grants, marking the fifth year of an initiative that furthers the organizations philanthropic work and legacy supporting projects that honor Kelley’s artistic practice.

Los Angeles Contemporary Exhibitions and Los Angeles Filmforum in Hollywood are this year’s grantees, and additional recipients include Armory Center for the Arts, California Institute of the Arts/Roy and Edna Disney/CalArts Theater, Fulcrum Arts/homeLA, Human Resources LA, Pieter, Vincent Price Art Museum and Visual Communications Media.

“Every year it is a tremendous honor to support the vital work of artists and arts organizations in Los Angeles. In the midst of a global crisis that is putting an unprecedented strain on our cultural community, grantmaking in the arts has a heightened sense of urgency,” said Mary Clare Stevens, executive director of the foundation.

The foundation awards grants to Los Angeles artists and nonprofit institutions and organizations that undertake compelling, inventive, and risk-taking work in any medium, particularly projects that have proven difficult to develop or fund.

LA Filmforum received $45,000 from the foundation to help fund five commissioned films by Collectivo Los Ingrávidos, Christopher Harris, Hayoun Kwon, Tabita Rezaire and John Torres. The films and artists will appear at various venues that partner with LA Filmforum in the future.

“We are grateful to be able to offer assistance to creative endeavors that will need it the months to come,” Stevens said. “From Nao Bustamante’s ambitious multimedia project at REDCAT, to Tina Takemoto’s collaboration with Visual Communications Media to engage audiences with Little Tokyo, to five newly commissioned international films at LA Filmforum, these grantees reflect the spectrum of incredible work being created and presented here in Los Angeles. It is crucial that they continue to be supported in their efforts—the arts are essential to our wellbeing now more than ever.”

This year’s recipients include a range of small and mid-size organizations. Some have a longstanding presence in Los Angeles, such as the LACE which was founded in 1976 and offered critical support for Mike Kelley’s early performances.

LACE was granted $50,000 for its upcoming exhibition “Intergalactix: against isolation/contra el aislamiento.” The museum will bring together artworks examining the violence generated from physical and conceptual borders, and the severe immigration policies between Mexico and the United States.

Additionally, the project is intended to establish a platform for exchange and dialogue between artists, poets, activists and writers from different regions, as well as a practice against isolation.

“While our grants in the past have primarily supported project-related expenses, this year, we will be more flexible. We will work closely with each grantee and find the best ways to buoy their work during this time,” Stevens said. “As a start, we will extend the timeline of the public presentation of the projects and make any other modifications deemed appropriate for public health considerations and the project’s intentions.”

The 2020 grantees were selected through a competitive application process by an independent panel that included Rita Gonzalez, Terri and Michael Smooke Curator and LACMA contemporary department head; Tim Griffin, executive director and chief curator of The Kitchen; Asher Hartman, a L.A.-based artist; Eungie Joo, curator of contemporary art at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art; and Martine Syms, another L.A. based artist.

Stevens added the foundations’ 2021 grant cycle will be open for application in June, and to help the organization to develop next year’s guidelines, there are ongoing discussions with the arts community to assess its needs during this health crisis.