Conejo Oaks Symphony, the Thousand Oaks nonprofit behind the California Young Artists Symphony, is one of 10 organizations to receive a Ventura County Community Foundation arts grant.
VCCF announced the ArtLife Foundation Fund awards in its September Power of Purpose newsletter on Friday, Sept. 25. The competitive grant supports programs advancing artistic excellence and creativity across Ventura County. The fund also honors the life and work of artist Joe Cardella and his ART/LIFE Limited Editions.
Conejo Oaks Symphony Inc. is a 501(c)(3) based in Thousand Oaks. Its flagship program, the California Young Artists Symphony, is a pre-professional orchestra that pairs graduate, undergraduate and pre-college musicians with mentors from institutions including the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Juilliard, UCLA and USC's Thornton School of Music.
Alexander Tseitlin serves as artistic and executive director. The organization also hosts the annual Lyceum Oaks Summerfest each July in Thousand Oaks.
The other nine ArtLife grant recipients are Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Oxnard and Port Hueneme, Focus on the Masters, IGNITE Collective, Maple Parent Faculty Association, Museum of Ventura County, New Art City Theatre, Ojai Playwrights Conference, Oxnard Performing Arts Center Corporation and Village Voices Chorale.
Individual award amounts were not disclosed. A third-party grant database, Instrumentl, listed approximately $55,000 as the total pool for the fund cycle, though that figure was last updated in April.
The same newsletter noted that VCCF's board approved $105,416.54 for the Mixteco/Indigena Community Organizing Project's Living with Love program. That grant funds culturally responsive mental health services and domestic violence support for Indigenous Mexican, migrant and Latino families who face language, cultural and financial barriers to care.
MICOP was founded in 2001 by nurse practitioner Sandra Young in Oxnard. The organization has grown to 20 programs and has offices in Ventura, Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo counties. It is marking its 25th anniversary in 2026.
Separately, the Ventura County Neighbors Support Fund has granted more than $1 million to 44 organizations doing humanitarian work, according to the newsletter. Boys & Girls Club of Conejo Valley is among those recipients.
VCCF President and CEO Vanessa Bechtel has described the foundation's broader mission in terms of community investment. "Ventura County is a place worth loving and a community worth serving," Bechtel said in a June 30 article on the foundation's website.
Arts groups seeking additional funding can apply to VCCF's Smith-Hobson Foundation Fund, which supports arts, cultural and historical projects in Ventura County. Applications are due by 5 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 6.
VCCF hosts a Virtual Lunch & Learn on Thursday, Oct. 15, and an Isabella Project Virtual Lunch & Learn featuring First 5 Ventura County on Thursday, Oct. 22.
