The Central Coast Creative Corps (CCCC) is an innovative grant program funded by the California Arts Council, awarding $140,000 to each of 23 year-long projects. Each grant allocated $100,000 directly to an artist to work in partnership with community-based organizations, including nonprofits, government agencies, and tribal governments. 

The Central Coast Creative Corps (CCCC), funded by the California Arts Council, facilitated a year-long program that connected local artists with community-based organizations across Monterey, Santa Cruz, San Benito, San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, and Ventura counties.

The program invested in artists across various disciplines who collaboratively addressed civic engagement, public health, social justice, and climate resilience throughout the Central Coast. Through these partnerships, artists and community organizations developed impactful projects responding to pressing regional needs. The program prioritized communities demonstrating the highest levels of need, as indicated by the California Healthy Places Index (HPI). Click here to view the HPI maps of the most eligible areas in the six-county region..

Key resources from the project included an evergreen artist directory—a public resource to discover local artists, their community initiatives, and expertise. Additionally, the CCCC delivered professional development classes for artists across the Central Coast, fostering skills for sustained community impact.

To assess the outcomes of the Central Coast Creative Corps program, the CCCC engaged Scansion to conduct a comprehensive evaluation. The resulting final report provides detailed insights into the program's impact, highlighting the effectiveness of artist-community partnerships, the reach of professional development efforts, and the overall influence on civic and cultural engagement across the Central Coast.

You can access the full report here: Scansion Final Report on the Central Coast Creative Corps.