The Rex Foundation has announced its list of grant recipients for 2008. The non-profit organization, founded in the fall of 1983, ‘aims to help secure a healthy environment, promote individuality in the arts, provide support to critical and necessary social services, assist others less fortunate than ourselves, protect the rights of indigenous people and ensure their cultural survival, build a stronger community, and educate children and adults everywhere.’ The Foundation offered grants ranging from $2500-$5000 to the following organizations: American Musical Heritage Foundation (Santa Cruz, CA), Burlington City Arts (Burlington, VT), Childrens Book Project (San Francisco, CA), Concepts4Charity, Inc. (Worcester, MA), UpBeat Drum Circles (Stevenson Ranch, CA), Eyak Preservation Council (Cordova, AK), International Accountability Project (San Francisco, CA), Restoring Eden (La Center, WA), Voices Together (Chapel Hill, NC) and Music & Mentorship (Philadelphia, PA).

In addition, three organizations received special grants of $10,000. San Francisco’s All Stars Project received the Jerry Garcia Award (‘The All Stars Project brings the All Stars ‘performatory’ approach to inner-city youth development to Californias Bay Area. ASP creates outside of school, educational and performing arts activities for poor and minority young people and is at the forefront of a new trend in education, known as supplemental education, which recognizes outside of school learning opportunities as critical to urban childrens success in school and in life.’). San Rafael’s Ali Akbar College of Music was honored with the Ralph J. Gleason Award (‘The mission of the Ali Akbar College of Music is to teach, perform and preserve the classical music of North India, specifically the Seni Baba Allauddin Gharana (tradition), and to offer this great musical legacy to all who wish to learn. The Rex grant will go to support the Library and Archive Project, which will house the ongoing collection of Ali Akbar Khan and his college in order to make it accessible to students, scholars, and music lovers.’). Finally, San Francisco’s The Beat Within also received the Bill Graham Award (‘The Beat Within provides incarcerated youth the means for self-expression and positive connection with their community through weekly writing and conversation workshops and weekly publication of their writing and art. The Beat is committed to providing aftercare services for ex-detained and at-risk youth including job training, mentoring, peer-support, psycho-social support services, individual and group mental health counseling.’)
On Saturday September 27, 2008, Dark Star Orchestra will appear at Rex’s Black Tie-Dye Ball benefit at the Henry Fonda Theater in Los Angeles.