Every month, the Arts Council funds wonderful community art projects and professional development opportunities at up to $1,000. Here are the three diverse projects that received funding last month:

• Cory Bilicko is creating a series of documentaries on local, Long Beach artists and the unique ways art has helped them in their lives. These films are an extension of the artist profiles Cory writes for the Signal Hill Tribune. The first documentary is on Morjgan Edalat-McClusky, an Iranian-born artist who uses her large-scale, minimalist-contemporary acrylic works to address her difficult childhood. The documentary will be shown at the Expo Arts Center during First Fridays and in some Long Beach Unified School District classrooms.

• Arts for Life Symphonic Jazz is a free community concert on March 20 at the Carpenter Performing Arts Center put on by the Symphonic Jazz Orchestra. The concert will feature multi-Grammy Award winning guest Ernie Watts. The project includes a presentation on the history of symphonic jazz at the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at California State University, Long Beach (CSULB). This project expands the Music in Schools residency program to Lincoln Elementary in Long Beach and students at both the CSULB music and education departments.

• Tàu /tɐw˨˩/ n. boat, ship, vessel, craft is part of artist Tiffany Le’s MFA graduate exhibition, where she explores her Vietnamese-American experiences and refugee struggles through the imagery of boats as they represent decisions, moments and stories these individuals carry with them. The exhibition will take place at the Dutzi Gallery at CSULB, April10–14, 2016.

Microgrants are due on the 15th of every month. The Arts Council recently revised microgrant guidelines to streamline the process and make it easier to apply and receive funding. For more information on the Arts Council’s microgrant program and other grants, please visit www.artslb.org/services/grants.