CRENSHAW : CASA Arts Program on Brink of Closing

From the beginning, it seemed to be a match made in heaven: an after-school arts program that employed the Crenshaw area’s considerable artistic talent linked with numerous arts centers that had too long gone unrecognized and underutilized.

Despite its good intentions and good works, the Creative Afterschool Alternatives program, known as CASA, is on the brink of closing up shop this week.

The 2-year-old program, funded by state, city and private sources, has seen its annual budget shrink this year to $117,000, a third of what program officials originally projected. Program director Maisha Hazzard said that if she can’t come up with $45,000 by Friday, CASA will be forced to shut down a month earlier than anticipated.

“We expanded the program this year with expectations of more money, but obviously that didn’t happen--quite the opposite,� Hazzard said. “This has not been a kind year for nonprofit organizations like this one.�

In its first effort to raise the funds necessary to pay its 29 instructors and stay open, CASA staged an arts show last week at the Communication Bridge, a video and film workshop center on Adams Boulevard.

Hazzard said $10,000 in donations have been amassed so far. There was another reason for the event, she said: The program’s 550 participating youths had a chance to exhibit their projects and perform for the public before possibly disbanding for the year. The event last week featured performances in dance and theater, as well as displays of comic book art, creative writing, ceramics, painting, music and computer graphics.

The brainchild of former Assemblywoman Gwen Moore, CASA began in 1992 with $87,000 from the National Endowment for the Arts and the California Arts Council, along with the city’s Cultural Affairs Department.

The $150,000 that the fiscally troubled city normally budgeted for CASA was reduced to $25,000 this year, while Pacific Bell cut its contribution and ARCO pulled out altogether, Hazzard said. She said she is working with city Cultural Affairs Director Al Nodal to acquire more funds and thus keep the program intact for the remainder of the school year. Though the original budget was set up as a three-year package, the city contends that it has no money.

“We’re simply trying to find out how much we can get and how soon,� Hazzard said.

CASA now conducts after-school classes for students in fourth through 11th grades at 15 elementary and middle schools, as well as four community-based art centers: the Dance Collective, Fire Station No. 18, St. Elmo Village and the William Grant Still Art Center.

“We just have to find as much community and corporate sponsorship as possible,� Hazzard said. “It’s really important to find positive, constructive activities for young people. “There should be 10,000 kids in CASA. But you have to start where you can.�