Julie Grant believes giving is joy, and she wants to double yours!

 “It adds up faster. If you don’t give the $15, the $50, the $500, we don’t get the $30, the $100, the $1,000.”
– Julia Grant

For Julia Grant, giving is a way to invest in the organizations she believes make a meaningful difference in people’s lives. Through her community fund, she supports organizations across Sonoma County, but year after year, Luther Burbank Center for the Arts remains one of her most significant recipients. She has seen firsthand the breadth of LBC’s work and has confidence in its ability to respond to what people need: opportunities to learn, grow, and experience the joy of the arts at every stage of life.

That belief is at the heart of Julia’s decision to offer a $50,000 matching gift for LBC’s end-of-year appeal.

“Kids are our future,” she said. “They need whatever we can give to them to ensure success at school, at home, in the community, and throughout their lives.”

Julia first discovered the breadth of LBC’s education work during a site visit years ago. Sitting on the stage over lunch, she watched a video featuring students and teachers whose lives were being enriched by LBC programs. What struck her was that LBC wasn’t simply bringing arts experiences to students. It was supporting teachers, too.

“I never thought that an arts center, especially one known for big live performances, would put something out there for the schools, and that really impressed me,” she recalled. Then she learned that LBC also provides adult guitar classes and a music program for seniors in memory care.

That commitment to filling gaps and creating opportunities throughout the lifespan is what has kept Julia supporting LBC year after year. She sees the Center as an organization that understands what communities need and continually finds ways to meet those needs, particularly when schools and other institutions cannot do it alone.

Her belief in the importance of arts education is also deeply personal.

Julia didn’t grow up with art in her life. In fact, she didn’t discover her own creative potential until she was a teenager. It took on profound significance in her 30s and 40s, when she returned to college to earn a degree in art. At 54, she began weaving. At 74, she discovered quilting. In her 80s, she began creating fabric art.

Each new creative pursuit brought something different into her life. Weaving became a form of meditation. Quilting challenged her to solve problems and persevere through frustration. Trying new forms of art kept her curious, engaged and learning.

“Creativity, the opportunity to express creatively, is essential to living,” Julia said. “It empowers you with a sense of self. It surprises and delights you when you discover what you can do, and then when you see, through your art, a deep belief of something good in you, something beautiful. It certainly keeps me happy, and it gives me joy.”

That lifelong journey of discovery is part of what Julia sees in LBC’s work. Arts education gives young people opportunities to discover interests, build confidence, and develop creativity and problem-solving skills they carry into every part of their lives. And those opportunities don’t have to end when a person leaves school. LBC creates ways for people to continue learning, creating, and reinforcing positive self-beliefs throughout their lives.

Champion of Literacy

Julia was especially moved by LBC’s From Page to Stage literacy-based program, which combines reading with drama and the arts to help students strengthen foundational literacy skills. She believes programs like this, which LBC first made available to under-resourced communities, are essential because literacy shapes a person’s opportunities throughout life.

“Every child deserves the chance to discover the confidence that comes with learning,” she said. “It is an incredible program for our community and too important for these kids to lose. It is vital we ensure it continues to be available to as many children as we can reach.”

Julia’s $50,000 match is an invitation to join her in that belief. Whether a gift is $15, $50 or $500, she wants donors to know that it matters. “If you don’t give the $15, we don’t get the $30,” she said. “It doesn’t matter the size. It’s going to make a difference.”

And with her match, every gift can make twice the difference.

Consider a gift to the LBC and double your joy!