Bay Area groups get $1.7 million in NEA grants
Jesse Hamlin, Chronicle Staff Writer

The National Endowment for the Arts will dish out $21 million to arts organizations and writers across the country in the first round of its fiscal year 2005 grants. The lion's share of the agency's $121 million funding budget will be awarded over the course of next year.

About $3.4 million will go to California arts groups and writers. Of that, $1.7 million will be divvied up among 70 Bay Area organizations.