THE ARTS

New NEA Grants: California arts groups received nearly $5.6 million in the latest batch of federal National Endowment for the Arts grants, including $470,000 to the Music Center Opera and two grants of $238,500 and $175,000 to the L.A. Philharmonic Assn. Other top awards include $210,000 to the Museum of Contemporary Art, San Diego; $125,000 each to the Los Angeles Festival and Santa Monica’s Cornerstone Theater Company, and $115,000 to Costa Mesa’s South Coast Repertory. A total of $53 million was awarded, including three separate grants totaling $2.3 million to the largest individual recipient, the American Film Institute.