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A Message From Our Director
Vitae Telam (Web of Life) Tela de la Vida by the De La Torre Brothers. |
Dear Colleagues,
In our final newsletter of 2023, I wanted to celebrate our many accomplishments, which this year, I believe, share a connective thread—we provided resources, tools, and professional development so that individuals and organizations could build equity through the arts in their own lives and work.
We distributed nearly $35M to over 750 arts, cultural, and community-rooted organizations, a historic County investment in the nonprofit creative sector. We completed our first Cultural Policy Strategic Plan Annual Report, which, through its data and updates, tells a story of intra-County cross-sector partnership that is bringing arts to the people of LA County. We made great strides in building infrastructure for emerging artists and in making the arts accessible to young people. Please explore a list of this year’s milestones just below—there is so much to celebrate!
As always, I am grateful for your collaboration. I thank our Arts Commissioners for their ongoing advocacy, and the LA County Board of Supervisors for sharing our belief in the power of arts, culture, and creativity. I look forward to continuing our journey next year.
Happy Holidays!
Kristin Sakoda |
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Celebrating This Year's Wins!
A few of our hardworking Arts Commissioners as well as the LA County Department of Arts and Culture Staff. |
- We filed the inaugural Cultural Policy Strategic Plan Annual Report. In addition to the ways we support access to the arts, the report catalogues how 37 out of 40 County departments used the arts and creativity in service of their missions.
- We became home to the LA City/County Native American Indian Commission (LANAIC).
- In partnership with the LANAIC, and with help from the County’s Chief Executive Office, we launched a Countywide Land Acknowledgment Toolkit and Resources. Developed with input from local Tribes and County employees, these resources provide practical information, guidelines, and best practices for County staff, municipalities, and cultural organizations.
- We completed three Creative Strategist residencies with artists: Carol Zou at the Aging and Disabilities Department, Phung Huynh at the Office of Immigrant Affairs, and Jacob Pratt (Dakota and Ojibway from Cote First Nation) at the LANAIC.
- The Arts Education Collective honored its 20th anniversary and incredible progress with a special celebration book, complete with student art commissions and testimonials from partners.
- The Arts Ed Collective invested $3.1M in in arts education to 39 local school districts and charter networks.
- The new digital career resource for young people, Creative Careers Online, now includes resources from 17 County organizations. We introduced it to 750 educators in workshops, panels, and conferences.
- We brought back the Arts Datathon in person for the first time since 2019.
- We published a research study on young adult advisory councils in arts nonprofits, and the Civic Art Demographics Study which documents the artists included in the County Collection and sheds light on how the Civic Art Division’s policies, practices, and management contributes to the diversity of LA’s artist population in the Collection.
- We launched the Public Artists in Development program (PAiD) which supports the career growth and economic empowerment of underrepresented artists across LA through mentorship, professional development, project opportunities, and advisory roles for artists.
- The Civic Art Division managed 154 projects and 47 art installations throughout the County. They ranged in scope and medium, from a series of artworks by eight artists for Public Defender’s new office to the first Civic Art sound art project at Atlantic Avenue and Athens Parks, and Collective Memory, a temporary digital exhibition of 100 local artists’ work on display at Gloria Molina Grand Park.
- In addition to this year’s $26M in the one-time American Rescue Act/Creative Recovery LA grant, we distributed $1.2M to artists, producers, and nonprofit performing arts groups in the Performing Arts Recovery Grant; $4.5M to 236 arts organizations through Organizational Grant Program; and $750K to 74 nonprofit social justice and social service organizations and city departments that provide arts programming through the Community Impact Arts Grant.
- The Arts Internship Program provided 228 paid internships in the arts field for university and community college students.
- We were recognized for our Countywide Needs Assessment, Creative Strategist residencies with both Parks and the Office of Violence Prevention, our commission that recognized coerced sterilization, Sobrevivir, at LA General Medical Center, and the Twenty Years of the Arts Ed Collective report, and the work that contributed to it, by the Quality and Productivity Commission Awards.
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2022-23 Countywide Cultural Policy Report
Canopy of Blossoms by Suzy Taekyung Kim. |
| On August 30, 2022, the Board of Supervisors adopted the Countywide Cultural Policy Strategic Plan as a roadmap for how Los Angeles County can meaningfully contribute to the cultural life of the region. Please explore the 2022-23 Annual Report for updates on how the Department of Arts and Culture implements the Countywide Cultural Policy using existing resources, as well as ways in which County departments fulfill Cultural Policy goals. This report also includes updates on the Cultural Equity and Inclusion Initiative funded recommendations and priorities for 2024. |
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Arts Ed Collective 2022-23 End of Year Report
Moon Phases Animation Project with first grade students at Arts in Action Community Charter School. |
This past year, the Arts Ed Collective celebrated 20 years of service to the young people of LA County and acknowledged the hundreds of new and longstanding partners who came together to accomplish what none of us could have achieved alone. This report summarizes the Arts Ed Collective’s activities and events from the July 2022 through June 2023 fiscal year.
Now more than three years into LA County’s adoption of the Arts for All Children, Youth, and Families: LA County’s Regional Blueprint for Arts Education (Arts Ed Blueprint), read more about how the Arts Ed Collective is continuing to work to ensure future generations have access to a culturally relevant, responsive, and sustaining arts education, in schools and in communities, that allows every young person to develop the skills, perspectives, and self-awareness to reach their full potential. |
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Add Your Favorite Org to the Arts and Culture Favorites Map
LA Skyline by Susan Logoreci. |
As part of the Board of Supervisors’ recent Galvanizing Communities in Support of the Arts motion, the Department of Arts and Culture is creating a social media awareness campaign to help residents of LA County discover, share, and support their local arts and culture organizations.
Because we want to highlight as many organizations as we can, we invite you to populate the Arts and Culture Favorites Map with your organization’s public-facing information (the name, address, website, and a brief description.). It only takes a minute! |
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Opportunity for Emerging Artists and Conservators
Inner Resources by Paul Botello. |
The 'Inner Resources' Mural Conservation Apprenticeship Project
The LA County Department of Arts and Cultures, in partnership with Site & Studio Conservation, seeks four apprentices to participate in the conservation of the Inner Resources Mural by artist Paul Botello, City Terrace Park.
Deadline to Apply: January 25, 2023 | 4PM (PDT)
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| The Department of Arts and Culture's Civic Art Division, has contracted Site & Studio Conservation to perform conservation of the Inner Resources mural by artist Paul Botello, located in City Terrace Park. One of the largest murals in Los Angeles, Inner Resources celebrates East Los Angeles culture, nature, and education. The contract with Site & Studio Conservatin includes opportunities for four emerging conservators and/or artists to participate in the conservation. |
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Mark YOur Calendars
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2024-25 Advancement Grant Opens January 24
The 2024-25 Advancement Grant application period will be open January 24 through March 13, 2024. Strategic arts plan coaching requests will also be accepted during that period. Keep your eye out for more information coming in January 2024.
Eligibility
Los Angeles County school districts that are in partnership with the Arts Ed Collective and will be implementing board approved strategic plans for arts education in 2024-25 are eligible to apply. |
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MOMENTUM BUILDING FOR SELA CULTURAL CENTER!
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| Thank you to Supervisors Hahn and Solis for authoring a motion that includes an opportunity for us to work on the future Southeast Los Angeles Cultural Center. The motion further supports the Cultural Policy and its Strategy 18: Create Access to County-Owned Creative Space and County-Owned Cultural Centers. Last week, Director Kristin Sakoda visited the site of the future center, with Supervisor Hahn and State Speaker Emeritus Anthony Rendon—the planned arts and culture campus, designed by Frank Gehry, will be built along the Los Angeles River in South Gate. |
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IN BRIEF
- We’re excited about our Civic Art Division’s project to honor the legacy of artist Charles White.
- Director Kristin Sakoda was featured in this Zocalo Q&A and Villa Aurora Thomas Mann House panel, "Arts in Times of Crises." She also speaks about our Performing Arts Recovery Grant in this issue of Performances (starting on page 16).
- Our Director of Research and Evaluation, Bronwyn Mauldin, appeared on the Creative Generation podcast to discuss her and co-writer Natalie Elam’s report Agents of Change: Young Adult Advisory Councils at Arts and Culture Nonprofits. Topics included intergenerationality and the commitment to evolutionary practices in the arts and culture sector.
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