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A Message From Our Director
Graphic identity: The Think Farm |
Dear Colleagues,
April is Arts Month!—a time to reflect on the power and impact of creativity, but also a call to band together for the arts in challenging times. I’m grateful to the Board of Supervisors for their support, including two motions that reaffirm its commitment to the arts. The LA County Civic Art Policy, which now celebrates its 20th anniversary, is a shining example of that commitment. It empowers our Civic Art Division to commission new works from community-minded artists, and expand the LA County Civic Art Collection. This month, we partnered with LA County Library to showcase artworks at libraries across LA in the Civic Art Passport and highlight artists in the Collection in special programs.
April is also the annual rotation of officers on the LA County Arts Commission. I welcome arts practitioner and advocate Randi Tahara to her role as President of the LA County Arts Commission, and thank outgoing President Leticia Rhi Buckley, CEO of LA Plaza de Artes y Cultura, for her service this last year.
Our efforts in wildfire recovery are also top of mind. We continue to provide what I call cultural care. We co-hosted the second Conservation Clinic, helping artists and community conserve fire-damaged art and belongings, and directed funding allocated to arts and culture from FireAid to award worker recovery grants to 283 artists and creatives affected by the fires.
Spring is full of opportunity. We launched this year's LA County Arts Internship Program and opened applications for the next Paid Artists in Development program’s Artist Council. We also look back to look ahead, with the newly released report on our LA Region Cultural Sector Convenings on the 2028 Games. These and more updates are below.
Let’s continue to celebrate and support the arts—in April, and all year long!
In solidarity and creativity,
Kristin Sakoda |
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Randi Tahara Installed As President,
LA County Arts Commission
Seated: Supervisor Holly J. Mitchell, Randi Tahara, and Kristin Sakoda. Back: Second District and Department of Arts and Culture staff. Photo by Martin Zamora. |
This month, community leader and longtime arts advocate Randi Tahara was installed as the President of the Los Angeles County Arts Commission, the Board of Supervisors’ longstanding advisory body for the arts. The Commission seats 15 members chosen by Supervisors to represent each of the five districts in the County. Tahara was appointed by Supervisor to the Second District, Holly J. Mitchell. "Randi’s a lifelong practitioner of the arts, but she has also had a 26-year long career in public service, including serving LA County’s Second District. I know she will guide the Arts Commission with a passion that’s backed by lived government experience," said Supervisor Mitchell.
Tahara says she is grateful to outgoing Commission President Leticia Buckley, the CEO of LA Plaza de Cultures y Arts, for her leadership, wise counsel, and setting a high bar in leading the Commission. "It's been an honor to serve the residents of LA County as President of the Arts Commission. Over the last year, commissioners have successfully advocated for increased resources for artists, cultural workers, and arts organizations that provide critical social infrastructure for our region. I am proud of our collective work and look forward to continuing our efforts under the guidance of newly installed President Tahara," Buckley said. |
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Celebrating Arts All year Long
Wild L.A. Flowers by Michael Waugh, located at the Olive View Mental Health Wellness Center. LA County Civic Art Collection. |
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Supervisor Hilda L. Solis and the Board of Supervisors declared April 2025 as Arts Month—a time to remember and celebrate the power of the arts! As part of this month's festivities, we've prepared a number of meeting backgrounds featuring a selection of artworks from the LA County Civic Art Collection. It's our hope that these backgrounds will help you celebrate arts and culture all year long. |
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CIVIC ART AT LA COUNTY LIBRARIES
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Earlier this month, Board Chair Kathryn Barger celebrated the LA County Civic Art Collection and our very own Civic Art Division in the motion "Celebrating 20 Years of Civic Art and Investing in its Future," co-authored by Supervisor Hilda L. Solis. Two decades ago, the County established the LA County Civic Art Policy, which allocates one percent of design and construction capital project costs to fund artworks, workshops, art events, conservation and art education. As part of that celebration, we partnered with LA County Library to create the Civic Art Passport, which highlights the art at 22 libraries! |
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Arts Internships For LA County Students
Interns attend the 2024 Art Summit event in Leimert Park. Photo by Yoko Morimoto. |
On April 1, we launched the 2025 Arts Internship Program! This program will provide 228 university and community college students with paid on-the-job experience in arts at organizations across the LA region. What's more, all internships provide 400 hours of work experience at $17.87 an hour.
If you know an interested student (or students), please let them know to visit our website for the first group of available positions. Students will apply directly to the host organizations via the information found on our website. |
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Join the PAiD Artist Council
Artists and program team together for the first PAiD Artist Council cohort in 2024. Photo by Isabel Avila. |
Calling all artists! The PAiD Artist Council is back and we invite you to apply to join the 2025 cohort.
The Artist Council is an eight-member group of artists selected to provide recommendations to help shape the future of Los Angeles County’s public art policy and processes to better support artists. Each artist on the Artist Council will have access to professional development support and be granted an individual project budget to develop a temporary public artwork.
Application Deadline: May 12, 2025 | 11:59PM (PST)
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Performance by Christopher Garcia and Flower Songs Music (Xochi Cuicatl)
Christopher Garcia. Photo by Chuck Koton. |
Saturday, May 10, 2025 | 6PM - 8PM
East LA Civic Center
4801 E. 3rd St.
Los Angeles, CA 90022
Join us for a live performance by multi-instrumentalist and composer Christopher Garcia together with Flower Songs Music (Xochi Cuicatl). The event celebrates the recent completion of Garcia's sound artwork for Atlantic Avenue Park, one of the first permanent sound artworks that the Department of Arts and Culture has commissioned. The event will open with an herbal tea ceremony honoring the sacred waters of the earth by ecological artist and herbalist Paige Emery, followed by a series of short talks and music performances. Garcia is known for his mastery of ancient Mesoamerican instruments, which he’ll demonstrate after his performance along with a Q&A with the audience. |
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Creative Wellbeing
Self & Community Care Sessions
Artwork by Danielle Galván Gomez. |
First Session of the New year!
Wednesday, May 7, 2025 | 11AM - 12PM
During this difficult time, with so many people impacted by the devastating fires, Creative Wellbeing and the Center for Empowerment of Families will be holding a self- and community care space to offer respite and support.
Please join this healing-centered space to support your own wellbeing and share with anyone you think could benefit.
This self- and community-care series is a virtual space for all adults supporting young people in Los Angeles County to:
- take a break
- explore creativity
- relieve stress
- connect to your joy and purpose
- build community
- support your own healing and wellbeing
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ARTS ED COLLECTIVE: LEADERSHIP CIRCLE
The 2025-2026 Leadership Circle. |
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The Leadership Circle is a re-imagined advisory body that informs the work of the LA County Arts Education Collective (Arts Ed Collective), the county-wide collective impact initiative that helps ensure every young person in LA County grows up with the arts. Grounded in the Arts Ed Blueprint, Leadership Circle members bring a broad range of knowledge, expertise, and experience in the fields of arts education and arts-based youth development. Learn more about the amazing members here. This month, they convened at LA Plaza de Cultura y Artes for a three-day retreat to set goals and define their work through mid-2026. Their priorities are to center young people in the decision-making process, empower communities through self-determination, integrate arts across systems and agencies to provide holistic support for young people, and foster authentic, respectful relationships to promote community wellbeing. |
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2028 OLYMPICS AND PARALYMPIC GAMES:
INPUT FROM CULTURAL SECTOR CONVENINGS
Participants at a LA Region Cultural Convening hosted by LA84. Photo by Gary Leonard. |
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We are excited to share this report with the field! Last year, LA County Department of Arts and Culture led a series of LA Region Cultural Sector Convenings on the 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games (Games) for the arts sector to learn about the role of the arts in the Cultural Olympiad and Games, contribute to program and strategy development, provide space for dialogue, and build greater LA region alignment, coordination, and collaboration. Arts and Culture collaborated with City of LA Department of Cultural Affairs and LA28, and engaged Arts For LA, in partnership with Community Arts Resources (CARS) and LA Commons, to produce the series and summarize findings. We hosted 11 cultural convenings, gathering over 300 participants including Arts and Culture grantee arts organizations, philanthropy, municipalities, artists, event and festival planners, arts educators, Native American and Indigenous organizations, youth-serving organizations, disability arts serving organizations, and LA County Arts Commissioners. The report that we filed with the Board of Supervisors includes a summary of the process, key findings, and recommendations on ways the County can support arts and cultural stakeholders in planning and preparation for 2028. We look forward to incorporating themes and findings in the work ahead. Thank you for participating! |
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LA COUNTY BUDGET UPDATE
One Desert Sky By Brad Howe and Rebecca Niederlander, located at the
High Desert Regional Health Center. LA County Civic Art Collection. |
Los Angeles County is facing extraordinary budgetary pressures, including more than $1 billion in costs related to the January wildfires and recovery, the potential loss of hundreds of millions of dollars or more in federal funding, and the $4 billion settlement of thousands of childhood sexual assault claims brought under AB218. In response to these pressures, the FY2025-26 Recommended Budget presented to the LA County Board of Supervisors on April 15 proposes spending cuts, including curtailments of 3% across County Departments, including the Department of Arts and Culture. As a result, we are preparing for a budget reduction of $609,000 to our Organizational Grant Program starting on July 1, 2025. Public budget hearings will take place on May 7, 2025, and there is more information about the Los Angeles County budget on the CEO's website.
To support grantees and other organizations in their search for funding in an increasingly challenging funding environment, we have added a new resource page on our website with grant and funding opportunities that we will keep updated. |
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IN BRIEF
- The LA County Department of Economic Opportunity (DEO) has launched its High Road Training Partnership designed to foster industry-led, worker-informed training partnerships that promote equity, improve job quality, and enhance climate resilience. It’s open to employer groups, industry associations, worker organizations, educational institutions, training providers, and other public workforce entities. Applications are open through May 9, 2025. Learn More
- We’re sharing word of the half-day conference "Nonprofit Arts: Creative Leadership in Uncertain Times" hosted by UCLA Law’s Lowell Milken Center for Philanthropy & Nonprofits and the Department of Arts and Culture. The event is Thursday, May 15, 2025, 8 am-2 pm. Sessions will include reports on the current administration’s executive orders and policies, the landscape at the state and county level, and a review of advocacy rules. The keynote speech will be delivered by Jessie Kornberg, President and CEO of the Skirball Cultural Center. Register Now
- Congratulations to the Corita Art Center, which opened recently in Downtown Los Angeles. The new location features gallery and archive space, offices, and room for public programming. Watch a great LA County Channel video about the center.
- WestEd, in partnership with Create CA, is conducting a statewide study to assess the impact of Proposition 28 funding on arts education in California. They invite arts education leaders to share their experiences and insights by participating in a brief survey. Relatedly, you can find Prop 28 resources on our Arts Ed Collective website!
- Americans for the Arts is launching a new National Pulse Survey to better understand how recent policy developments—at the federal and state levels—are affecting the health of the arts and culture sector. Take the six-minute survey.
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