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A Message From Our Director
Con Mucho Amor by Lorenzo Hurtado Segovia at the Los Angeles General Medical Center. LA County Civic Art Collection |
Dear Colleagues,
With the events over the last few weeks, and many communities targeted for federal immigration raids, we've seen fear, unrest, program cancelations, and disruption. I want to reaffirm our values—all communities deserve access and inclusion in arts and culture, and all deserve respect, dignity, and rights under the law. We invite you to explore and share the County’s Know Your Rights resources.
Our diverse communities play a vital role in contributing to the rich cultural heritage of Los Angeles County. And culture has the power to bring people together, support free expression, build empathy, and use creativity to heal. Despite the challenges around us, from federal and local budget cuts, to ongoing needs in wildfire recovery, our collective work in arts and culture perseveres. We share opportunities and updates below.
We remain deeply committed to supporting the LA County arts and cultural ecosystem—it’s core to our mission and our beliefs.
In solidarity,
Kristin Sakoda |
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LA County Budget Cuts
The County budget is facing extraordinary and unprecedented budget pressures due to recent historic legal settlements, lowered revenue projections, labor negotiations, impacts from state and federal budget cuts, and economic uncertainty. As a result, all County Departments have been directed to prepare for budget cuts to take effect in FY2025-26 which will be ongoing until further notice. For the Department of Arts and Culture, this cut is equal to $1,726,000, which will result in reductions to the Organizational Grant Program, Community Impact Arts Grants Program, and Arts Internship Program. We know how challenging the impact of these cuts will be on our field’s work. Information about the impacts on our grant programs can be found on our website. We communicated this news to grantees earlier in the month, and there will be additional updates when we share grant guidelines this fall. |
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2025-26 Advancement Grant awards
2024 "No Boundaries" Gallery Event. |
We are pleased to announce the 2025-26 Advancement Grant awards totaling $810,800 to support arts education in 35 LA County school districts and charter networks. With matching funds, it's over $1.6 million in arts ed investments. The Advancement Grant offers financial support to school districts working to provide quality arts education to all students. Awards are matched by school district funds to expand access to instruction in dance, media arts, music, theater, and visual arts.
The Advancement Grant Program is part of our work leading coordination of the Arts Ed Collective, made possible with funding from LA County Board of Supervisors and the Arts Ed Collective Funders Council and through direct contributions from the Herb Alpert Foundation, Colburn Foundation, The Carl and Roberta Deutsch Foundation, The Music Man Foundation, and Sony Pictures Entertainment. |
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Call for Artists
Graphics by Still Room. |
LA General Medical Center Restorative Care Village, Phase 5
LA General Medical Center Restorative Care Village, Phase 5
Our Civic Art Division invites artists to submit qualifications for an artwork commission at Phase 5 of the Restorative Care Village (RCV5), located at the LA General Medical Center in Boyle Heights, Los Angeles. The artwork will be a large exterior mural made of digitally printed aluminum panels. This fabrication method allows artists who work in any two-dimensional medium to apply.
Los Angeles County continues to develop innovative Restorative Care Village (RCV) campuses that provide comprehensive support to individuals experiencing homelessness, with an emphasis on mental health and well-being. These RCVs employ a holistic model of care, addressing the complex challenges of substance abuse, mental health conditions, housing instability, job training, and medical co-morbidity. Civic artworks play a key role in shaping these environments that foster a sense of dignity, inclusion, and community.
Application Deadline: July 8, 2025 | 5PM (PDT)
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Deadline Extended
Graphics by Francisco Tejeda. |
Temporary Artwork Storage
Did you lose artwork storage space as a result of the LA fires?
The LA County Department of Arts and Culture is offering free temporary storage for artworks to artists and community-based organizations who have lost access to home storage, studio space, commercial storage, or other areas for storing artwork due to the 2025 Los Angeles wildfires. Storage will be offered on a first come, first served basis, with priority given to applicants in the immediate fire perimeter. This service will be available for a maximum of one year, from July 2025 to July 2026. Please check our website for full details and how to apply.
The NEW application deadline is July 20, 2025 | 5PM (PT).
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National Association of Counties Achievement Awards!
Andrew Hem, Belief, 2023, Hall of Records. LA County Civic Art Collection. |
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Per the 1% Civic Art Policy and Program we administer, County Public Defender (PD) and our Civic Art Division collaborated to transform PD’s office space into a powerful testament to justice, struggle, and hope. We partnered with PD to commission eight incredible artists to create thought-provoking works that tell the stories of the people who walk through the doors of public defense, from attorneys and investigators to the clients they represent. The project, called “Art and Social Justice: Community Engagement and Employee Wellness Through Social Justice Civic Art” has now won a 2025 National Association of Counties (NACo) Achievement Award. We are grateful to the Public Defender for uplifting this important work! In all, our Department won seven 2025 NACo awards—in the "Arts, Culture, and Historic Preservation" and "Civic Education and Public Information" categories. |
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2025 Arts Internship Program
Interns attend the 2024 Art Summit event in Leimert Park. Photo by Yoko Morimoto. |
New Positions To Be posted July 1
The final batch of positions for the 2025 Arts Internship Program will be posted on July 1! 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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