Newsroom

Read about what Arts for LA has been doing this month.

It has never been more clear that arts and culture have an essential role to play in building an equitable, healthy future for the LA region. Our team is committed to keeping you –our arts advocacy community– informed and ready to take action in support of a city, county, and state that truly serves all of its people.

Last night, members of the Arts for LA community gathered to celebrate the graduation of the 2020 ACTIVATE Delegates cohort. We congratulate this year’s incredible cohort. We are also excited to welcome 10 outstanding ACTIVATE: Arts Innovators to the Arts for LA community! Be sure to read about our special graduation and this exciting new ACTIVATE curriculum track below.

Yesterday, the LA County Board of Supervisors made history and unanimously adopted a Countywide Cultural Policy – the first of its kind in the nation. This policy affirms the County’s value of arts and culture as central to all aspects of civic life. We are very excited to see an explicit commitment to expand equity-focused arts and culture investment to increase support for communitybased organizations and cultural resources, particularly those that represent and serve historically marginalized and low income communities and communities of color. This community came together to submit over 270 letters in support of this policy.

This work simply cannot be done without your support. Arts for LA is trying to close a fiscal-year-end fundraising gap, and our Advancement Committee has generously issued a matching challenge! All gifts received before the June 30th deadline will be matched up to $6,500! Thank you to those who have helped us get to $4,005 – help us meet our goal and donate or become a member today!

Onward!

Gustavo Herrera
Executive Director

STATEMENT OF SOLIDARITY

On June 3rd, Arts for LA released a statement of solidarity in response to the murder of George Floyd and to stand in solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement in the fight against racial injustice. We have taken time this month to connect with our staff and board leadership to define concrete steps that we can take to begin to address the deep seeded issues of racism and inequities within our arts and culture sector, the city, county, state and nation. Below are actions that we will take:

Arts for LA has joined the Healthy LA Coalition – a cross-sector network of more than 325 advocacy organizations fighting for racial and economic equity.
As the advocacy around prioritizing investment in public services and into neighborhood programs for low income and communities of color, Arts for LA will continue to make the case that the arts are essential partners to building an equitable society.
We will host community conversations and convene the sector to have cross-discipline discussions to advance the equity work throughout the County.
Lastly, as a board and staff, we will all undergo anti-racism training and we are committed to conducting an annual cultural equity audit that assesses internal and external policies, programs, communications and board and staff diversity.

MEMBER SPOTLIGHT: INNER-CITY ARTS

The arts are essential – both during multi-pronged crises in our county, and after – and we are proud of the work our members have been doing to support their communities. Artists and the arts community have been among those spearheading creative and innovative ways to practice, perform, and engage with art, for community members and especially for our students.

LAUSD has many dedicated and passionate nonprofit partners; we celebrate them all and their great teamwork with the District. The team at Inner-City Arts is very proud to share the results of their effort since LAUSD’s return from spring break on April 13, 2020. They have collectively inspired over 1,600 individual students, at 37 schoolswith over 450 classes creating over 15,000 student experiences – what a shift in delivery model for them and their community! These 450 classes have all been LIVE and INTERACTIVE on Zoom for “no charge” during the COVID-19 crisis.

Testimonial:

“I would like to, once again, let you know how grateful I feel for your program. Today was the very first time I had 14 students out of 19 show up altogether to a Zoom Meeting. The arts can motivate students and let them be themselves!”

– Ms. Duran, Teacher, Griffin Ave, 1st grade

ACTIVATE 2020

Last night, members of the Arts for LA community gathered to celebrate the 2020 ACTIVATE Delegates cohort. Several graduates shared personal narratives, detailing their introduction to the arts and journey towards advocacy and community organizing. The evening ended with a beautiful performance by Maricela Martinez, Director of Mariachi for the Mariachi Lindas Mexicanas.

We are so grateful to the incredible cohort of ACTIVATE and can’t wait to support their future advocacy efforts!

We are also excited to to introduce the cohort for our second brand new ACTIVATE track, Innovators. This new program offers a platform for experimental action projects that have the potential to re-shape LA’s civic and arts and culture community.

BECOME A MEMBER

In the wake of a global crisis, where arts and culture are key to unifying communities and coping with a new reality, Arts for LA is your only cross-discipline, cross-sector advocacy organization working to give the arts a voice during crucial decision making moments.

When you become a member of Arts for LA, you are joining a movement of artists, arts administrators, arts organizations, and arts advocates united in support of the same goal: ensuring the arts and culture in Los Angeles County are supported, especially in times of crisis.

Arts for LA’s Advancement Board Committee has issued a matching challenge – together, the Committee members will match all donations up to $6,500. Become a member today, and your financial impact will be doubled!

Become a Member Today!