In its second evaluation of the Creative Wellbeing approach, Harder+Company Community Research found that young people who participated experienced positive social-emotional benefits while also exploring their interests, building technical art skills, and increasing their access to the arts. Adults who participated in the program are experiencing and embodying Creative Wellbeing values and healing themselves through this work. They further found that

Today, in a motion authored by Supervisor Hilda L. Solis, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors unanimously declared the week of June 10, 2024 as Arts and Health Week. There is growing research that demonstrates the arts have a positive impact across physical, mental, and public health.

I want to first acknowledge the close of May, which marked both Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander (AANHPI) Heritage Month and Mental Health Month! I am grateful to our many incredible grantees, artists, Creative Strategists, and partners who serve our AANHPI communities, and I am of course also very proud of our collaborators with whom we work at the intersection of arts, health, and recovery—including our growing Creative Wellbeing programs and resources…

The March professional development newsletter contains opportunities for grantees and individuals. It was sent out on May 2, 2024. Explore newsletter

What an Arts Month it has been! It began with a motion by Chair Lindsey Horvath and Supervisor Solis declaring April as Arts Month in LA County, praising the artists, creatives, educators, organizations, and advocates vital to arts and culture, and highlighting our decades of continued work to ensure the people of Los Angeles County have access to arts. This motion, and other motions before it, also called for support in expanding our flagship Organizational Grant Program (OGP), which supports over 650 cultural and arts organizations of all sizes.

This third study by SMU DataArts analyzing the demographic makeup of the arts and cultural workforce in LA County finds a significant shift toward greater racial and ethnic diversity since 2019, particularly at the leadership level.

The LA County Arts Internship Program (AIP) will provide 228 university and community college students with paid on-the-job experience in the arts at over 160 nonprofit organizations across the LA region starting this summer. Applications for interested students are open now.

The Board of Supervisors has declared April 2024 as Arts Month—a time to celebrate, and advocate for, the power of the arts! To celebrate Arts Month, we have made a few artworks available to download below as desktop wallpapers or video conference backgrounds (for programs such as Teams and Zoom). The artworks on this page represent only a small portion of the full Los Angeles County Civic Art Collection. We also invite you to:

As we close out March, Women’s History Month, on behalf of the Department I acknowledge the vital and vibrant contributions of all the female-identifying artists, arts leaders, culture bearers, creative workers, and community advocates throughout LA County! Just above this note, for instance, is artist Rebecca Méndez with the artwork she created for our Civic Art Collection at the Greater Whittier Regional Aquatic Center, and below, we highlight news about the film of our Arts Commissioner, Pamela Bright-Moon.

PATRISSE CULLORS SELECTED FOR LA COUNTY DEPARTMENT OF ARTS AND CULTURE CREATIVE STRATEGIST ARTIST RESIDENCY TO Deepen UNDERSTANDING OF PEOPLE EXPERIENCING HOMELESSNESS

This February we recognized Black History Month and its national theme of African Americans and the Arts. We celebrate all artists, organizations, artworks, and individuals that uplift African American and Black arts, culture, and history here in Los Angeles County. This year, I had the additional honor of being the keynote speaker for the Los Angeles County African American Employees Association gala, following a performance of "Lift Every Voice and Sing" by youth from Arts and Culture grantee Amazing Grace Conservatory!

The March professional development newsletter contains opportunities for grantees and individuals. It was sent out on February 14, 2024. Explore Newsletter

I am grateful that LA County recognizes that arts and culture strengthen the quality of life and the social and economic development of our people and communities. The Countywide Cultural Policy, adopted by the Board in 2020, serves as a roadmap for how the County and its departments can ensure that every resident has meaningful access to arts and culture… Learn More

Civic Art Division annual report for the 2022-23 fiscal year.

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...