With excitement from the opening of the 2024 Paris Olympic Games, and in anticipation of Los Angeles’ role as host of the 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games, students from three LA County art and design schools in the 2024 Cultural Olympiad Poster Competition were honored today with a celebration at the Board of Supervisors meeting and a presentation by Board Chair Lindsey Horvath. The presentation was attended by dignitaries including the Deputy Consul General of France in Los Angeles Dimitri Demianenko, members of the Los Angeles County Arts Commission, students and staff from art schools, project partners, representatives of LA28, arts sector leaders, and others.

To celebrate the 2024 Games and prepare for the handover of the Olympic flame to Los Angeles for the 2028 Games, the City of Paris and Los Angeles County, through its LA County Department of Arts and Culture (Department of Arts and Culture), together with their partners, co-organized the 2024 Paris Cultural Olympiad Poster Competition. The competition brings together students from art schools in both Paris and Los Angeles to showcase creativity, cooperation, Olympic themes, and civic engagement through art and graphic design. Students from the Ecole Professionnelle Supérieure d’Arts Graphiques de Paris (EPSAA) in Paris, ArtCenter College of Design, California Institute of the Arts (CalArts), and Otis College of Art and Design created original designs as well as GIF animations, selected for exhibition in Paris, Los Angeles, and online.

The 24 selected posters are on exhibit now in Paris at the Jardin Villemin - Mahsa Jîna Amini through September 9, 2024 and digitally at the City of Paris' website. The Department of Arts and Culture is partnering with The Music Center to exhibit the posters on digital screens on Jerry Moss Plaza at The Music Center in DTLA, and the City of LA Department of Cultural Affairs is exhibiting the posters in City Hall’s Bridge Gallery.

"As we celebrate the opening of the 2024 Paris Olympics, it is an honor to recognize the incredible talent and creativity of students from LA County’s art and design schools," said LA County Board Chair Lindsey P. Horvath. "The 2024 Paris Cultural Olympiad Poster Competition not only showcases the vibrant spirit of young artists across our communities, but also highlights the powerful role of art and culture in fostering international cooperation and civic engagement. These works of art symbolize the unity and shared aspirations of Paris and Los Angeles, and I am thrilled to see them exhibited both here and abroad, inspiring us all as we prepare to welcome the world to Los Angeles in 2028."

"As the leading author for the Cultural Equity and Inclusion Initiative and the Countywide Cultural Policy, I am proud to see Los Angeles County collaborate in a historic project with the City of Paris, the City of Los Angeles, and the Seine-Saint-Denis region to uplift student artists both at home and abroad,” said Supervisor Hilda L. Solis. "These posters not only demonstrate creativity but also serve as a bridge between Paris and Los Angeles—promoting cultural diplomacy and civic engagement. Many thanks to all the partners involved. I look forward to our continued engagement as we gear up for the LA 2028 Games!"

“Congratulations to the incredible young artists whose work was selected for this prestigious Olympics Poster Competition! It’s inspiring to see students from across our communities, including from CalArts and ArtCenter in my district, representing our County on the world stage and building momentum toward the 2028 Olympics here in Los Angeles County," said Supervisor Kathryn Barger.

The 2024 Paris Cultural Olympiad Poster Competition is one of several projects that are a part of a historic collaboration among the City of Paris, Los Angeles County, City of Los Angeles, and Seine-Saint-Denis region. The work began years ago with a Leadership Exchange between arts and culture administrators from Los Angeles and Paris that explored the role of arts and culture in the Games. Later, an unprecedented Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) for cultural cooperation for the 2024 and 2028 Games was signed, and now the partners are developing artistic collaboration projects as part of the 2024 Paris Cultural Olympiad. The Paris/Los Angeles collaboration provides an opportunity to promote the role of the arts in the Games, engage in cultural diplomacy, involve LA artists in the Paris 2024 Cultural Olympiad, test events and concepts, and cultivate learnings to inform the development of cultural programs for the 2028 Games in Los Angeles. In addition to the Poster Competition, projects include:

• Nuit Blanche: Nuit Blanche, which means "White Night," began in 2002 in Paris. The June 1-2 all night art festival showcased contemporary art in public spaces throughout the city and featured LA-based artist Edgar Arceneaux.
• FAMA (French American Mural Art) Mural Project: Led by the City of LA Department of Cultural Affairs and the City of Paris in the context of the Paris 2024 and LA 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games, the ninth edition of the FAMA Mural Project featured LA artist Katbing, who was paired with French artist Kekli to create this artwork.
• World Music Day (Fête de la Musique) Celebration: Celebrate Make Music Day was held in Leimert Park on June 21, 2024. The City of LA Department of Cultural Affairs, in partnership with LA Commons and Make Music LA, presented Pulsations LA, a free outdoor concert event and global livestream featuring performances by Cultural Treasures Kinnara Taiko, Fernando Pullum Community Arts Center Jazz Ensemble with vocalist Dwight Trible, tap dance by the Nicholas Dance Studio, poetry by artivist S. Pearl Sharp, a drum workshop by Project Knucklehead, and Amazing Grace Conservatory’s Wendy Raquel Robinson as Emcee.
• Playin’ Paris: Presented by La Place hip hop cultural center in Paris, this event brings together sport, music and dance in a unique event. This second edition features 3x3 basketball, DJing, and hip-hop dance. LA-based DJs Beat Junkies are participating, and LA graffiti artist DEEFER was commissioned to create art.
• Poetic Games and Poetry Relay: As part of the Cultural Olympiad, from May to September 2024 Paris is set to host a first-of-its-kind program: the Jeux Poétiques de Paris (the Paris Poetic Games). The Poetic Relay project, the culmination of the Poetic Games on September 7, is a collaboration between the Paris University Club and Beyond Baroque Literary Center, sponsored by the City of LA Department of Cultural Affairs through the business incubation enterprises of Community Partners.
• Youth Arts Education Programs: To extend impact and reach to youth, the Department of Arts and Culture engaged its contracted community-based organizations to offer youth arts programs aligned with themes of the Paris/Los Angeles collaboration—Olympic and Paralympic Games, arts and sports, Olympic values, cultural diversity and inclusion, and connections between U.S. and France. Programs will include breakdance, poetry, drum, writing, and mural workshops, in LA County parks (through the OUR Spot and Parks After Dark programs) and juvenile detention centers through its Arts Education and Youth Development Division.
• Food Temple Culinary Festival: The Department of Arts and Culture is partnering with the City of Paris, Le Carreau du Temple, and Los Angeles-based LA Plaza de Cultura y Artes to present an LA chef at the Food Temple. The festival will engage thousands of attendees in Paris, highlight Los Angeles as part of its California theme, and uplift food as culture. Details to come.

“Arts and culture have long been part of the Olympic Games, from cultural initiatives, arts festivals, artwork commissions, and special projects, and are worthy of more visibility. The unprecedented collaborations recognized today—the Poster Competition, our historic MOU, and the Los Angeles County and City collaboration with Paris—promote cultural diplomacy and highlight roles the arts can play. We are grateful to Paris, City of LA, and all our partners, and congratulate the student artists in the Poster Competition. It’s exciting to foster artistic projects in both Paris and LA as part of the 2024 Paris Cultural Olympiad, and to deepen our learnings as we plan and prepare for the 2028 Games in Los Angeles,” said Kristin Sakoda, Director of the Department of Arts and Culture.