LACAC Community Report 2014-15

C o m m u n i t y R e p o r t 2 0 1 4 -1 5

Board of Superviso

The Board of Supervisors, through the Arts Commission and its programs, is committed to supporting the arts and making them accessible for all LA County residents.

Mayor Michael D. Antonovich Hilda L. Solis

/ First District

Mark Ridley-Thomas Sheila Kuehl Don Knabe

/ Fifth District

/ Second District

/ Third District

/ Fourth District

Sachi A. Hamai Patrick Ogawa

/ Interim Chief Executive Officer / Acting Executive Officer

Ar t s D e p u t i e s Aileen Adams Randi Tahara Katy Young

/ First District

/ Second District

/ Third District

Steve Napolitano

/ Fourth District

Rosalind Wayman

/ Fifth District

2 JAM Session at the Ford Theatres

Los Angeles Count Arts Commission

LA County Holiday Celebration

Fosters excellence, diversity, vitality, understanding and accessibility of the arts in Los Angeles County, encompassing 88 municipalities, and provides leadership in cultural services.

Funds 364 nonprofit arts organizations through a two-year $9 million grant program .

Implements Arts for All , the LA County initiative dedicated to making the arts core in K-12 public education .

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Administers the County’s civic art policy and manages the County’s civic art collection .

Programs and operates the Ford Theatres .

Produces the Emmy® Award-winning LA Count y Holiday Celebration.

Manages the Musicians Roster and administers the Free Concerts in Public Sites Program which supports free and accessible community programming throughout LA County.

Funds the l argest paid arts internship program in the country.

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While this report is about where the Arts Commission has been during the past year, (and we’ve been to a lot of places—Los Angeles is a huge county!), we hope it inspires you to think about where we could go together. Looking back, I was struck by the sense of joy and celebration in so many of the activities.

It made me ask myself how we can best continue this sense of exploration that leads to illumination through the arts.

How can we help foster excellence and access for maximum impact? What are we going to do with you as our partner? Is there a limit? I don’t think so. We are exicited to collaborate with you in the year ahead.

Laura Zucker Executive Director Los Angeles County Arts Commission

S ENIO R S TAFF Margaret Bruning

/ Director of Civic Art

Leticia Rhi Buckley Adam Davis

/ Director of Communications and Marketing

/ Managing Director of Productions

Anji Gaspar-Milanovic Denise Grande

/ Director of Arts Education

Bronwyn Mauldin

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/ Director of Grants and Professional Development

/ Director of Research and Evaluation

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Los Angeles County is home to an enormous and immensely diverse array of artists, arts organizations and cultural centers. Every day, they bring our lives to life!

They help us understand ourselves and get to know our neighbors.

They encourage us to explore this wonderful place we call home.

The Los Angeles County Arts Commission is proud to support artistic excellence through outstanding performances, exhibitions and participatory events, a great many of which are free. We look forward to hearing from you about how the arts can play an even greater role in shaping the future of Los Angeles.

Claire Peeps President Los Angeles County Arts Commission

C OMMI S S IONE R S Claire Peeps

LA COUNTY ARTS CO M M ISSION C OMMUNITY R EPO R T 2 0 1 4 - 1 5

/ President

Constance Jolcuvar

Bettina Korek / Vice President

Peter Lesnik

Pamela Bright-Moon / Secretary

Claudia Margolis

Betty Haagen / Executive Committee

Kathryn McDonnell

Araceli Ruano / Immediate Past President

Alis Clausen Odenthal

Eric Hanks

Hope Warschaw

Helen Hernandez

Rosalind Wyman

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In July 2014, “Project Willowbrook: Cultivating a Healthy Communit y through Arts and Culture� was

named one of 37 outstanding public art projects of 2013 by Americans for the Arts through its Public Art Network Year in Review. This project was also awarded Honorable Mention by the National Association of Counties for Arts and Culture Commission.

There were 48 donated artworks accessioned into the County Collection and three artworks were conserved.

Celebrate Willowbrook Event

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Pieces Together by Lawrence Argent at the The Martin Luther King Medical Campus

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Civic art projects

C IVI C A R T P R OJE C T S

were managed

were completed

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Viver Brasil at the Ford Theatres

The historic Ford Theatres began renovations in September 2014, undergoing a complete stage reconstruction, major infrastructure improvements and adding new facilities and amenities to enhance guest and performer experiences while protecting its historic status and integrity. Construction is expected to be completed by summer 2016.

Twenty-one groups and 531 performers appeared on the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion stage during the 55th Annual LA Count y Holiday Celebration.

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The Ford Theatres was named 2014 “best music venue� in Los Angeles by media tastemaker LA Weekly.

MORE THAN

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free concerts presented across LA County

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Twenty-five school districts and one charter school network received funding totaling $413,500 through the Arts for AlL Advancement Grant Program , allowing them to invest in projects that support sustainable approaches to arts education in public schools.

T he O r g an i z at i onal Grant P ro g ram a w ar d e d 3 6 4 nonpro f i t art s or g an i z at i on s

$9,000,000 in two-year grants in July 2013 and July 2014

8 Sierra Madre Elementary student performance. Photo by Gary Leonard.

In partnership with private philanthropy, over $2.5 million in financial support was allocated for new and ongoing programs including arts education and public engagement.

National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) Chairman Jane Chu met with Arts Commission staff during her inaugural visit to LA County in February 2015. The NEA has been a strong supporter of our work, most recently providing major funding for a creative pl acemaking project in the Antelope Valley.

8,800 100 OVER

People

attended the Ford’s free JAM Sessions and Family events

LA County artists were included on the musicians roster

Butterfly Effect by Merle Axelrad at the Arcadia Mental Health Center

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The Technology Enhanced Arts Learning (TEAL) project launched in January 2015 to provide K-6 teachers throughout LA County with professional development in the arts through blended learning, incorporating face-to-face and online lessons. TEAL is a partnership between the Arts Commission and the LA County Office of Education Center for Distance and Online Learning, funded by the Productivity and Quality Commission.

Visual artist residency

More than 40 school

board members and

superintendents from

across LA County gathered to discuss the progress of arts education throughout the region.

10 Arts for All school board breakfast

Professional development workshop

More than 100 professional

development and technical

assistance workshops and events were

hosted by the Arts Commission, serving artists, arts organizations, civic and community leaders and educators.

The Arts Internship Program provided 131 college students paid internships at performing, literary and municipal arts and culture organizations throughout the County.

SEVEN artistS were commissioned by the Arts Commission to create their first civic artwork for LA County.

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1,900

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local artists

c u lt u r e s a n d Ar t f o r m s

performed

represented

in the Ford summer season

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Released in February 2014, We Are in This Together: A Survey of Communit y Arts Partners in LA Count y Public Schools is the first-ever report identifying

teaching artists and arts organizations working in LA County public schools.

The second report in a series exploring wages and

benefits in arts nonprofits in the region, Benefits in Nonprofit Arts Organizations in LA Count y , found that organizations continued

to provide health coverage to their employees even as their budgets were battered during the Great Recession.

79 81 185 are partnering with

OF

School Districts

LA COUNTY ARTS CO M M ISSION C OMMUNITY R EPO R T 2 0 1 4 - 1 5

to bring arts education to students across the region

communit y arts partners

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Performance by Santa Fe High School students

The report Creative Work: How Arts Education Promotes Career Opportunities Beyond the Arts analyzed

Arts Education in Brief: Trends since 2005 follows the growth of arts classes offered in LA County school districts, despite the Great Recession.

creative occupations in LA County, finding that creative jobs aren’t just in the creative industries, and they are not limited to people with a bachelor’s degree.

The arts are highlighted in 77% of LA County school districts’ Local Control Accountability Plans (LCAP).

These findings are summarized in Arts Education in LA Count y LCAPs 2014-15 , a regional scan of school districts and how they incorporated the arts into their plans.

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13 Big World Fun Family Series at the Ford Theatres

I am who I am..

Antelope Valley Outpost Open Conversation

Breaking the Stereotypes of Littlerock High School Students

By Teresa Howard

Littlerock High students didn’t quite know what to expect from Las Cafeteras’ Outpost Open Conversation workshop. As they shuffled into the assembly room, few could have guessed what a life-altering experience laid before them. As the workshop proceeded the students were spellbound by Las Cafeteras’ infectious energy. They were totally engaged as Las Cafeteras offered them simple, but profound storytelling techniques and demonstrated how a single story can change the world.

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A few days later, a group of students walked through my office door with a proposal – the workshop had been so impactful to them that they were inspired to start a group of their own. Their mission, they explained, was to address the stereotypes plaguing Littlerock students and to advocate for social progress. It was a very diverse group of students and each with his or her own story to share: some had experienced discrimination due to their sexual orientation and religious affiliation, while others had experienced the stigma of homelessness, childhood obesity, anorexia or depression.

The students presented their ideas for an assembly that would raise awareness about the different struggles they were facing and promote compassion among their peers. They titled it “I am who I am.” The group sees it as a legacy of sorts, inspiring future Littlerock High students to be proud of who they are and where they come from.

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“I am who I am” resulted in a number of other activities including “Freshmen Girls and Boys Rock” assemblies to kick off the school year addressing anti-bullying and featuring upperclassmen who have made a great turnaround in their high school careers. In addition, the Associated Student Body will be hosting a “Going to College” assembly that will showcase graduating seniors and where they are going to college. Campus leaders believe that recognizing the accomplishments of their peers will inspire younger students toward achieving their goals.

The Las Cafeteras workshop struck a deep chord with me on a personal level as well. As a vice principal, I am now more aware of how important it is for students to have a forum where they can share their stories and express their identities. I feel privileged to be working with students who teach me things about myself in ways I’m sure they don’t yet understand. Their passion for a better, more compassionate world has inspired me to be a better leader and has made Littlerock High a better place to be.

Teresa Howard is Vice Principal at Littlerock High School. Open Conversations is a component of Antelope Valley Art Outpost (Outpost), a creative placemaking project that supports regional vitality through artist-driven projects in the unincorporated communities of Littlerock and Sun Village. Outpost is a project of the Arts Commission’s Civic Art Program, which administers the County’s civic art policy and manages the civic art collection.

Las Cafeteras

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STOP AS QUESTIONS..

Storytelling artist residency

S t a r t T a k i n g Ac t i o n

By Dr. Roxane Fuentes

Over the past year and half, El Rancho Unified School District went from asking what if?, to doing what we only once imagined. With the support of Arts for All and through innovative leadership from all levels – the school board, district administration and teachers – we have set in motion actions that are improving teaching and learning, and bringing our district into the 21st century.

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El Rancho Unified School District (ERUSD) is located in the City of Pico Rivera, south of the City of Los Angeles and north of Long Beach. Last year’s student enrollment for Transitional Kindergarten through 12th grade was 9,376. We have eight elementary schools, three middle schools, one comprehensive high school and one continuation high school. Ninety-eight percent of ERUSD students are Hispanic and 23% are English learners. All of our school sites receive Title I funding, designated to schools with high percentages of low-income families. Eightythree percent of students across the district qualify for free or reduced price meals.

We knew that if we wanted to prepare our students for success, we had to stop asking questions and start taking action, so in 2014

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we set out to address the diverse needs of our students in a new way. Establishing partnerships has been a critical component of our growth. When we gathered input for our Local Control Accountability Plan (LCAP), community members shared a strong interest in developing Visual and Performing Arts (VAPA) programs district wide. Although we had a strong VAPA department at El Rancho High School and an award-winning band program at North Park Middle School, arts instruction was minimal in the rest of our schools. We joined Arts for All to assist us in refueling our passion for the arts and rebuilding programs across our district.

Visual artist residency

Arts for All provided a coach to help us create a plan for using the arts to improve the experience and performance of our students. With the help of our coach, Cybele Garcia-Kohel, we built a Community Action Team that developed a mission and strategic plan. Cybele connected us with local arts advocates, recommended schools with strong arts programs for us to visit, and shared valuable research on arts education. These resources were crucial to establishing our vision, setting targets and taking steps towards our goals.

We wanted to create an environment where innovation is encouraged, everyone is a learner, and where taking risks, and sometimes failing, is recognized as part of the learning process.

Throughout the year we put this philosophy to the test as we faced our own set of challenges. Due to state and district budget reductions over the years, high school and middle school VAPA programs had been reduced, we had to build strong rationale to inform teachers and administrators about the importance of the arts as a core subject, and we had limited access to supplies and equipment.

Music artist residency

We wholeheartedly believe in the power of a collaborative creative culture to foster innovation. Despite our barriers, with Cybele by our side we were able to make huge strides. By shifting the culture of our administrators and teachers, in one year’s time we created STEAM* Academy @ Burke, a magnet academy for our middle school students, offered teacher-led professional learning, revamped some of our traditional school spaces into studentcentered hubs, and expanded course and curriculum pathways in the arts for students across the district. ERUSD also put into place a board-approved Visual and Performing Arts policy, a multi-year strategic plan for arts education, and established a VAPA Council that will expand to include representatives from all school sites in 2015-16.

Tapping into the Arts for All network helped us gain recognition and support from across Southern California for our STEAM Academy @ Burke. We will launch four more academies in the fall of 2015, three of which have an arts focus. In 2015-16 Arts for All’s Advancement Grant Program will support our work in carrying out our strategic arts plan.

This is our imperfect journey and we hope to inspire others to embark on their own adventure towards increased stakeholder engagement and ultimately increased student learning.

Transformation is taking place in ERUSD, and we couldn’t be more grateful to our partners, like Arts for All, that have joined us on this quest! * Science Technology, Engineering, Arts and Math

Dr. Roxane Fuentes is Assistant Superintendent for El Rancho Unified School District. In 2014, the district joined Arts for All, the LA County initiative dedicated to making the arts core in K-12 public education.

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AN ARTS LEADER..

Devonne Bowman (right) joins fellow LA County interns at a Arts Summit event in Culver CIty.

in the Making

By Eric Inman

I have been lucky to be a part of a mentor/mentee relationship several times in my life. I discovered that the success of such a bond is to start from a place of trust, allowing the mentee to share in the responsibility and ownership of their work. I was very excited about Watts Village Theater Company’s participation in the LA County Arts Internship Program. It was a chance for me to serve as a mentor again.

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When I received Devonne Bowman’s resume, a sophomore theatre major at Howard University, I was blown away by the diversity of her experience and my positive impression only grew stronger after we spoke. It was clear to me she understood the scope of our work and had the inherent ability to promote our mission.

As soon as she joined our team, Devonne jumped right in. I gave her full freedom. I wanted her to own her experience. We started the first day with a check in, “What would you like to learn?”

She expressed her desire to gain a deeper understanding of development and together we created a punch list of activities for her to accomplish over the course of her 10-week internship. As a way to document her experience and reflect back on what

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she learned, Devonne started a blog. After reading the first couple entries, I gained greater insight about her and realized I needed to carve out time to get to know her better.

I discovered that Devonne wants to start a theatre company when she graduates. I tailored her experience to include a view into our decision-making process. She was encouraged

Interns at Arts Summit

to share her voice and by doing so, helped us understand the needs of our community better, specifically about arts education and professional productions. As we settled

As Watts Village Theatre Company faced one of the most difficult

into this working dynamic, I not only noticed a change in

challenges an organization could face – the overwhelming loss

Devonne but also in myself. Devonne’s ability to clearly

of its leader – I recognized in Devonne a valuable and key player

articulate an idea enabled me to gain a new perspective. This

in our company. I know I was able to accomplish the important

was a gift. Devonne continued to prove she could handle

tasks that lay before me because of Devonne’s commitment and

more responsibility which we gladly handed to her. And she

perseverance. It was during this time that it hit me - Devonne

kept shining.

was not only a seasonal college intern, she was a leader in the making. She has the talent, the drive and the intelligence to make a difference.

Trust. Ownership. Faith. Offering these to Devonne from the beginning gave both of us an opportunity to learn and grow.

Devonne made me a better leader. Her impact on Watts Village Theater is deep and will stay with us. I know a true mentor/mentee relationship works if the trust comes both ways. Devonne trusted me, I trusted her. And because of this experience we will both be stronger arts administrators, and most importantly, better people.

Eric Inman is Managing Director of Watts Village Theater Company. Devonne Bowman will be a junior at Howard University in the fall of 2015. The Arts Commission, with support from The Getty Foundation, funds the LA County Arts Internship Program, the largest paid arts internship program in the country.

19 Watts Village Theatre Company. Photo by Jenn Spain Photography.

THE BENEFITS OF..

Professional development workshop

Reporting on Benefits

By Bronwyn Mauldin

In January 2015, the Arts Commission released a report exploring benefits offered to employees by arts nonprofits in LA County. This report, Benefits in Nonprofit Arts Organizations in LA County, is part of a long-term project we’ve been working on since 2009, and it launched a conversation that will continue in the field.

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Our analysis of the data uncovered two important facts: LA County arts nonprofits are doing better than employers overall in the region in providing health benefits to their employees, but lag far behind in providing retirement benefits.

Specifically, we found that 53 percent of LA County arts nonprofits with fewer than 50 employees pay some portion of their employees’ health care, compared to 39 percent of all small employers in California. Among LA County arts nonprofits with more than 50 employees, all of them provide health benefits.

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At the same time, though, only 21 percent of arts nonprofits with paid employees offer retirement benefits, well below the rate of 63 percent among all nonprofits in southern and central California.

The data we used is collected by the Cultural Data Project (CDP).

The LA County Arts Commission has required grantees to submit data to CDP since 2009 as part of the grant application process.

Today, 37 public and private grantmakers in California require their grantees to participate. The CDP is used in 12 other states as well, plus the District of Columbia.

Professional development workshop

Professional development workshop

The Arts Commission joined the CDP for two reasons. First, it created a common application process intended to benefit arts nonprofits. An organization only has to enter their data once into the CDP to apply to multiple funders in the state. Second, the data collected by the CDP can be mined to give us insights into strengths, challenges, issues and opportunities among arts nonprofits in our region.

Most CDP data is financial, though it includes information about significant non-financial information such as programs and services provided, attendance, website activity, staffing and volunteers as well. CDP collects a wealth of information, and filling in all the details can be a demanding task, particularly for small organizations. The CDP knows this, and provides extensive help to nonprofits that complete it through group trainings and one-on-one technical assistance. It has taken a few years, but the dataset is now robust enough to provide good information about the current state of arts nonprofits as well as trends over time.

Our first report to mine CDP data was on salaries (click here to read it). The second was on benefits. Our finding on the low level of retirement benefits in that second report raised a red flag for us. We saw it as an issue that required urgent attention.

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To that end, the Arts Commission brought together a group of local arts nonprofits that do offer retirement benefits to their employees for a public forum in March to talk about what they do and how they do it. Participating in the session were representatives from Arts & Services for Disabled, Community Partners, Cornerstone Theater Company and East West Players.

Our keynote speaker was Jan Masaoka, CEO of the California Association of Nonprofits and a national expert on benefits in nonprofits. The presentations were rich and enlightening.

We knew that this issue is one that different organizations will be ready to address at different times in their development. We also knew it is a national issue, not just a local one. So we recorded the entire forum for podcast. Anyone can listen in at any time.

For every research report we do, the Arts Commission identifies at least two national experts in the field to serve as external reviewers. This is a best practice that helps ensure our work is of the highest quality, while helping us to connect with the growing network of arts and culture researchers. In this way, our work not only helps arts nonprofits in LA County do their work more effectively, it also informs the field more broadly.

Our third report on CDP data will look at yet another critical part of the arts nonprofit ecology: volunteers. Look for it later this year.

Bronwyn Mauldin is Director of Research and Evaluation for the Arts Commission.

The Arts Commission is one of a few local arts agencies in the country that have a full time research and evaluation team on staff. Additional reports can be found here.

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WELCOME TO..

Drum circle JAM Session with Christopher Ramirez (center). Photo by Derek Hanchi.

o u r JAM S e ss i o n

By Jennifer Fukutomi-Jones

Christopher Ramirez is surrounded by percussion instruments, ready to share his love of the collective experience that is a drum circle. He watches as the seats around him fill with people.

Making their way through the circle are a few parents and their excited kids, along with a group of elderly men and women and a young couple holding hands.

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Christopher encourages the group to touch the instruments and to listen to the sound they make. A few people begin to tap on a drum in front of them while others find a shaker to rattle.

More drumbeats, a few more shakes, the occasional “ding” of a triangle and quickly the group’s shared music making travels down Main Street in Old Town Newhall. “Welcome to our JAM session!” Christopher shouts over the boisterous sounds.

These are the moments that inspire facilitator and percussionist Christopher Ramirez. “Watching people who don’t know one another create rhythms and make music together brings a smile to my face,” says Christopher. Over the years, he’s led many JAM Sessions, both at the Ford Theatres and in communities across LA County. These free interactive events encourage people to sing, dance and play music along with their fellow Angelenos.

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“The Ford’s JAM Sessions create a very safe space for everyone: people of all ages, skill levels and backgrounds,” states Christopher.

Leading a Ford JAM means creating opportunities for people to choose how much or how little they want to participate. “Because everyone is coming at it from their own personal level of comfort,” he shares. “It’s important to encourage them to find their entry point, whether they watch from the crowd or drum in the center of the circle.”

Christopher believes that “art can create a platform to transcend perceived limitations and differences, and that drumming can be a tool to help build community spirit.” At the end of one JAM Session, there was a woman who kept on drumming – even after the rest of the group had stopped. Christopher picks up the story, “She had her eyes closed and was creating her own rhythm.

When she stopped, she explained that she was pregnant and that she hadn’t felt her child move for weeks until that drum circle.

Everyone cheered and hugged her. It was an incredible moment.”

Christopher Ramirez is a percussionist and founder of Freedom Drum Circles.

Jennifer Fukutomi-Jones is Associate Program Manager, Community Events for the Ford Theatres.

JAM Session. Photo by Derek Hanchi

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JAM Session at the Ford Theatres

L O S ANGE L E S C O u n TY A R T S C OMMI S S ION 10 5 5 W i l s h i r e B o u l e va r d, S u i t e 8 0 0 L o s A n g e l e s , CA 9 0 0 1 7

C ONT R I B UTO R S Amin El Gamal Kim Glann Ann Jensen

Kim Kandel Marta Martinez Jessie Towers

TEL (2 13) 202-5 85 8 l a c o u n t ya r t s .o r g

All photos by Gennia Cui except where indicated.