The March, 2023 Professional Development Newsletter.

I want to first acknowledge February is Black History Month and celebrate Los Angeles County’s Black-identifying artists, creators, and organizations making cultural contributions to our collective history, our present, and our future...

I wish all of you a Happy New Year! We are happy to share that Creative Recovery LA, our grant initiative that directs over $26 million in American Rescue Plan funds to local arts nonprofits, is well underway. There are a few remaining workshops designed to assist applicants, opportunities for office hours, and lots of resources on our website. The application is open now, and closes February 15.

As part of Los Angeles County’s American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) relief and recovery programs, the LA County Department of Arts and Culture launches the innovative Creative Recovery LA initiative this week.

The final newsletter of the year is an opportunity both to reflect and to look forward to the new year. Perhaps most urgently for the field, we are getting ready to open applications to Creative Recovery LA in January. In this unprecedented funding investment, we will award over $26 million in American Rescue Plan funds to deliver financial relief and recovery to the LA County nonprofit arts and culture sector. It is an incredible opportunity for local nonprofits, with an equity lens, and I am proud of our team working to deliver public funding for the arts where it's needed most. Help us spread the word.

The Department of Arts and Culture uses data and analysis to engage with some of the most important questions in the field of arts, culture, and creativity. Visit the Research Lab to get the highlights. For published reports, please see the Publications page. Or stop by LA County’s Open Data Portal to explore where the arts and creativity connect.

Civic Art Division annual report for the 2021-22 fiscal year.

To kick off our anniversary celebration, Supervisor Holly J. Mitchell authored a motion to commemorate 75 years of arts and culture in LA County, which the Board unanimously passed. And to continue the celebration, we've created a special 75 Years of Arts and Culture report.