To support local arts nonprofits and the communities they serve, the Los Angeles County Department of Arts and Culture (Arts and Culture) today announced $5.6M in grants to 353 nonprofit organizations through its 2026-2027 Organizational Grant Program (OGP) and Community Impact Arts Grant (CIAG) awards.

OGP is designed to support and sustain LA County’s nonprofit arts sector with grants to a wide array of organizations, large and small, working across arts and cultural disciplines including visual arts, performing arts, film and media, literary arts, and arts education. The funding ensures diverse communities have wide access to the arts, with funding shown to reach 95% of the zip codes in LA County. OGP grants will go to 266 organizations, 44 of which are first time applicants to the program. The total allocation for grantees this year is $5,059,000. As a combined cohort, the two-year OGP grants awarded $10,118,000 to 527 organizations for fiscal years 2025-26 and 2026-27.

Through OGP, Arts and Culture addresses systemic inequity in arts funding in the nonprofit sector; 94% of the organizations that were awarded have budgets under $5M and 44% have budgets under $200K, with 91% of the total OGP funding allocation awarded to micro, small, and midsized organizations with budgets under $3M. These organizations are often underfunded and include those that reflect and serve communities of color, historically marginalized, and rural communities.

Grantees can use funds to support their operating needs, from staffing and organizational infrastructure to public arts programming for the communities they engage. Grantees can also access Arts and Culture’s professional development opportunities — programs designed in-house, as well as scholarships for trainings and conferences.

In addition to their budgets, the awarded organizations range greatly in service area and mission. The Mariachi Women's Foundation, for example, provides mariachi women and girls with opportunities in music performance, education, and community engagement. Rhythm Arts Alliance connects system-impacted youth ages 7–25 with drumming, dance, and song so they can heal from trauma, and build life skills and belonging within their communities. First time grantee, the Banjee Ball Foundation, uses Ballroom culture to provide creative, education and career opportunities to LGBTQIA individuals and women. The Long Beach Youth Chorus develops appreciation of choral music and musical talent among young people from diverse backgrounds, giving them the skills that choral singing can develop — deep listening, teamwork, and resilient memory. The Santa Clarita Master Chorale brings similar benefits to its all-ages community, and will pay for music rights, venue rentals, and skilled instrumentalists with its grant funding. The Autry Museum of the American West’s grant will support a range of artistic and cultural programs including exhibitions, Block Party, National Day of the Cowboy, and Autry After Hours. The Geffen Playhouse will use its OGP funds to support continued artistic programming as Artistic Director Tarell Alvin McCraney’s vision takes shape. A complete list of OGP grantees, and the programs and events this funding will support, can be found here.

Different than Arts and Culture’s longstanding funding for nonprofits with a primary focus on the arts, the Community Impact Arts Grant (CIAG) supports arts-based programs of social justice and service organizations. CIAG was designed to address two priorities: making arts services available to LA County residents who might not experience them through traditional arts venues, and encouraging the integration of the arts in cross-sector work.

There were 87 awarded organizations in CIAG this year, with 23 new awardees. The total CIAG allocation is $500,000, and awards range from $1,550 to $6,700. Grantee programs span art forms, communities, and service areas, from therapeutic visual arts, to social justice filmmaking, music education for youth, dance empowerment, and memory programs for people with dementia.

The Boys & Girls Club of West San Gabriel Valley will put its grant funds toward after-school arts programs including dance, music, photography, clay animation, music composition and production, and song writing. The Teen Project uses art therapies for young women who have survived some combination of sexual assault, human trafficking, systems involvement, homelessness, and substance use disorder. Unearth and Empower Communities, Inc, which creates pathways to college, employment, and entrepreneurship for South LA’s youth, will support the Compton Mural Project, which combines mural design with civic education, cultural heritage exploration, and artistic skill-building. A complete list of CIAG grantees, and the programs and events this funding will support, can be found here.

To assist new and returning applicants, Arts and Culture provides application workshops and technical assistance. After submission, applications for both programs are reviewed and scored in a peer panel review process, this year by a combined 98 diverse expert panelists from LA’s community of cultural workers, artists, curators, nonprofit arts administrators, arts funders, and arts educators. Award recommendations are then approved by the Arts Commission, an advisory body appointed by the Board of Supervisors

"For more than a decade, my work to advance Los Angeles County’s Cultural Equity and Inclusion Initiative has been rooted in a simple belief: every Angeleno, no matter where they live, deserves the opportunity to experience, create, and participate in the arts,” said Los Angeles County Board Chair First District Supervisor Hilda L. Solis. “The Department of Arts and Culture’s grant programs bring that commitment to life by supporting organizations and communities that have too often been overlooked and underfunded. When we invest equitably in the arts, we strengthen our communities, support personal and collective resilience, expand educational opportunities, and create pathways to creative economy careers that benefit all of Los Angeles County

"This year, 353 organizations across Los Angeles County will use this vital public funding to sustain the arts — dance companies and theaters, film and media arts, youth arts programs, choral groups, museums, literary arts, and so much more — reflecting a diverse array of art forms and cultures. That breadth is the point. When the arts are alive across the County, our communities are stronger for it. Behind every organization are artists and cultural workers creating new ways to reach and empower the people they serve, and we're proud to help make that possible." said Kristin Sakoda, Director of the Department of Arts and Culture.

"For me, art was a safe space at a critical time in my life. This year's grantees are creating that same safe space for thousands of residents across LA County, and I'm honored that this Commission gets to help make it possible," said Rogerio Carvalheiro, President, Los Angeles County Arts Commission