What's New?

The Arts & Culture Department will require that internships take place on site at the organization, with the option to have the intern complete up to 100 of their 400-hour internships remotely. The program will  maintain the extended timeline that was implemented during the 2020 program year. In addition:

• Due to reductions in the Arts Internship Program budget, the number of available internships has been reduced, and is currently estimated to be 118. Therefore, the maximum number of interns that can be requested by an organization has been reduced from two internships to one. The actual number of internship positions available may change and is subject to available funding from the County budget. More information about the budget is available here.
• High school students who are co-enrolled in college classes are no longer eligible to participate in the program.
• Applicants who are not current OGP or CIAG grantees and did not participate in the Arts Internship Program in 2025 must submit a screenshot of their “active” status with the California Secretary of State as part of the supplemental materials.
• For better alignment between grant programs, visual arts organizations who receive grants from the Organizational Grant Program in the visual arts discipline will not be eligible to participate in the Arts Internship Program
• In the event that the minimum wage in the City and/or County of Los Angeles is raised above $17.87 an hour during the intern period, all grant amounts listed below will be amended as necessary, subject to available funding.  Additional guidance will be provided to awarded grantees at that time.

Overview

Each organization participating in the program is awarded a grant ranging from $7,148 - $7,898 per intern. The amount an organization receives and the eligible number of internship positions requested depends on the applicant’s budget size (the total operating revenue less in-kind for the organization’s most recently completed fiscal year).

The grant supports an intern’s salary for 400 hours of employment between June 1, 2026 and March 1, 2027. Organizations choose the intern's start and end date within that period, as well as how many hours a week they will work. A full-time (40-hour per week) position lasts ten consecutive weeks, while a part time (15 hour per week) position lasts 27 consecutive weeks. Organizations may modify that schedule if needed within the program timeframe but may not exceed 8 hours per day/40 hours per week without paying overtime.

All interns will be paid $7,148 for 400 hours of work ($17.87 per hour). An additional stipend of $750 is awarded to organizations with budgets less than $500,000 to assist with administrative costs and any other additional expenses associated with hosting an intern.

View The Guidelines