The Los Angeles County Department of Arts and Culture (Arts and Culture) invites LA County-based artists, arts administrators, or other creative professionals to apply to work in partnership with the Office of Immigrant Affairs (OIA), housed within the Department of Consumer & Business Affairs (DCBA), as a Creative Strategist-Artist in Residence (Creative Strategist).

The Creative Strategist will collaborate with Arts and Culture and OIA’s staff to develop a project that may include but is not limited to artistic interventions, approaches, and strategies; community engagement and participation; the identification or mapping of cultural and community assets; the creation of new artworks; and/or access to artistic and cultural experiences to meet the established goals of the residency:

1. To develop culturally responsive communications strategies that acknowledge the challenges immigrant communities are facing, raise awareness of immigrant rights, and raise awareness of the County’s social support services for immigrants to increase participation; and
2. To develop healing-centered strategies that build trust between and among County agencies, the region’s immigrant communities, cultural organizations, and immigrant-serving organizations.

Programmatic activities for this residency may include such activities as artist-led and community-informed projects, workshops, and events; cultural asset mapping; and site-specific visual and/or performing art presentations to address multilayered objectives that improve services provided by the County, using creative methods that engage OIA’s constituents and stakeholders. The Creative Strategist may engage other artists, performers, and culture bearers during the residency.

The Creative Strategist may employ a range of visual, cultural, and multimedia communication tools, such as video, audio, print, performance, digital, and other media, to produce content and activities that reflect and engage the County’s culturally diverse immigrant communities. These materials and activities will be designed to improve understanding, increase engagement, and support County efforts to connect effectively with immigrant residents across programs, services, and initiatives.

The Creative Strategist Program is rooted in socially engaged art and civic practice. A Creative Strategist is someone who can apply their artistic practice and creative problem-solving skills to develop artist-led and community-informed solutions to complex social challenges faced by County departments, introduce arts-based methods for engaging with internal and external stakeholders, and support County goals. Creative Strategists foster innovative ideas and prototype strategies for integrating arts, culture, and creativity into County operational practices. Creative Strategists can play a key role in supporting systems change, strengthening relationships between government and communities, and advancing the County’s cultural and racial equity goals.

This type of work requires a commitment to working collaboratively and a dedication to civic engagement. Applicants must have a portfolio or body of work that demonstrates their ability to align creative practice with social and public need and their experience engaging culturally and linguistically diverse communities.