All County Departments have been directed to prepare for budget cuts to take effect in FY2025-26, which will be ongoing until further notice. For the Department of Arts and Culture, this cut is equal to $1,726,000 which will result in reductions to the Organizational Grant Program, Community Impact Arts Grants Program, and Arts Internship Program. Details are below.

May is Mental Health Awareness Month and Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) Heritage Month, two commemorations that speak to the importance of culture, inclusion, and connection. The intersection of the arts and mental health is also present in this month's updates... Explore Newsletter

The Los Angeles County Department of Arts and Culture (Arts and Culture) has announced that Randi Tahara has been installed as President of its Arts Commission, the LA County Board of Supervisors’ longstanding advisory body for the arts. The Commission seats 15 members chosen by Supervisors to represent each of the five districts in the County. Tahara was appointed to the Commission by Supervisor to the Second District, Holly J. Mitchell.

The LA County Arts Internship Program (AIP) will invest over $1.6 million to fund 228 university and community college internships, providing students with paid on-the-job experience in the arts and creative sector at over 170 nonprofit organizations starting this summer. Applications for interested students are open now.

To celebrate Arts Month, we have made a few artworks available to download below as desktop wallpapers or video conference backgrounds (for programs such as Teams and Zoom). The artworks on this page represent only a small portion of the full Los Angeles County Civic Art Collection.

The first-ever Annual Report for the LA County Department of Arts an Culture highlights activities and impacts from 2023-24.

Every year, the Los Angeles City/County Native American Indian Commission selects three community members to recognize Native American Heritage Month. As we close November, we recognize this year’s honorees: Kenny Ramos—Spirit of Creativity, Cynthia Ruiz—Spirit of Community, and Chief Anthony Morales—Spirit of Tradition. We're proud to be the home of the LANAIC and congratulate the honorees on their contributions to culture and community.

This October, in a first-of-its-kind partnership with the County’s Anti-Racism, Diversity, and Inclusion Initiative (ARDI) and the LA City/County Native American Indian Commission, we honored Indigenous People’s Day by supporting two cultural events with The Music Center and Indigenous-led arts organization Chapter House that provided artmaking, cultural activities, music, food, and more to foster awareness, respect, and understanding of the ongoing cultural contributions of Indigenous people. Thank you to all the partners, artists, and community.

First, for September, we recognize Hispanic Heritage Month, as declared in this motion by Supervisors Hilda L. Solis and Janice Hahn. We celebrated by uplifting some incredible artists with work on display in Whittier’s Los Nietos Community Senior Center, and collaborating with LA Plaza de Cultural y Artes, Michelin starred Chef Gilberto Cetina, City of Paris, and Food Temple to highlight food as culture as part of our LA/Paris Cultural Olympiad artistic collaboration projects.

It’s summer, of course, but it’s also Grants Season! Our flagship Organizational Grant Program (OGP) and the innovative Community Impact Arts Grant opened this week, and the Arts Internship Grant opens September 10.