Arts for All Children, Youth, and Families: Regional Blueprint for Arts Education

2021 NACo Achievement Award Winner

Los Angeles County, Calif., CA

About the Program

Category: Arts, Culture and Historic Preservation (Best in Category)

Year: 2021

Nearly 20 years ago, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors launched a Countywide initiative to restore the arts in public education. In 2018, the Board identified the need for an updated regional blueprint for arts education that reflects the current priorities and educational landscape of LA County and directed its Department of Arts and Culture to develop and deliver this next generation arts education vision and policy for the region. The development process for the new plan involved more than 600 stakeholders during the spring and summer of 2019. Department of Arts and Culture staff travelled across the County, listening to residents in community forums. Participants included youth, parents, artists, and community members—as well as representatives from schools, arts organizations, local businesses, creative industries, workforce development, social services, and local government.In October 2020, the Board unanimously adopted the Arts for All Children, Youth, and Families: LA County’s New Regional Blueprint for Arts Education, which presents strategies for increasing arts instruction for all students in schools, and for expanding after-school opportunities for arts education, community-based arts learning, access to careers in the creative economy, arts-based programs and services embedded across County systems, and a prioritization of historically underserved populations. It is intended as an aspirational policy statement and roadmap to advance youth development over the next decade.

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