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Arts Education

History

In 2000, the Los Angeles County Arts Commission (LACAC), acting in concert with Arts for LA (then an ad-hoc consortium of leaders from Los Angeles County arts institutions), launched a county-wide arts education initiative. The first step was to commission Arts in Focus, the first-ever survey of arts education in Los Angeles County. Baseline data was collected through in-depth, in-person interviews with officials from all of the County’s 80 school districts. Students in LA County, representing nearly 30% of all students enrolled in K-12 public school in the nation, were also surveyed. A report was released in May 2001, revealing a critical lack of a systemic approach to teaching the arts and wide variations in the degree to which arts were included in students’ educational experiences.

The findings of Arts in Focus led to the development and adoption of Arts for All: Los Angeles County Regional Blueprint for Arts Education. Since that time the initiative has made significant progress in helping districts build capacity and infrastructure to support arts education. As of May 2009, 34 County school districts have joined the initiative. 28 have developed and adopted board-approved arts education policies and plans and 22 have hired Arts Coordinators. (For more information on arts education infrastructure in Los Angeles County school districts, see the 2008 Arts Education Performance Indicators Report.)

Arts for All has also successfully launched an Artist in Residency Program; established an interactive arts education website (www.LAArtsEd.org), listing more than 200 vetted arts programs with tools and resources for school districts; partnered with Arts for LA to develop an action plan for arts education advocacy; and trained nearly 400 artists and administrators to integrate California’s Visual and Performing Arts Standards in arts education programming.

In 2008, the Arts Commission was awarded a $1.2 million grant from The Wallace Foundation to increase the level of support it provides to existing Arts for All districts through a number of strategies, including refined technical assistance, the development of a national cadre of specialist coaches, enhanced professional development opportunities, and a Leadership Fellows Program to deepen school district leaders’ understanding of arts education.