A May 2018 motion from Los Angeles County Supervisors Mark Ridley-Thomas and Sheila Kuehl has turned the Los Angeles County Arts Commission into the Department of Arts and Culture. (photo courtesy of the Los Angeles County Department of Arts and Culture)

The Los Angeles County Arts Commission has become an official county department, the Los Angeles County Department of Arts and Culture.

The agency’s longstanding work, including grant funding for hundreds of nonprofit organizations throughout L.A. County, commissioning works of art for public facilities and managing the county’s civic art collection, will continue uninterrupted.

The department will also continue to implement the initiatives of the L.A. County Arts Education Collective, which works to ensure all students in the county receive quality arts education; and continue to research, evaluate and make accessible findings in and about the local arts and culture sector.

“Arts are essential to our humanity and a key part of healthy, vibrant communities,” said Kristin Sakoda, director of the Los Angeles County Department of Arts and Culture. “We are poised to be a solution for this need. Our work supports the full breadth of the Los Angeles County arts and culture ecosystem, from formidable museums and presenters to small non-profits and community-rooted organizations.”

The L.A. County Arts Commission was established in in 1947 to support local music performances. Its role has grown to support diverse art forms and function as a full-service arts agency. Supervisors Mark Ridley-Thomas and Sheila Kuehl co-authored the historic motion that transitions the Arts Commission into a stand-alone county department in May 2018, a recognition of the vital role of arts and culture in one of the largest and most diverse counties in the country.

“As Los Angeles County’s creative economy grows ever more potent by the day, I am excited for what is to come as it begins a new chapter as the Department of Arts and Culture,” said Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas, the transition motion’s lead author.

The 15-member Arts Commission, an advisory body appointed by the Board of Supervisors, will continue to advocate on behalf of the new department.

“I am proud to serve as president of the Los Angeles County Arts Commission as we transition to the Department of Arts and Culture,” said Helen Hernandez, Arts Commission president. “We are thrilled that the Board of Supervisors has seen the value and importance of elevating the Commission to a Los Angeles County department so we can expand our reach and efforts to provide cultural, equity and inclusion to all residents.”