More than $865,000 will be given to 41 school districts to continue arts education in Los Angeles County. (photo courtesy of Arts and Culture)

The Los Angeles County Department of Arts and Culture has announced that grants totaling $867,700 will be awarded to 41 Los Angeles County school districts.

The Advancement Grant Program is administered through the L.A. County Arts Education Collective, a countywide initiative dedicated to making the arts a core part of every child’s growth and development.

Advancement Grants, underwritten by the Arts Ed Collective Funders Council, offer flexible funding to school districts to advance arts education in L.A. County.

“Advancement Grants bring arts and cultural resources to school districts throughout Los Angeles County, and I am proud of the ways that the program incorporates an equity lens in its design,” said Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors Chair Hilda Solis, 1st District. “We need to keep investing in our creative infrastructure, and supporting school districts as they bring the arts, improved educational outcomes, and future opportunities in the creative economy to our youth.”

With school district matching funds, Advancement Grants will catalyze more than $1.6 million this year to expand access to instruction in dance, media arts, music, theater and visual arts. School districts use Advancement Grants to implement district-wide arts education in a range of ways including arts integration, professional development and resources for teachers, social emotional learning in the arts, arts classes and musical instrument purchases.

Research such as the 2015-17 Arts Education Profile shows that students from low income communities, English learners and students of color have less access to arts education than their white, higher income and English-proficient peers.

“Advancement Grants show the powerful impact of public-private partnership and our dual aims to reach scale and equity in arts education, while prioritizing resources and investments to historically underserved communities,” said Kristin Sakoda, Director of Arts and Culture. “Especially as we continue to recover from the pandemic, the human connection, educational engagement, wellbeing and creative expression that the arts provide are more important than ever. We are deeply grateful for our school district, philanthropic and county partners who are working together as part of the Arts Ed Collective to ensure all young people have opportunities to create and thrive through the arts.”

Informed by the Regional Blueprint for Arts Education, the Advancement Grant Program is one of the Arts Ed Collective’s school-based strategies that directs resources and investments to historically underserved communities. Advancement Grants promote equity with priority points for school districts serving large numbers of students (10,000 or greater), and those with more than 71% of students who are eligible for Free and Reduced Priced Meals, foster youth and English language learners.

“We are honored to be supporting these 41 school districts and are excited about all of the different ways these matching grants will help them initiate, expand or preserve students’ access to quality arts education at this critical time,” said Jacqueline Chun, chair of the L.A. County Arts Ed Collective Funders Council Advancement Grant Subcommittee.