Activating the Arts with Department of Cultural Affairs

With a second round of Arts Activation Fund events completed, a group of 22 emerging artists and arts leaders gathered at our offices recently to share their experiences, discuss what worked, what didn’t and what they’d like to do in the future. This second annual ‘exit interview’ was held in an effort to allow grantees to support one another and to help staff of both Community Partners and DCA consider changes and improvements to the project before embarking on a third round of grants.

“There’s certainly no shortage of creativity in LA,” DCA General Manager Danielle Brazell told the group. “But I do think there are limited pathways to incubate some great ideas and move them to their next iteration.”

The Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs’ Arts Activation Fund is administered by Community Partners, which also assists the grantees with event logistics, and helps strengthen their business know-how, an effort to help make their work more sustainable in the long-term. This year’s grantees include:

Armenian Arts and Cultural Festival

The Larry Itliong Day Parade & Festival

Lit Crawl 2016

MarVista ArtWalk

Ethiopian Community Development Center

PICO DOGS

Salvadoran Heritage Project

Venice Japanese American Memorial Monument

Through These Lenses

A Stop in Little Armenia

Temple Street Slow Jams

Experience NoHo Plaza

The Reseda Summer Event Series

Fascination – Elevate Watts

Puppets at Play

Eastside Sol

Echo Park Rising