Driving equity forward: Los Angeles County’s cultural strategy

The Purpose
Starting in March 2019, Los Angeles County Department of Arts and Culture began a five-phase approach to develop the Cultural Policy. An important guiding value for this approach was to intentionally seek input from a broad range of stakeholders and County leadership to ensure the policy reflected both local and national wisdom. These phases were: (1) learning directly from the Cultural Equity and Inclusion Initiative; (2) interviews with key cultural policy advisors from across the United States; (3) facilitated learning sessions with stakeholders across the cultural sector, community groups, and county departments; (4) working with County departments to align with other current county policies; and (5) integrating insights from all consultation activities into a final cultural policy and working closely with the Board of Supervisors for approval.

The Challenge
In 2017, Los Angeles County’s Cultural Equity & Inclusion Initiative (CEII) issued a report with a set of recommendations to ensure that everyone in Los Angeles County has equitable access to arts and culture, and to embed the arts in policy and services. The first of those recommendations called for the development of a Countywide cultural policy that would focus on equity, diversity, inclusion and access; solidify the gains of the CEII initiative; and serve as a roadmap for how all County Departments can contribute to cultural life.

LA County leans into its vision of arts and culture as integral to civic life, including cross-sector arts as a tactic to address complex social issues, and ensuring access to the arts and cultural equity and inclusion for all people and communities.

The Solution
The Policy was adopted in June 2020 by the County Board of Supervisors. The Policy is framed around three key goals: to invest in cultural infrastructure and access to the arts and culture; to utilize the power of County government to advance arts and culture in every sector of civic life, and to promote cultural equity, diversity, inclusion and belonging through the arts.

It directs LA County departments to work together to ensure residents have meaningful access to arts and culture, alongside existing County services – including public health, parks, libraries, and strengthening child and family safety and well-being. By embracing the Policy, LA County leans into its vision of arts and culture as integral to civic life, including cross-sector arts as a tactic to address complex social issues, and ensuring access to the arts and cultural equity and inclusion for all people and communities.

The Impact
LADAC is now developing a Strategic Plan for the implementation of the Cultural Policy. From the original CEII recommendations and from further convenings that created new recommendations, a condensed list of 29 strategies was developed and presented to the CEII Advisory Committee (a standing committee of the Arts Commission, an advisory body to the Board of Supervisors) and LADAC staff for feedback, and in January 2022, the strategies were released on the department’s website and shared widely for public comment. More than 670 people from the arts and culture field and the general public participated to provide direct input on their priorities for the Strategic Plan. In the summer of 2022, the plan will be delivered to the Board of Supervisors, and work will continue to catalyze programs and arts investments.

Source: World Cities Culture Report 2022

Images Courtesy © City of Los Angeles