In August, the Los Angeles County Arts Education Collective (formerly Arts For All) announced $748,400 in one-year matching grants to 42 school districts, including three charter networks through its Advancement Grant Program.

Now in its sixteenth year, the Arts Ed Collective is dedicated to making the arts core in public education by working with school districts and community arts partners to increase the quality, quantity and equity of arts instruction provided in schools. Since 2002 the Arts Ed Collective has offered a continuum of services to school districts including coaching for strategic planning and arts coordination, Countywide networking opportunities and funding for implementation.

The Advancement Grant Program offers flexible and responsive financial support, helping districts build necessary infrastructure to expand quality arts instruction in dance, media arts, music, theatre and visual arts for all of their students.

The 2018/19 Advancement Grant awards range from $6,900 to $22,900 for projects that include: professional development for teachers, culturally relevant in-school performances for students, the expansion of district-wide arts-integrated curriculum, the hiring of full-time staff, the development of college and career arts pathways, the purchasing of materials and more.

“Supporting school districts in their efforts to make quality arts education available to all LA County public school students is central to our mission,” said LA County Arts Commission Director of Arts Education Denise Grande. “This year, through the generosity of our Funders Council, we are pleased to be expanding the Advancement Grant Program, offering more funding to more districts than ever before.”

The Advancement Grant Program is underwritten by the LA County Arts Ed Collective Funders Council, with dedicated support from The Boeing Company, Herb Alpert Foundation, The Angell Foundation, The Sheri and Les Biller Family Foundation, The Carl and Roberta Deutsch Foundation, Rosenthal Family Foundation and The Dwight Stuart Youth Fund. Music education projects that are part of the Advancement Grant Program receive dedicated funding from Colburn Foundation and The Music Man Foundation. Established in 2004, the LA County Arts Ed Collective Funders Council is a collaborative of public and private funders that serves as a vehicle for sharing knowledge, developing strategy and strengthening arts education across LA County by both giving on the local level and supporting larger efforts towards system change by contributing to the work of the Arts Ed Collective. Since its inception, the Funders Council has invested more than $10.8 million in LA County arts education.

“Expanding arts education is one of the core initiatives of the Arts Commission,” said LA County Arts Commission Executive Director Kristin Sakoda. “Making arts and culture more accessible to all LA County residents begins long before the museum door or the theatre lobby. In many cases, a classroom is a child’s first gallery, stage, dance hall or music studio. In ensuring quality arts education we make the arts more accessible.”