(Photo Caption) LA County, We Rise - Walk for Wellness community pop up event at Earvin Magic Johnson Park.

A Cultural Equity and Inclusion Initiative recommendation, the Los Angeles County Creative Strategist program places artists in County departments to work alongside staff, project partners, and community stakeholders. Through a collaborative process, creative strategists work with their host departments to develop, strategize, promote, and implement artist-driven solutions to complex civic challenges.

This evaluation of the first six residencies of the Creative Strategist program finds that a significant amount of art-as-process occurred across the residencies, with many of the creative strategists doing work engaging communities, especially those historically underserved by local government. Some creative strategists completed staff trainings and left toolkits that department staff can continue to use, if they choose to. At the same time, some of the art products that were created could have been achieved through a creative services contract. This evaluation also finds that despite significant challenges wrought by the pandemic, nearly every creative strategist continued work begun during their residency, though often through different means and mechanisms. The report concludes with a series of 13 recommendations to improve program structure and administration.

Full Report & Executive Summary