Kristin Sakoda: Reimagining Resilience through the Arts
Arts, culture and creativity are essential in creating a more just and vibrant world. We know that creative expression is integral to our emotional and social well-being. Lived experience and data-driven studies show that culture benefits us not only as individuals, but in well-being outcomes on the community level, in fostering inclusion and a sense of belonging and in bridging differences that connect us to our humanity.
The arts play a vital role in every area of civic life, from education, youth development and health to justice reform, economy, our lived environment and so much more.
The arts are so essential that the United Nations’ Universal Declaration of Human Rights states that everyone has the right to participate in the cultural life of the community freely. Culture, then, is not only artistic expression on the stage, on the page, at the museum or on your screen. Culture is a human right — and the arts, one of the highest expressions of one’s culture, must be at the heart of our collective recovery, resilience, prosperity and reimagining of a better world in the days ahead.
Los Angeles County is one of the largest and most diverse counties in the nation, with more than 220 languages spoken and numerous communities, each with distinctive cultures, identities and characteristics. L.A.’s varied and stunning geographic landscape is matched in richness by the multifaceted communities within. We’ve been “majority minority” or “global majority” people of color for decades. The region is also one of the most artistically vibrant, home to 228 museums, 279 art galleries, 330 theaters and more than 400 music venues, not to mention heritage sites, botanic gardens, bookstores and more.
At the Los Angeles County Department of Arts and Culture, where I am director, we advance arts, culture and creativity throughout the region. We do this by providing grants and professional development to hundreds of nonprofit arts organizations, leading countywide arts education initiatives, commissioning artworks for the county’s civic art collection, conducting research, funding the nation’s largest arts internship program, piloting creative youth development programs as a means of justice reform, forging access to career pathways in the creative economy and through cross-sector creative strategies that address civic issues.
We envision a region where all communities have equal access to participate in and enjoy the benefits of the arts. Our work is framed by the guiding principles of the L.A. County Cultural Equity and Inclusion Initiative (CEII):
- Every individual participates in creative thinking and expression.
- Every individual has the right to engage in arts and culture that celebrate their highest potential.
- Our community’s diversity is an asset to our arts and cultural environment and our economy.
- Including communities through arts and culture achieves our highest potential by promoting mutual respect and understanding.
The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors recently affirmed the importance of equitable access to arts and culture through its recent adoption of the Countywide Cultural Policy. This first-of-its-kind policy centers the importance of cultural equity and will serve as a road map for how all L.A. County departments can contribute to cultural life and access to the arts.
We could not have imagined at the start of 2020 that we would be facing such an unprecedented series of crises: a public health crisis, an economic crisis, a crisis of social connection and systemic racism. The impact of these on L.A.’s dynamic arts and cultural community is substantial.
- Nationally, the estimated total economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic to date on the arts and cultural sector is a staggering $8.4B, according to Americans for the Arts.
- California Arts Council surveyed individual artists about the impact they are experiencing. On average, they estimate income losses of nearly $24,000 per person.
- 228 L.A. County-based arts nonprofits responding to Americans for the Arts’ survey reported that 33% have laid off or furloughed employees, while 41% have furloughed artists or creative staff. Forty-five percent are not confident their arts organization will survive.
- At the same time, 86% of these arts nonprofits have been delivering artistic content to help raise community spirits and morale.
It is critical that we look at not only what might be lost in this time, but what might be gained.
Building on more than 70 years as the Arts Commission, the newly established Department of Arts and Culture is undergoing a dynamic transition in a time of great change in our nation as we collectively reckon with our histories, our present-day and the clarion call to address the need for racial equity. This is a moment to remember that the creativity that has always been central to our shared humanity is also a vital part of ensuring that all communities can fully participate in every dimension of civic life.
We recognize artists as innovators, thought leaders, creative problem solvers and strategists. As we plan for the future, the Department of Arts and Culture is using data to develop a set of actionable recommendations for how we can respond to emerging needs through 2020 and beyond.
The value that artists and creative workers provide extends far beyond the creation of a single art piece, beyond a mural or a singular performance on the stage. Seating artists, creatives and culture bearers at the table as we strategize how we respond to this moment will result in a far more relevant and equitable future and will contribute to the resiliency of our communities and our shared prosperity.
At the Department of Arts and Culture, we believe in the vital role of the arts and in creating an even more vibrant Los Angeles in which all voices and aspirations are heard. As we seek to address the current challenges and move from crisis to transformation — we must support the arts as a critical part of the way forward from response and recovery, to reinvention, and reimagining resilience and a better world for all.
Top Image: “Los Angeles Skyline” by Susan Logoreci is a large scale, colored pencil drawing at Harbor UCLA Medical Center. Part of the Los Angeles County Civic Art Collection. | Courtesy of Kristin Sakoda
