As part of the County’s American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) relief and recovery programs, the LA County Arts Relief and Recovery Grants also known as the LA County Creative Recovery Initiative (Creative Recovery LA) delivers funding to the nonprofit arts and cultural sector to address the impacts of the pandemic on the arts and the creative economy, one of the most economically significant and hardest-hit sectors, while leveraging the unique capacity of arts and culture to catalyze our region’s economic recovery, civic connectivity, and community wellbeing.
Arts nonprofits play a role in the health, wellbeing, and positive outcomes for our communities and are needed especially for communities hardest hit by COVID-19 and/or already underserved. Arts organizations in the county have been disproportionately negatively impacted by COVID-19 closures and continue to face challenges to resume programming and operations. This project will distribute relief and recovery grants to support nonprofit arts organizations, as well as social service and social justice organizations that engage the arts, and local tribal groups that support cultural practice and preservation, who are serving Los Angeles County residents disproportionately impacted by the pandemic. Activities will also include technical assistance for application support. Nonprofit arts organizations are in need of relief and recovery funding due to the disproportionate impact of COVID-19 closures on arts organizations and the LA County creative sector. The arts sector was among first hit with programming and event cancellations as well as venue closures and will be among the last of all businesses to return to full operations. Supporting this sector’s recovery will help to preserve our creative economy, the cultural identity and vitality of the region, and the well-being of our residents and communities where they live.
Creative Recovery LA combines five Board-approved ARPA projects to streamline applicant organizations’ access to multiple funding categories under one grant gateway
AMENDED for Tranche 2
The Board of Supervisors approved an additional allocation of $1.6M to this program as part of LA County’s ARPA Tranche 2 spending plan. This additional funding will allow the program to award larger grants to applicants, which will more meaningfully support activities that connect opportunity youth to creative careers, and that will aid in a more equitable recovery for the nonprofit arts sector.