By all accounts, the 2007 LA Arts Town Hall at the Japanese American Community Cultural Center on June 16th was a resounding success.

Over 600 stakeholders attended the day long convening including Mayor Villaraigosa, who provided the opening remarks and introduced Olga Garay, the City’s new general manager of the Department of Cultural Affairs.

The morning plenary session featured reports from arts leaders including John McGuirk, Senior Program Officer of the Irvine Foundation, Laura Zucker, Executive Director of the Los Angeles County Arts Commission, Sam Miller, Executive Director of LINC (Leveraging Investments in Creativity), Olga Garay, and yours truly, Danielle Brazell, Managing Director of Arts for LA. The panel was co-moderated by Claire Peeps, Executive Director of the Durfee Foundation and Cora Mirikitani, Executive Director of the Center for Cultural Innovation (CCI).

Highlights included John McGuirk’s announcement that the Pennsylvania Cultural Data Project is coming to California. This statewide data collection system will make it easier for potential grantees to apply for both public and private funding. It’s currently up and running in Pennsylvania and Maryland and its on the fast-track for California. To learn more about the project go to: Pennsilvania Cultural Data Project John also announced the August 13th deadline for the Irvine’s New Connections Fund grant program. Guidelines are available on Irvine Foundation’s website.

Sam Miller provided an overview of LINC’s work in the region, which includes a partnership with CCI and their efforts in supporting affordable healthcare plans for artists. To learn more about this critical issue visit LINC.

I had the pleasure of introducing Arts for LA to the arts community at-large, our history, mission and organizational goals. Acknowledging that the LA arts and cultural communities do “more with less” than other major cities, I encouraged every artist, organization and arts administrator in the room to be an active participant in the region-wide advocacy effort. Increasing support for the arts and cultural life in our region is going to take a consistent, cohesive and collaborative effort from every arts practitioner. To do this, we are working on building an E-Advocacy center for the LA region. The site will streamline the way in which art activists advocate for the arts. Stay tuned for more information as it becomes available. I also encouraged the arts community to send a thank you note to Mayor Villaraigosa for attending the convening. It’s a subtle, yet positive reminder that the LA arts community is robust, responsive and organized.

Immediately following lunch, sponsored by Boeing, the Meet the Funders and afternoon sessions started. The workshops were beyond capacity – you couldn’t get a seat in the house. It was hot and crowded, but that didn’t deter the arts community from learning about advocacy, healthcare and new business models for arts organizations.

Produced by an informal group of nonprofit arts organizations, public and private funders, the 2007 LA Arts Town Hall meeting proved to be a much-needed convening for the arts and cultural community. The planning committee will meet in early July to review the survey responses and assess how to move forward. If you haven’t completed your survey, please take a moment to do so. We need your feedback to help build the case for future convenings. Click here to access the survey.

Supporting organizations include: Arts for LA, The Actors’ Fund, Arts Council of Long Beach, California Lawyers for the Arts, Center for Cultural Innovation, Center for Nonprofit Management, City of Pasadena, City of Santa Monica, City of West Hollywood, Dance Resource Center, The Durfee Foundation, ELA Foundation, The Getty Foundation, Japanese American Cultural and Community Center, LA Stage Alliance, Leveraging Investments in Creativity, NPower Los Angeles, the National Association of Artists’ Organizations and Side Street Projects. The event was sponsored by The Boeing Company, Department of Cultural Affairs, City of Los Angeles, the Los Angeles County Arts Commission, The James Irvine Foundation, California Community Foundation and Sony Pictures Entertainment.