The Los Angeles County Arts Commission has announced $4,318,000 in two-year grants to 194 nonprofit arts organizations through its Organizational Grant Program (OGP). The current allocation represents a $200,000 increase in funding from the previous grant cycle and provides support to ensure arts organizations continue to provide cultural services to the diverse population that comprises Los Angeles County.

The California Arts Council, which provides grants and support for arts education programs to organizations throughout the state, seeks input from residents of Los Angeles County at Tuesday's "listening tour" stop at the Autry National Center in Griffith Park.  The meeting will run 1 p.m. to 4 p.m.

Questions for you to consider before attending include:

ArtsDay 2013 drew a massive crowd of arts advocates to City Hall on April 17 to celebrate Los Angeles's legacy of fostering arts and culture and the city's national identity as America's "Creative Capital."

Los Angeles's arts and culture community is the only one of eight indicators "significantly enhanc[ing] human development" in the region, a new report claims.

The Goldhirsh Foundation's recently released "LA2050 Report" examines the overall health of Los Angeles by looking at eight indicators, including education, housing, and public safety.

 Candidate forums give voters an opportunity learn about candidates’ positions directly from the candidates themselves. Arts for LA encourages arts-minded voters to participate in their local forums to ensure candidates running for city and school board seats have an opportunity to discuss their support for our lively arts and culture communities.

Los Angeles residents have until February 19 to initiate or update their voter registration with the State of California’s Secretary of State. Voter registration is now available online for residents holding a California driver’s license or identification card and a Social Security number.

Arts for LA has published the results of its semiannual Arts & Culture Candidate Surveys for races in Los Angeles, Burbank, and Pasadena.

On December 18, Time Warner Cable announced it would drop the arts-focused network Ovation from its lineup of channels due to Ovation’s poor performance among its customers.  According to coverage in the Los Angeles Times, Ovation is watched by less than one percent o

The following blog post by Josephine Ramirez originally appeared on the James Irvine Foundation's blog and is reprinted here by permission.