DARRELL PARK
LA County: Fifth District
Position Seeking: Supervisor
Question 1: What do you believe the role of the County Board of Supervisors should be in the development of the region’s cultural infrastructure?
The County Supervisors play a critical role in the development of the areas cultural infrastructure. For far too long, the arts have only been for the areas rich and well connected. Numerous studies show the importance of the arts and cultural events in the development of young minds, and in the state of well-being for everyone. It should be the responsibility of the supervisors to ensure that everyone in LA County enjoys the highest quality arts and cultural experience, for free. The city of Washington DC serves as a great model for making arts and culture accessible to everyone.
Question 2: The County Board of Supervisors has a history of supporting Arts Education through its Arts for All initiative. As Supervisor, how would you address the need of all public school students to receive a well-rounded education that includes quality arts education instruction?
It is sad but true that the average LA County School Student is far behind their international peers in exposure to Arts Education and Instruction. We are the movie capital of the world, and there's no excuse for our poor showing with Arts education for our most critical resource, LA County's children. We have the opportunity to become the best in the country in Arts Education and Instruction simply by tapping into the resources we already have. These resources include some of the best artists, musicians, film makers, playwrights and actors in the world. We have everything we need to create the most effective, experiential learning based arts education in the united states of America.
Question 3: In light of the County’s Cultural Equity and Inclusion Initiative, how would you address issues of inclusion, equity, and diversity in the region’s nonprofit cultural arts sector?
As is mentioned above, the arts and culture in LA County are too often reserved for the wealthiest and most educated. This must change! The very problem of the lack of diversity in the movie industry also exists in most of the art forms in LA County. The county will not fund any program, or offer any support to any program, that does not have diversity and inclusion as some of its foremost operating principles. The county will set a goal of child being exposed to no less than three arts and cultural events per year.
Questions 4: As Supervisor, how would you approach the development of a regional approach to cultural tourism?
No county in the country is better set up for cultural tourism than LA County. By partnering with local, national and international partners, we can make sure that we are globally known as a cultural tourism destination.
