LA County's State Senator Ted W. Lieu to Chair Joint Arts Committee
Sen. Ted W. Lieu today announced his appointment as chair of the Legislature’s Joint Committee on the Arts.
“California has distinguished itself as home to the world’s greatest innovators and designers,” Lieu said. “At the same time, we are also one of the most culturally diverse states in the nation where a wealth of traditions and arts are celebrated, supported and shared throughout our state.”
Established in 1984, the Joint Committee on the Arts was formed to oversee legislative issues regarding the arts and other creativity-driven industries throughout the state. Among its missions, the joint committee is authorized and directed to:
• Investigate and analyze legislative matters pertaining to the arts and its goals.
• Study arts legislation in other states and on the federal level while tracking the present status of arts education in California.
• Review the economic impact of the arts in California.
Lieu will chair a committee of six Senators and six Assembly members representing diverse populations and geographic areas around the state. For example, he said in the Los Angeles-Orange County area alone, one in eight jobs is directly tied to creative industries.
“With our economy on the rebound, I would like to seize this opportunity to find ways that the Legislature can revitalize arts education programs so that our children can, once again, benefit from a full and complete education,” Lieu said. “In addition, art and design are California competitive advantages, leading to the growth of numerous industries, such as the tech companies in Silicon Valley in Northern California and Silicon Beach in Southern California, our entertainment industry, and other sectors that utilize creativity.”
Craig Watson, director of the California Arts Council, said he looked forward to working closely with Lieu. “The California Arts Council applauds the senator's leadership and passion regarding the importance of the arts to a quality education for our children and the role of the arts in strengthening California's creative economy,” Watson said.
Providing continuity on the committee will be Lauren Pizer Mains, who served as the JCA Committee’s consultant under former-Sen. Curren Price, Jr. and will remain the committee’s consultant from Lieu’s Redondo Beach office. A native Californian, Mains comes from a family of notable artists and has a lengthy background in the arts, including serving as an appointed senior advisor to the entertainment industry for former-Gov. Gray Davis.
For more, please visit Lieu’s Web site at the address below.
Ted W. Lieu represents the more than 1 million residents of Senate District 28, which includes the cities of Beverly Hills, Carson, El Segundo, Hermosa Beach, Lomita, Manhattan Beach, Redondo Beach, Santa Monica, Torrance, West Hollywood and the Palos Verdes Peninsula as well as portions of Long Beach and Los Angeles including, Beverly Glenn, Brentwood, Cheviot Hills, Harbor City, Hollywood Hills, Marina del Rey, Mar Vista, Pacific Palisades, Playa del Rey, San Pedro, Venice, Westwood and Wilmington. See a district map HERE: For more, visit www.senate.ca.gov/lieu.
