Staff

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR:    Sofia Klatzker

Sofia Klatzker comes to Arts for LA with over 15 years of experience at various levels in arts education, arts policy and grant making programs.  Since 2003, she has led several successful initiatives within the Los Angeles County Arts Commission, working closely with various community partners including Arts for LA to develop LA County’s Arts for All program, a county-wide collaboration working to create vibrant classrooms, schools, communities and economies through the restoration of all arts disciplines into the core curriculum of local schools. In that role she developed the first Advocacy Manager position funded by the Wallace Foundation, created the framework for advocacy team training, added leadership to the Executive Committee board, and designed the online program to quickly mobilize advocates to protect and increase arts funding and programming in the schools. For the past two years, Sofia has focused on increasing the distribution of public dollars, strengthening the services provided to arts organizations and artists, building relationships with arts funders and elected officials, and through the hiring of a new Research Manager, using evidence to advocate for larger budgets and increased resources for the field. Sofia passionately believes that Arts for LA can have a pivotal role in ensuring the greater Los Angeles region is one in which government, education, business and residents value, support and fully integrate the arts—in all their diversity—into the fabric of civic life. As a native of the San Fernando Valley, Sofia has developed deep roots in our community that cross cultural, social, and economic boundaries. She has strong relationships with arts leaders, school administrators, arts funders, elected/appointed officials and government employees throughout the county, and we know she will leverage those relationships to foster a healthy environment in which arts and culture in the region may thrive and be accessible to all in Los Angeles.

DEPUTY DIRECTOR:    Charles Flowers

Charles Flowers graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Vanderbilt University and received his MFA in Poetry from the University of Oregon. His poems have appeared in Gulf Coast, Barrow Street, Indiana Review, and Puerto del Sol. Flowers is the founding editor of BLOOM, a journal for lesbian and gay writing Edmund White called “the most exciting new queer literary publication to emerge in years." He served as Associate Director of the Academy of American Poets, Executive Director of the Lambda Literary Foundation, and, most recently, as Deputy Development Director at the ACLU of the Southern California. After twenty years in Tennessee and twenty years in New York, Charles now calls Los Angeles home, with his husband and two dogs.

 

 

DIRECTOR OF PROGRAMS: Cristina Pacheco

Cristina Pacheco brings a wide scope of experience from the nonprofit sector to Arts for LA. She holds an MA in leadership studies from the University of San Diego and a BA in media communications with a music minor from Point Loma Nazarene University. Before moving back to her hometown area of Los Angeles, she studied and served in San Diego for nearly a decade. She worked as an event coordinator with the American Cancer Society and also in the International Ministries department at Point Loma Nazarene University. Before joining Arts for LA, she worked with the San Diego Youth Symphony and Conservatory as a community teaching artist and administrator with the Community Opus Project, a program developed to make music education accessible for students in Chula Vista, California. A life-long vocalist, Cristina is also a founding member of the Walnut Valley Symphony Orchestra and Master Chorale. She believes in the value of a thriving art culture as a vital component to the success, vibrancy, and health of communities and individuals.

 

PROGRAM ASSISTANT: Tina Vega

Tina Vega holds an MA in Arts Management from Claremont Graduate University and a BA in Film and Social Justice from Mount St. Mary’s University, Los Angeles. While attending graduate school she planned and coordinated the first Dia de los Muertos music arts festival for the Claremont Colleges community. She has volunteered her time and expertise at film studios such as DreamWorks Animation SKG and KCET. Before joining Arts for LA, she worked with The School of Arts and Enterprise to evaluate and improve arts programs for middle and high school students. During the summer, she teaches watercolor painting to students at the elementary school she attended in Monterey Park. She strongly believes that creative expression is a key element in learning and in individual and community transformation.

 

 

CORO FELLOW: Talar Alexanian

Talar Alexanian holds a BA in Journalism from California State University, Northridge and currently serves as a Coro Fellow in Public Affairs. Appointed by Governor Brown as a student trustee to represent the 460,000 students of the California State University, Talar has shaped education policies for the largest public university system in the United States. She has been a champion of social justice and equity and has organized diverse coalitions to advocate for access to affordable, high quality higher education on the local, state, and federal levels. Talar is excited to bring her years of experience in policy making, community engagement, and civic activism to Arts for LA.