Arts for All, Los Angeles County’s dynamic, countywide collaboration to restore standards-based arts education into the public school core curriculum, was awarded the 2011 Arts Education Award by Americans for the Arts on June 16 at the 2011 Americans for the Arts Annual Convention, held in San Diego, CA.

President and CEO of Americans for the Arts Robert L. Lynch said: “Particularly at a time when school districts face increasingly dire fiscal circumstances, Arts for All’s steady commitment and support has kept arts education at the forefront of school and community leaders’ consciousness in Los Angeles County.”

Alongside Los Angeles Unified School District’s own arts education initiative, 44 out of the 81 school districts in L.A. County are now identified as Arts for All partners and committed to standards-based K-12 arts instruction. Funding for Arts for All comes from private foundations, corporations, federal grants and the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors. The collaborative has been widely recognized by scholars for its creative approach and accomplishment.

Arts for All impacts close to 950,000 students and has experienced an annual growth in district participation since it began in 2003 with six vanguard districts. Arts for All has uses a pragmatic approach to assist school districts as they build the foundations that support quality, sequential, K-12 arts education in dance, music, theater, and visual arts. For many children, this ongoing instruction in the arts is their most memorable educational experience, often leading to jobs and careers in what experts call the “creative economy” of Los Angeles.

Last year the Otis College “Report on the Creative Economy of the Los Angeles Regions” stated that the creative industry “supported one out of six jobs in the region, generating an estimated $127 billion in sales revenues and $4.6 billion in state and local tax revenues.”

Referring to the Arts for All track record, Executive Director of the LA County Arts Commission Laura Zucker said, “It is our hope that our work in L.A. County will provide a model for school districts across the country that are committed to including sequential, standards-based K-12 arts education in the core curriculum.”