Meeting_Body
EXECUTIVE MANAGEMET COMMITTEE
APRIL 15, 2021
Subject
SUBJECT: "UPLIFT THE HUMAN SPIRIT THROUGH METRO ART" REPORT
Action
ACTION: RECEIVE AND FILE REPORT
Heading
RECOMMENDATION
Title
RECEIVE AND FILE report on initiatives launched in response to the "Uplift the Human Spirit Through Metro Art" Board motion (Attachment A).
Issue
ISSUE
At their June and August 2020 meetings, the Board directed staff to think about how artists might be included in the reimagining of transportation, and to report back to the Board in April 2021 on initiatives developed in response to this directive.
Background
BACKGROUND
As Los Angeles County's cultural connector, Metro Art provides increased and equitable access to arts and culture for Metro's diverse ridership through programs that add vibrancy, identity and a sense of place.
LA County is recognized as one of the world's most important creative capitals and is home to an incredible range of remarkably talented artists and Metro has been at the forefront of interweaving art and transit and transforming quotidian commutes into pleasurable journeys. The agency has incorporated a small percentage (Attachment B) of transit construction costs to the integration of art into capital projects since the 1980s and has received significant recognition for the Metro Art program's interdisciplinary approach, broad range of artists commissioned, and its innovative, impactful community engagement. Strong support has been demonstrated by funding awarded by federal, state and local sources as well as the respect and care given the works by the public. Over half of the artists Metro Art has commissioned are artists of color.
Last year the Board recognized the arts as a way to bring people together in ways that are inspiring, welcoming, and add humanity to our public spaces, as well as the significant role the arts sector plays in our regional economy, and directed funding be allocated to commission local artists in w...
Click here for full text