CONNECTConnecting to Los Angeles Arts Culture & Entertainment
Incorporating the arts into our lives has become a panacea to the stresses of every-day life and LAACE will give Angelenos an easier and more comprehensive way to access the arts in LA. By identifying businesses, venues, organizations and individuals connected to the arts, we can offer residents of LA, as well as tourists a web portal which targets arts, culture & entertainment. Our website will also become a resource point for business-to-business data and offer a new Metro LAACE Art discount
In what areas of Los Angeles will you be directly working?
San Fernando Valley
San Fernando Valley Arts & Cultural Center, Tarzana, CA and The Valley Economic Alliance, Sherman Oaks, CA
How do you plan to use these resources to make change?
Conduct research
Engage residents and stakeholders
Implement a pilot or new project
Track data
How will your proposal improve the following CONNECT metrics?
Rates of volunteerism
Adults getting sufficient social & emotional support
Attendance at cultural events
Number of public transit riders
Participation in neighborhood councils
Attendance at public/open streets gatherings (Dream Metric)
Describe in greater detail how you will make LA the best place to CONNECT.
The San Fernando Valley Arts & Cultural Center (SFVACC) along with The Valley Economic Alliance (TVEA) plan to develop the first comprehensive database for Los Angeles arts, culture and entertainment. A pilot program concentrating on businesses, venues, organizations and individuals connected to the arts in each of the 7 council districts in the San Fernando Valley will be developed first. This will allow us to concentrate on one area of Los Angeles, where we can map out a specific region and build an overall template which can then be applied to each individual council district or independent city within Los Angeles County. By using the council districts of each area, we can involve each council member with the mapping and gathering of information for their own particular district.
The research portion of this program will start with the Director of Information pulling together a volunteer committee to research and collect extensive data within selected categories. Categories could include:
• Theaters
• Galleries Museums- Special exhibits
• Performance Centers
• Amusement Parks
• Arts Organizations
• Lectures & Poetry Readings
• Art, Music & Dance Festivals
• Murals
• Workshops & Classes
• Visual Artists
• Musicians
• Performance Artists
We will hire a website designer and a data technician to create an expandable, user-friendly and informative “location” where the viewer can access current or future arts information and destinations.
For the first year, the listing will be free. The coding within the website will be able to count how many hits each listing receives which will allow us to categorize each listing to determine the 2nd year fee. This will be a minimal yearly amount which will help us maintain and sustain the website. Online advertising will be the 3rd phase of the program as we continue to populate our database with ways to customize each listing’s advertising capabilities.
We will be working with LA Metro to create a discount card for those going to a play, a concert or to see an art exhibit on a Metro bus. The Metro LAACE Art Discount Card will help move and connect people to arts destinations.
Businesses will be able to access detailed and customized information for each business, venue, organization or individual connected to the arts.
Our interactive website and database will connect Valley residents to arts, culture and entertainment and eventually expand into the greater Los Angeles area.
Please explain how you will evaluate your work.
The evaluation will be a multi-step process to include:
- Verification of information accuracy by the individual businesses/Individuals on the database through a feedback form.
- Verification of full functionality of the website by independent check tests (by people other than those designing and setting up the website).
- Feedback from selected businesses/Individuals on the utility of the website.
- How many of the businesses/Individuals include us as a link on their websites.
- How prominent we become on major search engines, so people can locate our website.
How can the LA2050 community and other stakeholders help your proposal succeed
Money (financial capital)
Volunteers/staff (human capital)
Publicity/awareness (social capital)
Technical infrastructure (computers, etc.)
Community outreach
Network/relationship support
Quality improvement research