The Ebell Creative Commons: Strengthening LA’s Arts Ecosystem Through Partnership

Access to tech and creative industry employment

Central LA City of Los Angeles (select only if your project has a citywide benefit) LAUSD (select only if you have a district-wide partnership)

Expand existing project, program, or initiative (expanding and continuing ongoing, successful work)

Across the U.S., communities are experiencing a profound breakdown in connection—social, civic, and cultural. Over half of adults report persistent loneliness. Traditional funding models prioritize large institutions and commercial art, leaving small, community-based groups without the resources or infrastructure they need to survive. In Los Angeles, access to affordable space is a major barrier, worsened by pandemic fallout, the evaporation of federal funding, and proposed cuts to vital programs like California’s Performing Arts Equitable Payroll Fund. Research shows that access to arts and cultural spaces uniquely boosts community attachment and civic investment. If California’s creative economy is essential to its global standing, its local creative networks are essential to its social survival. To rebuild connection, equity, and resilience, we must reimagine how creative work is supported—rooted locally and scaled through new models of infrastructure and partnership.

This grant will support The Ebell Partner Program, launched in 2022 in response to the post-pandemic need for accessible, affordable space among small arts and community organizations in Los Angeles. The Ebell stewards a 94,000-square-foot historic performing arts campus with five stages, including the 1,268-seat Wilshire Ebell Theatre, and over a dozen flexible spaces for rehearsals, performances, meetings, and public events. This extraordinary civic asset positions The Ebell as a dynamic cultural commons, creative incubator, and anchor for community life.
The Ebell’s partner program currently serves 60 organizations by offering deeply subsidized space, technical support, parking, and promotional visibility. Most partners operate on lean budgets and are aligned with The Ebell’s civic, educational, and cultural mission. Many are women-led or serve historically excluded communities.
The Partner Program is grounded in a simple but scalable idea: civic life thrives when infrastructure is shared. This grant will enable The Ebell to expand its capacity, increasing the number of partner-supported events by 20% through subsidized staffing for coordination and production. At the same time, The Ebell is developing internal systems and relationship frameworks to support long-term growth and to pilot a replicable model for other institutions with underutilized space—helping redefine the role larger organizations can play in the ecosystem of LA arts and culture.

If our work is successful, LA will be more connected, creative, and resilient. Small arts organizations and grassroots ensembles—often the most innovative and reflective of local culture— will gain the space, stability, and visibility they need to thrive.These groups are vital economic engines: they employ artists, hire local vendors, activate neighborhoods, and bring cultural life directly to communities.With support, The Ebell will grow its Partner Program by 10–15%, welcoming at least 9 new partners and expanding co-productions and private uses (rehearsals, meetings, etc.). This expanded access to infrastructure will enable partners to grow their creative output and deepen community engagement. Angelenos will see more locally made work, attend more performances in their neighborhoods, and experience the arts as part of civic life. Our model will show how investing in small-scale creativity generates widespread impact—economically, socially, and culturally—across Los Angeles.