Expansion of LAMusArt’s Playmaking: Page to Stage Program

K-12 STEAM education

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

In our predominantly Hispanic/Latinx community, we’ve seen the disparity of arts education plague students for years. Even before COVID-19, our local schools struggled to reach the state-mandated arts curriculum requirement, while wealthier schools were 40% more likely to receive funding. According to the LA County Arts Education Collective, schools with higher numbers of English learners, students of color, or low-income students receive fewer arts opportunities and lower-quality instruction. There's a dearth of equitable and affordable artistic options where students who could benefit the most are getting it the least. We're located in the heart of East LA, an area that's been impacted by high crime rates (74% higher than the national average) and one of the worst COVID-19 infection rates in the nation at the peak of the pandemic. Furthermore, 17% of our region is experiencing poverty, and 92% are without a Bachelor’s degree or higher (based on adults 25 years or older).

LAMusArt's Playmaking program provides a key component of STEAM education - the arts - to students in East LA by imparting affordable drama programming and instruction to youth during out-of-school hours. Playmaking teaches students how to write an original play (and song), culminating in a production. This program serves up to 10 students between the ages of 9 and 15 per session. With this grant, our goal is to increase the frequency of the program and its accessibility so more students can partake throughout the year. Playmaking presents an opportunity for bridging the gap between the community and the arts, allowing students and patrons to experience the discourse they’ve been traditionally barred from due to barriers like language, finance, and exposure. Unlike other arts initiatives, LAMusArt does not impose arts education on the community but rather grows in response to the creative needs of our neighborhoods. In the current political climate that has affected the Hispanic/Latino communities we serve, students need their experiences to be heard and to see themselves represented in stories. The program fosters creative learning that isn't often provided in schools; the arts constitute a vital core requirement, yet access has been historically under-resourced and inconsistent. The artistic vision that drives the program is an arts ecosystem that's inclusive and equitable and is designed to replenish productive alternatives for our youth to develop themselves holistically.

Los Angeles has the country's highest concentration of entertainment workers, yet arts education and creative development is the first discipline to be slashed. As the only multidisciplinary organization directly serving unincorporated East LA, we aim to reinvest in the thriving creative mosaic of LA by providing equitable opportunities for our predominantly Hispanic/Latinx community to engage in meaningful arts learning. With expansive arts instruction and opportunities to produce and present, our program isn't just a cross-section of diversity and inclusion among students and teachers but a convergence of artistic, technical, and practical experiences that translate to viable tools for a well-rounded life. Program success will contribute to the diversification of LA’s creative ecosystem, marked by scores of young students with buildable, dynamic, and fluid skills garnered through artistic education.

We measure impact by evaluating metrics (enrollment, number of audience members), student assessments, anecdotal discovery from parents, and evaluation based on our curriculum standards. We also gather demographic info to indicate the scope of impact and future needs. Most importantly, active participation is a measure of success in itself. The engagement opportunities we provide are actively filling education gaps left by schools - 60% of our students report that their schools don’t offer arts education courses and are, therefore, bereft of those benefits without our program. Continued success in our Playmaking initiative will be measured through increased participation, positive feedback and reported skills amassed, and the number of audience members at performances. We aim to increase these numbers by 10% annually by implementing additional sessions. Optimal success, though, is measured by students who realize their own skill/progress and recognize the arts as a value system.