2019 has presented me with many challenges and opportunities. I worked my first full year of a fulltime job, taught private students, and completed my tenure as a Youth Advisory Council (YAC) member for the Los Angeles County Arts Education Collective. The Youth Advisory Council placed me in the midst of 23 other arts education minded young people seeking to change the county for the better. As the year closes, it presents a natural time to look back on this impactful experience.  

Recap of my time on the Council

During my time with the Youth Advisory Council, I became part of a team seeking to bring scale and equity to arts education in the Los Angeles County. 

Throughout the year on the council:

-I spoke about issues that face young people in the county: college costs, career preparation, and education quality, among others; all through the unique lens of arts education. 

-I attended community forums in Santa Clarita and Long Beach to hear the perspectives from the various community members and interest groups.

-I attended Work Advisory Groups with representatives from leading non-profits, arts institutions, and educational establishments. I brainstormed strategies for common goals and solutions for shared problems for youth in the Los Angeles County.

-I analyzed data from forums and sorted through all the information to highlight the important issues and where our personal experience intersected with the data. 

As with all experiences, my time on the Youth Advisory Council was not all sunshine and rainbows. It is my duty to be honest about my experiences. It challenged me and forced me to come to terms with my weaknesses. The experience exceeded my expectation in some areas while leaving something to be desired in others. 

Good: The Youth Advisory Council’s Mission

The Youth Advisory Council brought the perspective of youth into the conversation about arts education in Los Angeles. It allowed have youth voices to be present in the reimagining of the Regional Plan for Arts Education. This is a noble mission. Having youth present in these discussions is vital. It allows us to bring perspective to meetings and roundtables that never used to have youth voices. My time on the council allowed me to bring fresh ideas to problems facing LA County youth in 2019. It was exciting to speak about arts education and to feel the difference being made at the county level. 

One of the most exciting moments was reading the draft of the regional plan and seeing elements that I talked about and felt strongly about being represented in the draft of the plan. 

The Los Angeles Arts Education Collective did not create the council purely as a token of their “wokeness.” They simply wanted youth voices involved in decisions that affected them. I appreciated that. 

Not So Good: Lack of Clarity

As I mentioned in the first blog post, the beginning was rocky. I expected a clear, defined six months with the council. I expected tasks to accomplish and duties to fulfill. Instead, I found 25 passionate but extremely opinionated young people who were expected to lead themselves. With no leader or defined roles on the council. Needless to say, it was hard. It was clear the council was made up of intelligent people but this only made it harder to try to make decisions and clarify our shared goals. Ever had a hard time picking out a restaurant with your friends? Imagine that situation but with 24 opinionated young people discussing topics they are all extremely passionate about. 

There was also the problem is that we were asked to define clear goals when we were still learning about the County level of government and how arts education fit into the equation. The council agreed that a few weeks of orientation would have been helpful. I made sure that this would be present in the next iteration of the Youth Advisory Council (more about this below). 

This lack of clarity was not anyone’s fault. It was mainly due to the council being the first of its kind in the department. There was no precedent for our existence. Growing pains were to be expected. 

Great: The People I Met

YAC Members: You know what is the worst? A three-hour meeting immediately after your eight hour work day. You are tired and cranky and worn out. But every time I walked into our meeting, I found myself laughing and smiling. I grew to love the ragtag group of council members. We shared a love of the arts and wanted to make the world a better place. I was honestly extremely sad at our last meeting together. Every single member brought life, joy, energy, passion, and intelligence to our meetings. If arts education is in the hands of youth like my fellow council members, I am optimistic about the future. 

LA Department of Arts and Culture Staff: Wow. These people blew me away. The level of professionalism and expertise they brought to meetings was incredible. Every week, they spent time with us, explained policy at the county level, asked our opinions on issues, and ultimately valued the ideas of the Youth Advisory Council. 

The Director of Arts Education, Denise Grande, spent countless hours with us. She talked us through the history of policy that affected arts education in LA County. She also cared about every individual of the council and probably had one-on-one conversations with everyone in the group.

Miesha Johnson kept us in line, facilitated our meetings, organized our payments, and communicated with us. Meia, if you are reading this, thank you for your hard work in making this council happen. Kahlil Almustafa was also present at every meeting. He made us all laugh and challenged us to think about issues from a different angle. 

The Executive Director Kristin Sakoda also made herself present at the meetings. It was so encouraging to have someone of her stature in the community be supportive of the council and its mission. Other cities in America, take note of the leadership of the Los Angeles County Department of Arts and Culture. Bronwyn Mauldin, Laura Guerrero-Nieto, and Robin Garcia came to meetings to talk to us about policy and the Cultural Equity and Inclusion Initiative. The information was useful in placing context for the work that council was accomplishing on the Regional Plan. 

Overall, the Youth Advisory Council had the complete support of the Los Angeles County Department of Arts and Culture. It was humbling to have such talented people encouraging our every move. 

The Best: Influencing The Next Generation Of The Youth Advisory Council

One of the last projects of the group was to draft a proposal for the next Youth Advisory Council. Being ambitious, I took on the task of writing the document. It was a quite a task. 

The first step was to collect group consensus. To do this, the council debated alumni participation, meeting location, application questions, and transportation stipends. With the help of Denise Grande, the group weeded out the unimportant issues and narrowed its focus on the most important facets of the proposal. 

At the same time, I worked on collecting hard data to support the proposal. With the help of fellow member Courtney Clark, I collected and synthesized the individual feedback from all the members and created a data-driven list of changes to be incorporated into the final document.

Armed with the feedback, I was able to correct many of the frustrations I had with the set up of the council. I wrote a section about attendance, noting how important to have each voice present at each meeting. Due to the overwhelming decision of the group, we also reduced the size of the council to around 15 members. This would allow the group to be more manageable.

Being the main person writing person the proposal allowed me to flex my creative solving problem skills. I had to accurately capture the group consensus while also providing a clear blueprint for the future. With so many ideas being tossed around, I solidified the ideas into a cohesive proposal while still incorporating the majority approved ideas.  

After many drafts, google docs, reviews, and re-reviews later, I finished the proposal and sent it to the Los Angeles County Department of Arts and Culture. I do not know if it will be funded for the next year. That is out of my hands. I am proud of the proposal I wrote. It represents the council well and will provide a strong agenda and guideline for the future of the Youth Advisory Council.

The End (Of My Time On The Council)

While my time with the Youth Advisory Council has come to the end, I have learned so much. I grappled with arts education policy and gave my input for the Regional Plan for Arts Education. I met incredible people both in the council and in the Los Angeles County Department of Arts and Culture. I am glad to have the hours back but I will miss seeing those passionate individuals every month.

It was an incredible experience. The frustrations I experienced were minor in comparison to the fulfillment of working on projects I love. I hope to see the effect the Regional Plan for Arts Education has on Los Angeles County. I am exceedingly proud of the work I accomplished on the 2020-2021 proposal. Being able to use my gifts for the sake of arts education is fulfilling and I hope to exercise my talents in this area more and more.

Thank you to the Los Angeles Arts Education Collective and the Los Angeles County Department of Arts and Culture for providing this opportunity for me.