Although a temporary measure was put in place last week to help ward off impending closure of nine LA arts centers due to budget shortfalls, two of the nine at-risk facilities have been officially given a reprieve, according to the Daily Breeze. Both Charles Mingus Youth Art Center and the The Watts Tower Arts Center "have been removed from the list of city cultural facilities slated for closure or handover to a nonprofit institution," said Cultural Affairs General Manager Olga Garay, who cites in part the "community's opposition to the plan," as reason for their rescue. more ›

With nine city-owned arts & cultural facilities slated to be closed--thanks to a dwindling Los Angeles budget--the City Council today approved a move to save the centers temporarily. Public art money from public projects will now be extended to keep the facilities open for an additional 24 months while officials work towards finding sustainable ways to keep them open. "Releasing the restriction on this funding so that the department can be strategic in ensuring every community has access to a quality arts experience is fantastic," said Danielle Brazell, who advocated saving the facilities as the Executive Director of Arts for LA. "I think, once again, arts advocacy worked." more ›

The controversial budget-saving move to cut $500,000 from the Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs grant program was saved this morning after a proposal to cut the Transient Occupancy Tax (hotel guests pay that), which funds the grants, was killed this morning during a City Council meeting. However, the department stands to lose nearly 50% of its staffing, currently at 63. 11 will leave due to the Early Retirement Incentive Program and another 16 could be axed if the proposed 1,000 citywide layoff plan passes. If that happens, Cultural Affairs will be left with 36 employees. more ›

Close to ten hours into a Los Angeles City Council budget committee meeting late Monday night, the money-saving move to layoff 1,000 employees was not approved, despite a $208 million budget deficit. At first, the layoffs were approved by Councilmembers Bernard Parks, Greig Smith and Bill Rosendahl with Paul Koretz and Jose Huizar against it, but Rosendahl quickly balked, siding against the layoffs. more ›

A new youth arts center in Watts run by the city's Department of Cultural Affairs will have its grand opening later this month during a weekend when two festivals will be happening. Named after the famous jazz musician and past local resident, the Charles Mingus Youth Arts Center will expand space for youth arts programs. The new building, which is next to the Watts Towers Arts Center, will bring more classroom space expanding the department's educational classes that give children a safe and creative atmosphere for individual expression with guidance and direction from professional artists. more ›

Los Angeles City Controller Laura Chick is bringing up one of LAist's favorite topics: Los Angeles. The once City Councilwoman (and probably future City Councilwoman when she runs and probably wins) wanted Los Angeles to be tourist friendly and not just for tourists, but for residents. more ›

Mayor Tony V. signed an ordinance Monday allowing the Los Angeles Municipal Art Gallery to have free admission. The Department of Cultural Affairs hopes the freebie will encourage more Angelenos to visit the gallery, which has been serving the community since 1951. more ›

So, you remember when the City had an issue knowing who the mayor of LA was back in November? Well, it appears there are still remnants of the Jim Hahn term of office on the LA City Website. As if the other issues affecting the Mayor's office aren't enough, now Villariagosa has a website that still has images of his predecessor (literally) floating around. As you can see in this screenshot, behind the "ONE" is... more ›

LA named one of the Best Places for Artists in America "... one of the reasons Los Angeles leads the list is because it has 56 artistic establishments for every 100,000 people, a diversity index of 84.2, and an arts and culture index of 100 (on a scale of 1 to 100)." (Business Week) City's Cultural Affairs Department gets new Head "I am thrilled to put forth such a visionary and inspiring leader as... more ›

While cruising the City of Los Angeles website, we learned something new: James K Hahn is still mayor! Oh wait, the Information Technology Administration, who is in charge of the website, forgot to take this down. And this is not the first time this exact incident has happened. Cultural Affairs had to 4 month learning curve to who the mayor was last year until we called the Mayor's office and heard a gasp over... more ›

Oh man, Mom's in town and already she's all wah wah wah about how she wants to visit a museum. A real museum. Last time she was here she declared the Museum of Online Museums "not a real museum," and she got so confused in a bad way by the Museum of Jurassic Technology that she forgot to pick up the bill at dinner that night. Damn. You're not gonna let that happen again. more ›

While many people have been celebrating this year's Dia de los Muertos since earlier last week, today and tomorrow are the days when Olvera Street calls all spirits, living and dead, for the sights and sounds of this hallowed ritual. And at the end of this spooky first week of Novemeber, one more local happening celebrates Dia de Los Muertos with a free family festival. Here are the details: more ›

Today, July 1, Los Angeles gets a new mayor. more ›

Has politics become the new religion? more ›