Member Spotlight on The Herb Alpert Foundation
During the month of March, our photo banner features grantees of GIA member The Herb Alpert Foundation. Founded by musician, producer, and artist Herb Alpert and his wife, Grammy-award winning singer Lani Hall, the Foundation’s mission is to support young people in the discovery and development of their creative potential, an objective they achieve through the Herb Alpert Scholarships for Emerging Young Artists, a program administered by the California State Summer School for the Arts, and support of the UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music, which is devoted to the performance and study of music in all of its global diversity.
Below, in their own words, the staff discusses the implementation of the Lawndale Initiative and Take PART program, and provides details on other active programs, including direct support to artists:
For years, The Herb Alpert Foundation has provided support to organizations of all sizes and in all art disciplines across the greater Los Angeles area that nurture and foster the creative spirit in children. Wanting to invest more deeply in a community, in 2005, the Lawndale Elementary School District—located in the South Bay region of Los Angeles County—was selected as an area of focus because of its relatively small enrollment of 6,000 students, as well as its supportive administration. Thanks to the work of partners such as P.S. ARTS—an organization Herb Alpert helped to found more than twenty years ago, tasked with designing and implementing the Lawndale program—and Arts for All—the county’s initiative to restore arts education to all 81 school districts—the initiative has now been expanded to include other school districts in a regional collaboration called Take PART (Public Arts Regional Team). By bringing administrators, teachers, nonprofits, parents, community members, and other funders together across districts, children are afforded the opportunity to learn music, theater, and visual art with their peers from diverse backgrounds and geographies, with the ultimate goal of leveraging resources and creating a pipeline of services and arts experiences across all disciplines and grade levels.
Additional key programs include:
The Herb Alpert Award in the Arts, which is celebrating its 20thanniversary this year. The program is administered by California Institute of the Arts (CalArts) and provides unrestricted awards of $75,000 annually to five mid-career, risk-taking artists working in dance, film/video, music, theatre, and visual arts.
More recently, a substantial commitment has been made to the L.A. City College Music Department to enhance and support their programs and establish the Herb Alpert Scholars, to attract exceptional students, regardless of their background, pursuing careers in music that range from production to performance.
Image: P.S. ARTS/Lawndale Initiative/Take PART and Take Part Arts Festival. Photo: Cristin Jones.