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Arts Master Plan

included analysis and policy recommendations in several focus areas. Each of

five commissioners worked with staff on an area of interest. The Commission
has begun work on a second phase of the Arts Blueprint but suspended this
effort pending development of this Arts Master Plan.

Santa Clarita’s Arts and Cultural Community

Despite its relatively short history as a City, Santa Clarita is home to a small but
vital community of arts and cultural organizations and many individual artists
and creative professionals. There are 48 nonprofit arts and cultural

organizations registered with the IRS and located in the City, ranging from
CalArts to small, community-based organizations. About a dozen report annual
operating budgets greater than $100,000. The City funded seven local arts
organizations through its Arts Grants program in 2013/14. Total contributed

revenues of the City’s Arts Grant recipients are modest, a collective amount of
approximately $200,000, reflecting a challenging local funding environment that
possesses few institutional arts grant makers. Perhaps reflecting this less
institutional arts ecosystem, Santa Clarita’s arts community includes a number

of long-standing and highly active community based organizations, and they
benefit from a substantial amount of volunteerism.

There is a collection of unincorporated or informal organizations in Santa Clarita
that celebrate and preserve culturally specific traditions and art forms. There
are also a number of non-arts nonprofit organizations, some of which provide
arts programs in community settings. The City funded fifteen organizations

through its Community Service Grants in 2013/14 and, of these grants, two
were arts-related.

While there is no census or comprehensive directory of individual artists in
Santa Clarita, there is clearly a strong presence of working artists of varied
disciplines and media. Ten percent of respondents to the community survey

conducted for this plan identified as professional artists. There is also a strong
presence of creative professionals working in the fields of design, the film
industry, and other commercial enterprises.

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