Arts Orange County

Arts Orange County is the leader in building appreciation of, participation in and support for the arts and arts education throughout Orange County, California.

Arts Orange County was formally established in 1995 by Founding Executive Director Bonnie Brittain Hall and a board comprised of community leaders, arts leaders and arts educators.  It was designed to fill a gap created when a prior countywide arts services organization, the Orange County Arts Alliance, disbanded in 1987.  Arts Orange County was greatly assisted in its development and maintains a very close partnership with the Orange County Community Foundation, which also provided initial office space to the organization. 
 
While 20% of the local arts agencies nationwide are governmental departments, the rest are independent nonprofit organizations, and Arts Orange County falls in the latter category.  Designated by the County of Orange as its official local arts agency, Arts Orange County works hard to contribute to the growth and success of the creative community here.
 
In planning new programs and assessing existing ones, Arts Orange County references John Kreidler's model of a healthy arts ecology, striving to address three primary areas:  cultural literacy, cultural participation, and the professional arts sector.

ArtsOC continues to serve as this community's principal arts services organization. In that role, it advocates vigorously for artists, arts organizations, and arts education and provides professional development and other resources to the entire arts community.

In 2023-24, ArtsOC was selected by the California Arts Council (CAC) to administer its prestigious Individual Artist Fellowship Program for the 5-county Southern California Region #1. Through that program, ArtsOC awarded fellowships to 58 artists and cultural practitioners totaling $840,000--an exponential increase over when the previous program had been administered by CAC from Sacramento. This was due in part to ArtsOC's approach that included close collaboration with the arts councils serving Imperial, Riverside, San Bernardino and San Diego counties.
OC continued offering its flagship events live and in-person: Orange County Arts Awards (October 2023), and Imagination Celebration (May-June 2024). ArtsOC's longtime Día del Niño festival completed its move to the newly reopened Hunt Branch Library and Event Center in the City of Fullerton. This free festival features interactive arts workshops and performances by award-winning professional guest artists, arts organizations, community groups and young artists. Within 5 miles of the Hunt Library 79,178 people live in 12 census tracts ranked in the bottom 27th percentile of the Healthy Places Index, 74% of whom identify as Latinx. This is a community that could hardly be more in need of the benefits that an outdoor festival such as this provides.

ArtsOC has continued to strengthen its own sustainability and to grow through its fee-based advisory services. Clients for these services are primarily local government for purposes of cultural planning and public art project management. Recent cultural planning projects include a Public Arts Master Plan for the City of Irvine, a Master Arts & Culture Plan for the City of Brea, and an Arts & Culture Master Plan for Contra Costa County. Recent public art projects include Phase IX of the City of Newport Beach Sculpture Exhibition in Civic Center Park, and the Placentia Gateway Project for City of Placentia and Caltrans.

Dia del Nino/Day of the Child 2025 - ArtsOC's longtime Día del Niño free admission festival completed its move to the newly reopened Hunt Branch Library and Event Center in the City of Fullerton. This free festival features interactive arts workshops and performances by award-winning professional guest artists, arts organizations, community groups and young artists. Within 5 miles of the Hunt Library 79,178 people live in 12 census tracts ranked in the bottom 27th percentile of the Healthy Places Index, 74% of whom identify as Latinx. This is a community that could hardly be more in need of the benefits that an outdoor festival such as this provides. Total program cost in 2025: $115,000, of which $65,000 has been raised as of 8/1/2024.
 
SparkOC.com - ArtsOC's countywide arts calendar attracts 35,000 visitors monthly and has 10,000 e-mail subscribers.  We wish to grow those numbers to 50,000 and 15,000, respectively, in 2024 through a marketing campaign that would focus primarily on social media.  $5,000 would fund a one-month campaign.
 
Board Membership - ArtsOC currently has a Board of Directors comprised of 32 members, and its current composition closely matches Orange County's population demographics as a result of a concerted effort by our organization to achieve racial and cultural equity and diversity. We are seeking to identify and meet with individuals who have an interest in the mission of our organization and a desire to serve. Contact ArtsOC's President & CEO for more information.
 
Endowment - ArtsOC presently has two very small endowment funds housed at the Orange County Community Foundation.  One is for general purposes and the other is to support the annual Imagination Celebration.  Contributions to these funds of $5,000 or more will help ArtsOC to continue its effort to build them and their long-term impact.
 
Creative Edge Lecture - ArtsOC seeks sponsors for its 2025 lecture.  Past speakers have included noted authorities on creativity and innovation in business and education, and two U.S. Poets Laureate:  Dr. Maria Rosario Jackson, Joy Harjo, Juan Felipe Herrera, Daniel H. Pink, Sir Ken Robinson, Sarah Lewis, Nina Simon, Randy Nelson, Donn K. Harris, and Tom Kelley.  Support opportunities for the lecture begin at $2,500.

Orange County, California

Arts Orange County draws upon its core competencies in order to maximize the impact of the services it provides to the community.  In addition to the free services it offers, ArtsOC provides low-cost, customized, in-depth consulting and project management for local arts organizations that need special attention or lack the in-house expertise or resources to implement their projects.
 
Donors who wish to assist other organizations they support through services such as these are invited to contact Arts Orange County for more information.  We welcome contributions designed to help your favorite organizations by funding a capacity-building consultancy for them conducted by ArtsOC.