Council May Endow Youth Arts Programs

The Los Angeles City Council today will consider a motion aimed at providing the Valley Cultural Center with a $200,000 endowment fund.

The money, which would support youth arts programming in the Valley, would come from the Warner Center Cultural Affairs Trust Fund, established by the Warner Center Specific Plan.

The plan is bounded by Vanowen Street, the Ventura Freeway, De Soto Avenue and Topanga Canyon Boulevard.

The Valley Culture Center, situated in the Warner Center, has for 25 years provided programs such as Music in the Schools and the Monday Morning Concerts for Kids series. It is the only resident arts organization within the Specific Plan area.

The Valley Cultural Center is best known for free summer concerts in the park.

“That’s what people associate this group with,” Executive Director Suzanne Hackett said. “They weren’t aware of the other work the group did, like small concert performances in the public schools at no charge.”

The trust is expected to provide as much as $17,000 annually.

Last year, Music in the Schools reached 2,500 students in six Valley schools, Hackett said. There were four concerts at each school, culminating with a grand performance at Cal State Northridge.

Free Cultural Arts Center programs benefit more than 5,000 Valley children each year.

“We’re a very small organization,” Hackett said. “An endowment like this is going to make a major impact.”