Dear Friends,

I hope you and your loved ones are keeping healthy and safe!

As I near my 200th day with Inner-City Arts and with the global pandemic still influencing daily life, what comes to front of mind is the power of community. Inner-City Arts is a community of artists, educators, advocates, and creatives that is far reaching and wide and it is together that we thrive in times of immense change and uncertainty.

As you will see in our Impact Report, our organization has stepped up to directly address the challenges of 2020/2021 with increased support for our young people both in and out of school to advance equity in education, increase access to support services and strengthen a creative career pathway for L.A.’s youth. We remain a distinctive arts organization dedicated to offering students access to arts education, paid internships, job readiness, and creative opportunities.

It is with great pride that I walk onto our campus every day to see that the Inner-City Arts community, our community, is driven by the guiding force that propelled our founder Bob Bates to start this organization 32 years ago; Get an arts space for kids. And today, that is what we do best, we are the space makers. Be it in-person, virtual, or on the campuses of our partners, we make the space for creativity to blossom. And it is my honor to do so alongside this amazing team and with the support of stakeholders like you.

As we continue to use the arts as a tool to transform the lives of young people, my unwavering commitment to being a space maker for others is only strengthened by the Inner-City Arts Community.

Together, let’s continue cultivating creativity and community through educational and creative opportunities for L.A. youth.

Sincerely,

Shelby Williams-Gonzalez
President & CEO