Alvarez will oversee arts education programs at public schools and community centers across Los Angeles County.
July 18, 2019, Valencia, CA—California Institute of the Arts (CalArts) welcomes Veronica Alvarez, Ed.D as the new Director of the CalArts Community Arts Partnership (CAP). For 29 years, CAP has provided arts education, free of charge, to youth throughout Los Angeles County, often in the county’s high need neighborhoods. Alvarez’s background as an arts educator locally, nationally, and in Mexico prepare her to take the lead of this pioneering arts partnership.
As a formerly undocumented immigrant from Cotija, Mexico, making art accessible to all students is a mission for Alvarez. Research for her doctoral dissertation showed that students of color benefit from arts education the most, but often their access is the most limited. ”It’s a social justice issue,” she said. “The arts are underfunded and are seen as a nonessential part of education.”
“Veronica has worked closely with a wide range of diverse communities,” said CalArts Provost Tracie Costantino. “She comes to CalArts with extensive experience in education, curriculum development, and arts education.” Most recently, Alvarez served as Director of School and Teacher Programs at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. During her tenure there, she trained and oversaw a cohort of teaching artists and staff as they implemented high quality arts programming for K-12 students with partnering schools and communities throughout Los Angeles.
Alvarez served as an education consultant for UCLA’s Fowler Museum and Chicano Studies Research Center, as well as at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Art, Loyola Marymount University’s (LMU) Family of Schools, and the State Department of Cultural Affairs in Chiapas, Mexico.
A local and national model for arts education organizations, CAP engages more than 150 teaching artists across 40 public schools in the LAUSD and 12 community centers while serving more than 3,000 students in LA County. The award-winning program offers free after-school, school-based and summer arts programs for youth ages 6-18 in every discipline taught at CalArts.
CAP was previously headed by Interim Director Bailey Cool, who will be assuming a new role as Director of the CalArts Patty Disney Center for Life and Work.
Read more about Veronica Alvarez on the CalArts 24700 blog.
California Institute of the Arts has set the pace for educating professional artists since 1970. Offering rigorous undergraduate and graduate degree programs through six schools—Art, Critical Studies, Dance, Film/Video, Music, and Theater—CalArts has championed creative excellence, critical reflection, and the development of new forms and expressions. As successive generations of faculty and alumni have helped shape the landscape of contemporary arts, the Institute first envisioned by Walt Disney encompasses a vibrant, eclectic community with global reach, inviting experimentation, independent inquiry, and active collaboration and exchange among artists, artistic disciplines, and cultural traditions.
