On Sunday, July 12, 2015, Americans for the Arts, in partnership with the National Association of Counties (NACo), presented the 2015 Public Leadership in the Arts Award for County Arts Leadership to Riverside County, California. The award was presented at NACo's annual conference in Charlotte, North Carolina. 

 

Arts education is a key component of Riverside County’s youth employment system, which provides special services to youth between the ages of 15 and 25 to assist them in achieving their educational and vocational goals. The Worth Visual Arts Program, developed by Michele Worth, is offered at six, community-driven Youth Opportunity Centers in collaboration with Mt. San Jacinto Community College’s (MSJC) Fine Arts Program. In the program, at-risk youth are exposed to community engagement, the expression of fine arts, communication, hands-on workshops, peer mentoring, journaling, gallery youth exhibitions, and collaboration with MSJC’s Fine Art Gallery. Over 250 youth participate in the Worth Visual Arts Program annually, each developing individual art skills through the program. The program has created a successful model to serve youth engaged in Riverside County’s workforce development system. 

 

The National Award for County Arts Leadership honors an elected county board or individual leader who has significantly advanced the arts in the communities they serve. Americans for the Arts established the award in 1999 to recognize the positive role county government leaders play in improving arts programs, increasing funding to the arts and making the arts accessible in their communities.

 

For more information, see our press release on the award announcement.