At the recent Zócalo Public Square Conference, three leaders from our cohort of grantee-partners in the New California Arts Fund (NCAF) were part of the robust dialogue and submitted the following thought pieces around arts engagement in California.

Does participation in the arts influence civic engagement? A new report, Hearts and Minds: The Arts and Civic Engagement, shows evidence of compelling connections.

Building the Field of Arts Engagement: Prospects and Challenges, examines the prospects for a field of nonprofits focused on “arts engagement.” Access the full report, plus a sharable summary and literature review.

In 2011, Irvine put forward a program goal promoting arts engagement. Our aim was to support nonprofits that embrace and advance the diverse ways that Californians experience arts and culture, based on the belief that these experiences strengthen us and help us all live better together.

Deborah Cullinan, CEO of Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, sat down with YBCA's Jon Moscone on a Tuesday evening, one week before the elections and almost two years after he joined Yerba Buena Center for the Arts as Chief of Civic Engagement, to discuss his unique role and what the future of arts and civic engagement looks like, at YBCA and in the arts field at large.

Our NCAF grantee-partners and their boards continue the conversation on board diversity at a day-long event.

While the 2016 election promises to be an historic event regardless of its political outcome, this year may also be noted for a rise in civic engagement activities by arts organizations.

Finding new ways to meaningfully connect with people is of vital importance to the nonprofit arts field. Read case studies on exploring engagement from 100 organizations across California.

Learn four strategies for keeping arts organizations relevant from New California Arts Fund grantees.

From #OscarsSoWhite to #parityraid, discussions of who is represented on our stages and our walls, within our organizations, on our boards, and in our field, abound. Our state of California has a rapidly changing demographic, our country has a growing problem with economic inequality, and we have research from as late as 2005 showing that seventy percent of 400+ arts organizations responding to a survey said that racial or ethnic diversity is “not at all” or “not too important” in the selection of new board members.