A Network Approach to Capacity Building
The Local Arts Agency Learning Network (LAALN) is a capacity-building program led by San Diego ART Matters to support staff, commissioners, and leaders of local arts agencies throughout San Diego County. Local arts agencies—city, county, or community government entities—play a vital role in providing funding, services, and programs that support arts and culture organizations, individual artists, and the broader public. LAALN is designed as a peer-driven learning community that strengthens this work by fostering collaboration, shared leadership, and the exchange of best practices across jurisdictions.
In December, San Diego ART Matters celebrated the graduation of the 2025 LAALN cohort at the Mingei International Museum. Led by Felicia Shaw and Laura Zucker, the cohort brought together representatives from nine cities and jurisdictions across the region: Imperial Beach, Chula Vista, National City, the City of San Diego, La Mesa, Santee, Encinitas, Oceanside, and the County of San Diego. Over the course of a year, participants met monthly to deepen their knowledge, build professional networks, and collectively address the evolving challenges and opportunities facing local arts agencies.
The program curriculum focused on key areas essential to strong and effective arts infrastructure, including cultural advocacy, cultural planning, arts and the economy, arts and cultural policy, board development, cultural tourism, community outreach, arts education, program development, and arts marketing. Through facilitated discussions and shared learning, participants strengthened their capacity to serve their communities and advance equitable, sustainable arts and culture strategies at the local level.
Graduates of the 2025 cohort are now leveraging capacity-building grants to implement projects within their respective city governments, helping to advance local arts agencies and strengthen arts infrastructure across San Diego County in 2026 and beyond. The Local Arts Agency Learning Network reflects San Diego ART Matters’ commitment to investing in the people and systems that sustain the region’s creative ecosystem and advocate for arts and culture as essential to vibrant, equitable, and thriving communities. The program was made possible through the generous support of the Prebys Foundation.