With support from the California Arts Council, California Lawyers for the Arts (CLA) will continue to provide basic legal, educational and dispute resolution services for artists and arts organizations throughout California, while expanding Designing Creative Futures, an innovative reentry program placing formerly incarcerated persons in paid internships with nonprofit arts organizations.
Our core services include legal consultations with attorneys who specialize in arts and entertainment fields; alternative dispute resolution services, including negotiations counselling, conciliation, mediation, arbitration, and facilitation; and education programs that are designed to help artists and arts organization leaders understand legal rights, relationships and responsibilities so that they can become more sustainable. Since the organization’s inception in 1974, we have also been engaged in advocacy to support artists’ rights, freedom of expression, and public funding for the arts. Cross sector initiatives have included community development, arts and environment, and arts in corrections.

