With support from the California Arts Council, homeLA will continue building capacity as a curatorial agent and supporter of independent dance and performance art that is legibly queer and BIPOC-centered; expand audiences and accessibility; increase staff salaries; seek our own 501c3 status; persevere in the field with consistency; stay relevant; and have the support we need to hold the public’s attention.
homeLA is a nomadic, site-specific performance platform that supports experimental artists in dance, performance, and media through three core programs: public performance, learning and engagement, and advocacy, serving diverse audiences across Southern California.
Public Performance: We produce two performance events annually that support the development and presentation of experimental work while fostering community connection and amplifying underrepresented histories. Projects engage dance, performance, film, video, intermedia, and sound artists through a three-month residency and rehearsal structure embedded within domestic, historic, or public architecture. Artists create original work in dialogue with overlooked site-specific histories and community narratives. Since our founding, we have made a significant investment in professional artists of Southern California, employing 240 artists and 566 collaborators, and reaching over 5,481 attendees through intimate, immersive programs. Accompanying discursive programming fosters deeper connections between artists’ work and audiences.
Learning and Engagement: inSITE (est. 2020) provides free after-school classes in site-specific dance and film for students enrolled in Title I public high school dance programs. Led by California artists, students engage in critical thinking about public space, land, and belonging through collaborative choreography and site activation. inSITE has served 90 youth across multiple campuses and remains central to our commitment to educational equity. The We in Me (est. 2021) is a creative platform that addresses homelessness through arts programming that fosters awareness, learning, and civic engagement while amplifying voices and livelihoods of those with lived experiences of housing insecurity and system-impacted youth, reaching over 1,800 community members in-person and online.
Advocacy: homeLA leads field-building efforts to advance equitable working conditions for performance in visual art contexts, organizing working groups and convenings with artists, curators, and institutions, and extending this work into public-facing tools, publications, and regional presentations that support transparency, sustainability, and equity across the field.