The Santa Cecilia Arts & Learning Center has a mission to serve as an artistic hub for the communities of Northeast Los Angeles, providing access and opportunities for people of all ages, ethnicities and circumstances to engage in exploring, enjoying and collaborating in the act of creative expression.

The Center’s purpose is to enrich and empower the lives of people in a deeply underprivileged region of Los Angeles through the arts. Studies show that the arts foster flexibility, creativity, cooperative approaches, persistence, and responsibility. They create community cohesion and intergenerational bonds. But often those who most need the arts in their lives have the least access. Northeast Los Angeles represents one of the most impoverished areas in the city, filled with minority families – primarily Latinos – who are struggling in the face of great need and gang violence. The empowering force of the arts is a rare commodity for thousands of people in this area. The Santa Cecilia Arts & Learning Center was created to provide that potential.

Moreover, the Santa Cecilia Arts & Learning Center has the capacity to make a lasting impact on the community because it is a lasting part of the community. Unlike visiting arts groups who come for an afternoon and then disappear, the Center is located close to the communities it serves, ensuring that we are a constant positive partner in the lives of our participants. The Center engages more than 5,000 community members annually. But our impact is even greater – many of our activities include amateur performances by the participants that share their celebration of the arts with family and friends. That sharing helps the arts permeate the neighborhoods.