ARERPP Professional Development webpage

Welcome to the Professional Development Resources page of the Arts Restabilization Emergency Response Preparedness Program (ARERPP), a program of the City of Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the Office of Councilmember Nithya Raman. This page offers information on the program, schedule, resources and contact information for the program’s classes and readiness plan elements to the participants who have been selected.

NCAPER

NCAPER, the National Coalition for Arts Preparedness and Emergency Response, is the only national entity supporting artists and arts organizations/businesses in all disciplines, throughout the cycle of readiness, response and recovery.

Coalition was formed in 2006 in response to the significant losses and devastation artists and creative economies suffered in the wake of 21st-century disasters. As a voluntary task force of national, regional, state, and local arts organizations, public agencies, and foundations, the Coalition helps ensure that artists, arts/cultural organizations, cultural funders, and arts businesses have the capacity and ability to respond effectively to disasters and emergencies affecting the arts and culture sector. The Coalition also believes the Arts Sector is an essential collaborator in broader societal efforts for preparedness, emergency response, and recovery to ensure the resilience of the general community.

Team Members for ARERRP:

Tom Clareson is Senior Consultant, Digital & Preservation Services at Lyrasis, focusing on preservation, disaster preparedness, digitization, funding, and advocacy for arts and cultural organizations. From 2017-2025 he was Project Director of Performing Arts Readiness, funded by the Mellon Foundation to help performing arts organizations protect their assets, sustain
operations, and prepare for emergencies. In late 2024, he began as Project Director for the Bay Area Arts Readiness Network, funded by the Hewlett Foundation to build emergency preparedness capacity for artists and arts organizations in the 10-county San Francisco Bay Area, and develop arts-focused disaster networks throughout the region.

Mollie Quinlan-Hayes, based in Atlanta, GA, works with two institutions committed to the readiness and recovery of artists and arts organizations. For NCAPER, the National Coalition for Arts Preparedness and Emergency Response, she serves as Executive Director. NCAPER addresses policy and practice to build resiliency in the national arts sector and serves as a clearinghouse and responder. NCAPER manages the BAARN/Bay Area Arts Readiness Network project. For the New York Foundation for the Arts (NYFA), she is a Program Officer leading Emergency Grants for individual artists. Previously, as Deputy Director and Accessibility Coordinator of South Arts, Mollie designed and guided programs including ArtsReady, South Arts State Fellowships and Southern Prize, Jazz Road, and the Dance Touring Initiative. Mollie also served as Assistant Director and Accessibility Coordinator of the Arizona Commission on the Arts, and was a founding board member of ARTability and ShowUp.com. She has worked as a professional audio describer for theatre, opera, live events and film. She is a graduate of the Executive in Arts and Culture Strategy program, University of Pennsylvania/National Arts Strategies.

DCA https://culture.lacity.org The Arts Restabilization Emergency Response Preparedness Program (ARERPP) is a pilot grant for Los Angeles-based artists and arts organizations connected to the 4th Council District to develop emergency preparedness plans. As a leading, progressive arts and cultural agency, DCA empowers Los Angeles vibrant communities by supporting and providing access to quality visual, literary, musical, performing, and educational arts programming; managing vital cultural centers; preserving historic sites; creating public art; and funding services provided by arts organizations and individual artists.

18th Street Arts Center: https://18thstreet.org is partnering with DCA to help distribute grant payments to each of the grantees and helping NCAPER with workshop planning in Los Angeles.

Program Components:

WORKSHOPS

Three workshops are designed to inform, educate, and support the development of an emergency preparedness plan.

Workshop #1 - Wednesday, May 6, 9:00AM - 4:00PM Onsite at Theatre West, 3333, Cahuenga Boulevard West, Los Angeles, CA 90068

Thanks to everyone who joined us for the workshop. Your workshop resources are here:

What a Readiness Plan is and What it Does for You, and Beginning to Craft Your Plan

Watch the presentation recording HERE
View the slide deck HERE

Sample plans:
DanceCleveland
STREB
Mock artist plan
More examples HERE

Risk Assessment presentation Watch the presentation recording HERE

Theatre West facility staff led us through a hands-on risk assessment tour.

Resources offered during the workshop:

LEGAL

California Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts
The UCLA Law Lowell Milken Center for Philanthropy & Nonprofits and the LA County Department of Arts & Culture held the 3rd Annual Nonprofit Arts Conference on May 8, addressing the changing legal landscape
of the present, confronting our collective past, and facing the future of AI in the arts and culture sector.

EMERGENCY MITIGATION AND MANAGEMENT
Studio Protector from CERF/Craft Emergency Relief Fund

City of Los Angeles Emergency Management Department
Los Angeles Fire Department Emergency Preparedness Guide
City of Los Angeles CERT (Community Emergency Response Team) training program
Houston Arts Alliance Video Series on Arts Emergency Preparedness

MENTAL HEALTH AND ECONOMIC RELIEF
Los Angeles County Mental Health Resources for Those Impacted by Wildfire
Coping With Stress from Natural Disasters

CONSERVATION AND SALVAGE ASSISTANCE
CALA/Conservation Association of Los Angeles
NHR/National Heritage Responders
HENTF/Heritage Emergency National Task Force – guides on salvage and protectionfrom smoke/ash, water, mold, and more

ARTIST EMERGENCY RESOURCES AND GRANTS

CERF/Craft Emergency Relief Fund
MusiCares
Entertainment Community Fund
NYFA Artist Emergency Resources
NYFA Artist Emergency Grants: Rauschenberg Medical Emergency Grants
and Rauschenberg Dancer Emergency Grants

Workshop #2 - Wednesday, May 27 - 9:30AM - 12:30PM, online via Zoom: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89493411675?pwd=zCncb8LrtRP48XzUSstoO4HM6bUIQp.1

Meeting ID: 894 9341 1675 - Passcode: 970743

This workshop will explore how to keep your operations going or quickly restore them after an interruption, through Business Continuity Planning, and Recovery and Mitigation Strategies.

While the grant has attendance requirements, a recording of this workshop and handouts/resources will be available here.

Workshop #3 - Thursday, June 25 - 9:00AM-4:00PM at Skylight Theatre, 1816 ½ N. Vermont Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90027

The agenda will include Disaster/Emergency Management, Readiness Plan Discussion and Crowdsourcing, and Principles of Networking and Mutual Aid

While the grant has attendance requirements, a recorded version of the presentation segments and workshop handouts/resources will be available here.

OFFICE HOURS

NCAPER’s professional development team will hold Zoom Office Hours throughout the project. Drop in to ask questions, float ideas, and get advice as you reflect on the workshops and work to develop your own readiness plan. No registration required.

Wednesday, May 20 - 1:00-2:00PM

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/87611713393?pwd=YZP9tKTdFWbvgYXEj2Jnmp688wOGO0.1

Meeting ID: 876 1171 3393 - Passcode: 812458

Thursday, June 18 - 1:00-2:00PM

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81715686616?pwd=cInwZMkJAbKaEwYOJFUnn4KewfvBPg.1

Meeting ID: 817 1568 6616 - Passcode: 589659

Wednesday, July 8 - 1:00-2:00PM

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83923391032?pwd=L0pabsogOQpbbKVeVvqChnEmwOeU1b.1

Meeting ID: 839 2339 1032 - Passcode: 574750

PREPAREDNESS PLANS

A preparedness plan can take many shapes, but should be customized for your practice or organization. It is the result of assessing your risks, identifying your priority operations and assets, and making decisions about how you will respond to any type of natural, technological or human-caused crisis. Through these workshops, and with your own existing skills and abilities, you will have what you need to craft your own emergency preparedness plan; submission of this plan to the DCA is a requirement of this program. NCAPER will offer a confidential review of your draft plan and provide feedback to help you make your plan as strong as possible.

Information about this process will be available in June.

QUESTIONS:

Workshop content and resources, Office Hours, and Readiness Plan Submission, email info@ncaper.org.

Workshop registration and logistics, email 18th Street Arts Center at jwilliamson@18thstreet.org.

Grants information, please visit: lacity.org