California Institute of the Arts (CalArts) has tapped Dr. Veronica Alvarez to be the new Director of its CalArts Community Arts Partnership (CAP).
In this role, Alvarez will oversee the school’s initiatives, which include providing arts education, free of charge, to youth throughout Los Angeles County, often in the county’s high need neighborhoods.
“Veronica has worked closely with a wide range of diverse communities,” said CalArts Provost Tracie Costantino. “She comes to CalArts with extensive experience in education, curriculum development, and arts education.”
Most recently, Alvarez served as Director of School and Teacher Programs at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. During her tenure there, she trained and oversaw a cohort of teaching artists and staff as they implemented high quality arts programming for K-12 students with partnering schools and communities throughout Los Angeles.
Alvarez’s dissertation focused on how students of color benefit from arts education the most, but often their access is the most limited. “It’s a social justice issue,” she said. “The arts are underfunded and are seen as a nonessential part of education.”