Agency of Assets is an initiative designed to propel local youth into leadership roles in the arts through employment opportunities, sustained mentorship, and hands-on experience. Organized by ICA LA Director of Education and Public Programs Asuka Hisa in collaboration with arts advocate Pete Galindo, youth organization Legacy LA, and various arts organizations, Agency of Assets provides East LA high school students with paid summer jobs in the creative sector, as well as workshops, excursions, and one-on-one consultation.

For Agency of Assets’ pilot program, ICA LA placed eleven students from Boyle Heights, Downtown, and East Los Angeles into paid positions at various arts organizations, each selected according to the students’ interests. We are proud to have hosted students with cultural partners Hauser & Wirth, Self Help Graphics, Casa 0101, Nephew LA, The Box, Cornerstone Theater, Vincent Price Art Museum, 356 Mission, and Ball Nogues Studio. Through these employment partnerships, local youth will gain an understanding of the social forces driving change in their neighborhoods, as well as the tools necessary to forge their own careers in a shifting economic landscape.