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Arts Equity in Motion
Our Impact
Our mission is to provide access to multicultural, inclusive arts education for students in Los Angeles County, with a special focus on PreK-6th grade.
We partner with schools serving marginalized populations and recognize access to arts education as an essential human right.
Our Partners
Our Story
Bloom Arts Foundation (BAF) was established in 2020 to address the lack of access to high-quality, inclusive arts education in Los Angeles County public elementary schools. Recognizing the scientifically-proven impact of music and dance on the socio-emotional and cognitive development of elementary school learners in PreK through 6th grade, our founders created a program that enriches students’ lives through direct learning during the school day and empowers public school educators by equipping them with the necessary skills to confidently integrate music and dance into their classroom activities.
Our organization grew from the excellent reputation and community relationships formed by the Bloom School of Music and Dance, founded in 2008 by our Executive Director, Laura Porter. Starting with a humble 8 school partners during the 2021/2022 school year, BAF has expanded its capacity to provide weekly music and dance classes for 195 classrooms in 32 public schools across Pasadena, Glendale, and Los Angeles Unified School Districts in 2024/2025. BAF has reached over 11,000 students, teachers, and community members to date.
Research has proven that early childhood is the single most important time for music and movement education because of the substantial, lifelong impact it can have on a young child’s brain, developing self regulation, pre-literacy skills, executive functioning, and social-emotional skills.
As an LA based non-profit we strive to provide access to high-quality music and dance education to students during the school day, starting in early childhood. We believe that the need is great, as the vast majority of elementary schools in LA County (as well as across California) do not offer their students music classes. Only in middle school and high school do students have the option to participate in music during their school day, which means the youngest learners are often not given the same amount or quality of arts education.
Arts equity is at the heart of our organization. We spend time and resources advocating for our students at the state and local levels, as well as networking with like-minded organizations to share best practices and learn new ways of reaching school communities.
Why We Advocate for Arts Education
Our Sponsors
