The Arts Council of Kern provides arts education, vocational support and enrichment opportunities
to residents of all ages and all abilities throughout the county.

Arts Education
   We provide art-assisted education for schools, after school programs, and life-long learning programs using the Young Audiences (YA) Arts for Learning Curriculum. The YA curriculum uses the arts to teach all subjects and includes imbedded assessments. On the residency side of things, all of our Teaching Artists bring their arts programs to the classroom using Young Audiences Signature Core Services and evaluations. Please contact Nicole Saint-John or Kari Heilman for more information.  Click HERE to visit the Young Audiences website.

Arts as Vocation
We support artists with special needs through the Arts Enterprise Project, a palette of programs designed to provide vocational support for artists with developmental differences. The Visual Arts Workshop mentors artists with the guidance of teaching artists. Story Lab offers opportunities for entrepreneurial creativity. 

Arts Outreach

We further our mission fulfilling arts needs in Kern County through many outreach programs and programs that support the creative economy. These programs include:

Artist Mentoring - With renowned artists on staff, we assist artists with the creation of their portfolios, pricing, and placing. Call the Arts Council for more information.

The Creating Community uses the sense of community on two levels. Selected artists are part of a community that is mentored the first year, then they serve as mentors for another group the next year. On another level, the Creating Community partners with local organizations to use the arts' unique ability to bring awareness to the social issue of that organization's mission. Most organizations are under-using visual cues in their marketing, whether due to inexperience or funding availability.

Exhibitions  Local artists submit artwork in answer to calls to artists. Selected pieces are exhibited at various collaborative community events or in the Younger Gallery. Last year, we had 16 exhibitions with approximately 6,300 patrons.

Publishing the Kern Arts Directory  Each year, we update and publish a listing of artists and arts organizations Kern County. This gives added exposure to the thriving arts communities that we have.

House Concerts, literally, small concerts in people's homes - are paradoxes of energy and intimacy. It's a time-honored way for musicians to earn money while traveling from one place to another, and in the process, build their audience base. For concert-goers, it's a way to connect not only to the music, but to the individuals making the music. Performers respond positively to the nearness of an audience devoid of espresso machine noises; and audiences are drawn easily into that magical space created by musicians whenever they're just doing what they love to do.

The Musicians' Outreach Project is dedicated to bringing top-notch artists who also excel in educational settings to schools throughout Kern County. The program is sponsored in part by grants from corporations as well as individual donors, which serve as matching funds for schools that would otherwise not be able to afford this type of program.

Community Concerts  Bakersfield is a perfect stop-over point for musicians between Northern and Southern California or the Central Coast. Taking advantage of this, ACK has created a Community Concert series in partnership with several local, mid-sized venues.

ArtCare in San Joaquin Community Hospital  This program brings the arts bedside to those in various levels of medical treatment and looking for a holistic healing approach through the arts.

Walk for the Arts  This 5-K ramble through Downtown Bakersfield's Arts and Culture District provides dozens of performances at over 40 culture stops. Organizations and student arts groups use the walk to independently raise money for their arts programs.

Technical Training  We provide professional development support to member arts organizations in fund raising and development, grant writing, the use of social marketing.

Community Grants  As the county's lead arts agency, we re-grant to smaller arts organizations each year. The grants, up to $1,500 each, are intended to strengthen the capacity of local organizations to provide arts access opportunities to the community. The ACK gratefully acknowledges the California Arts Council and the County of Kern for making these grants possible.