Don Knabe. Working for you.

Arts and Education Accomplishments

2010

Providing Opera for Children at Libraries
The highly-acclaimed Opera Tales program returned to Fourth District County Libraries. Opera Tales is a LA Opera program that introduces children and families to the world of opera at local libraries. Supervisor Knabe established the partnership between the LA Opera and the County of Los Angeles Public Library, and provided funding to bring Opera Tales to libraries in the Fourth District.
 

Transforming Lifeguard Towers on County Beaches
This summer more than 100 of the Los Angeles County beach lifeguard towers will be visually transformed as part of a massive public art and civic project developed by Portraits of Hope, in cooperation with the Los Angeles County Lifeguard Association. The project and exhibition has been approved by the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors, the Los Angeles County Fire Chief and the Los Angeles Department of Beaches and Harbors.

2009

Supporting Education Law Reforms
The Board of Supervisors has unanimously passed a resolution made by Supervisor Don Knabe to state the Board's strong support of the Governor and California’s Legislature in their efforts to make the necessary changes to state law that would enable California to apply for billions of dollars in new federal education funding.
 

Advancing the Arts
20 arts organizations from the Fourth District received competitive funding awards from the Los Angeles County Arts Commission to create visual and performing arts projects and provide access to the arts for children and adults. Over $4.4 million in arts grants were distributed to 153 nonprofit arts groups across the County in 2009.
 

Providing Opera for Children at Libraries

The highly-acclaimed Opera Tales program returned to Fourth District County Libraries. Opera Tales is a LA Opera program that introduces children and families to the world of opera at local libraries. Supervisor Knabe established the partnership between the LA Opera and the County of Los Angeles Public Library, and provided funding to bring Opera Tales to libraries in the Fourth District.
 

Treating Students to Movie as Part of Operation Read Program

About 300 Los Angeles County schoolchildren were treated to a special screening of the new Warner Bros. movie ‘Inkheart’ at the Norwalk AMC, as part of Supervisor Don Knabe’s Operation Read Program. The 7th and 8th grade students, from the Bellflower Unified School District, also received a free copy of ‘Inkheart’.

2008

Overhauling Education in the County Juvenile Justice System Supervisor Knabe’s proposed overhaul of educational opportunities in Los Angeles County’s juvenile camps and halls was unanimously approved by the Board of Supervisors. The reforms were proposed by Supervisor Knabe in June 2007 after a study revealed students were seriously underserved by the schools designed to teach children incarcerated in the Los Angeles County juvenile justice system. Among the reforms will be the creation of charter schools in the probation system. The reforms will also customize educational opportunities based on the individual needs of the student, including a vocational education path, a college-bound path, and a GED completion path, among others.

Advancing the Arts
23 arts organizations from the Fourth District receive competitive funding awards from the Los Angeles County Arts Commission to create visual and performing arts projects and provide access to the arts for children and adults. Over $4.5 million in arts grants were distributed to 155 nonprofit arts groups across the County in 2008.
 

Providing Opera for Children at Libraries
The highly-acclaimed Opera Tales program returned to Fourth District County Libraries. Opera Tales is a LA Opera program that introduces children and families to the world of opera at local libraries. Supervisor Knabe established the partnership between the LA Opera and the County of Los Angeles Public Library, and provided funding to bring Opera Tales to libraries in the Fourth District.

Funding Summer Arts Internships
Los Angeles County, through its Arts Commission, has given grants totaling $496,000 to 87 performing, literary, media and municipal arts organizations throughout the County to support paid internships for college undergraduates in the summer. Through the program, interns gain a deeper understanding of the work involved in nonprofit arts administration and the role of the arts in a community, and develop business skills that can be put to use in their future careers.

2007

County Concert Features Local Performers
Five talent groups from across the Fourth District performed in the 47th Annual L.A. County Holiday Celebration, a free performance that is a gift to the community from Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors. The local groups included Inspirational Voices of Free! of San Pedro, Albert McNeil Jubilee Singers of Hermosa Beach, Golden State Pops Orchestra and Sheridan Singers of San Pedro, Grupo Folklorico Sabor de Mexico from Torrance and Khmer Arts Academy from Long Beach.

Funding Summer Arts Internships
Los Angeles County, through its Arts Commission, has given grants totaling $530,000 to 90 performing, literary, media and municipal arts organizations throughout the County to support paid internships for college undergraduates in the summer. Through the program, interns gain a deeper understanding of the work involved in nonprofit arts administration and the role of the arts in a community, and develop business skills that can be put to use in their future careers.

Providing Funds to Fourth District Arts Education Programs
More than three dozen arts education programs were awarded grants from the 2007 Knabe Arts Education Partnership Program. Any Fourth District school or non-profit organization that offers a program relating to arts youth education was eligible to apply, and the organizations must also currently work in the Fourth District.

Upgrading the Library at Palm Elementary in Hacienda Heights
Supervisor Knabe worked to ensure that recently renovated Wonder of Reading Library at Palm Elementary School in Hacienda Heights would receive new tables, chairs and books. The furniture and books were funded by a $10,000 Community Development Block Grant (CDGB) allocated to the Fourth District.

Overhauling Education in the County Juvenile Justice System
Schools designed to teach children incarcerated in the Los Angeles County juvenile justice system may be seriously underserving students, according to a report by the Children’s Planning Council. As a result, Supervisor Knabe called for a top-to-bottom reform of the education system in the County’s juvenile halls and probation camps, including the possible use of charter schools.

2006

Advancing the Arts

26 arts organizations from the Fourth District receive competitive funding awards from the Los Angeles County Arts Commission to create visual and performing arts projects and provide access to the arts for children and adults. Over $4.5 million in arts grants were distributed to 250 nonprofit arts groups across the County in 2006.
 

Improving Access to Libraries

After learning of the limited access students in the County’s probation halls and camps have to libraries, Supervisor Knabe formed a partnership between several agencies to create new access to books and reading materials for these students. The result was a program that provides library cards to all probation students, access to reading skills lessons and specialized reading lists.
 

LA Phil for Free

The Los Angeles Philharmonic returns to the Fourth District for a special community concert in the South Bay. The free concert was the first in the District in over five years.
 

New Facilities for Homeless Students

Community leaders dedicate the Mary McLeod Bethune Transitional Center, a school that provides mainstream educational and health services to children of homeless families. The new 6,000 square foot campus helps many of the 800 homeless children enrolled in the Long Beach Unified School District receive the same academic opportunities that students in other local schools receive. Supervisor Knabe secured $1 million in Federal Community Development Block Grant money to help fund construction of the Bethune Center.
 

MoLAA Expansion Campaign

Expansion of the Museum of Latin-American Art (MoLAA) in Long Beach is helped, in part, with Supervisor Knabe’s financial assistance. Once complete, the expansion project will more than double the existing gallery and exhibition space at the Museum.
 

Opera Opportunities

Opera Tales is a new LA Opera program that introduces children and families to the world of opera. Supervisor Knabe established a partnership between the LA Opera and the County of Los Angeles Public Library, and provided funding to bring Opera Tales to library branches across the Fourth District.

2005

Financial support to keep the Little Red School House at the Catalina Island Isthmus from closing. This allows eight to ten children to go to school at the Isthmus, instead of traveling more than one hour each way to Avalon.
 

Funded $18,400 for four new computers and workstations at the Diamond Bar Library.
 

5,000 high school and middle school students from schools across the Fourth District participate in Supervisor Knabe’s annual Operation Read program.
 

Created partnership between the County Librarian and the Los Angeles Opera to create and fund a children’s opera program in local Fourth District County libraries.

2004

500 elementary school students participate in Supervisor Knabe’s annual Operation Read program.
 

Annual financial support of the Early Education Symposium, presented by the Long Beach Early Care and Education Committee.
 

Coordinated the Friends of Cerritos Library effort to send reading books to impoverished children in Taiwan.
 

Funded the Children’s Corner at the Lomita Library in memory of Deone Colbary.

2003

Provided lead funding for the relocation and permanent location of the Artesia Historical Society Museum.

2002

Friends of Lomita Library honors Supervisor Knabe with the dedication of the “Don Knabe Golf Book Collection.”
 

Creation of the Fourth District Arts Education Grants program, which funds arts programs in the Fourth Supervisorial District. This program has continued annually and has provided dozens of arts agencies with financial support.

2001

Supervisor Knabe took a leadership role in the establishment of “Arts for All” from the launching of the program to the present day and has continued to encourage school districts in the Fourth District to adopt the Arts for All Blueprint.

2000

Created a partnership with the Palos Verdes Art Center and the Palos Verdes Peninsula Unified School District to provide an arts program to all sixth grade students.