HOW TO USE THE MAP

The Youth Arts Profile is an interactive map that curates, visualizes, and aggregates youth arts and wellbeing data in Los Angeles neighborhoods. We recommend going through the following steps to get acquainted with the tool.

Explore Arts Data

Start exploring the map by looking at the arts and culture layers. To do this, select all the arts data layers on the map. These layers show the locations of DCA Arts Centers, DCA Theaters, Libraries, Museums and Aquariums, and Historic Cultural Monuments. Zoom out of on the map to the citywide level. To understand what each symbol means, click on the Legend icon on the left below the search box. Observe the areas of concentration of these arts data layers. Double click on the map to zoom in to see details. Click and the drag the map to move from one area to another.

To explore arts data at the neighborhood level, type the name of the neighborhood in the search box. In the dropdown menu, select a neighborhood by selecting a LA Times Neighborhood neighborhood. Once you select the neighborhood in the dropdown menu, the map will zoom in on the area. You can see the arts and cultural data points within the highlighted area. Click on the individual point to the details of each location in the popup window.

Searching what’s nearby is another good way to explore the arts and cultural data layers. Click on the Nearby icon on the left below the search bar to see what’s nearby a location of your interest. Enter the street address of your interested location. Select the mile radius number to indicate the size of the surrounding area of interest. The search results indicate the number of items of each data type within the selected area.

Explore School Data

There are two sets of school data in the Youth Arts Profile: LAUSD Arts Equity Index and LA County Arts Education Profile. To turn them on, click on the Layers List icon on the left below the search bar.

We recommend exploring the school layers individually. The LAUSD Arts Equity Index (AEI) data layer is expressed by circles. Each school within the LAUSD system is symbolized by a circle. The diameter of the circle indicates the school’s AET score. The larger the circle, the more arts-underserved the school is. Click on the Legend icon to see the scale of the circle pattern. Click on the individual school to see more information about how this school scored on the Arts Equity Index. To learn more about the LAUSD Arts Equity Index project, read here.

The LA County Arts Education Profile layer contains school data symbolized in color and size. The color of the circle represents whether the school has an after school arts program: dark orange means yes, light orange, no. The size of the circle refers to the number of arts courses per students enrolled in the school. The larger the circle, the higher the arts course vs. student radio. To find out more about this dataset, read the LA County Arts Education Profile and Report.  

Explore Social and Community Data

We have made available a number of social and community data layers to select from in order to contextualize arts and school data in Los Angeles neighborhoods. The social and community data layer include CDC’s Social Vulnerability Index, California’s Human Development Index (HDI) Economic Need Indicator, USA Poverty Ratio, and USA Percent 18 and Under. Click on the Layers List icon to select a demographic or socioeconomic layer of your choosing. Then click on the Legend icon to see how the results are expressed in terms of color.

Zooming in or using the Nearby icon can provide neighborhood-level results