With 26 years of experience, Community Arts Resources (CARS) creates opportunities to engage with culture and community. Our work is built upon the principles of strategic collaboration, connectivity, exploration and celebration. Through the navigation of the urban landscape and cultural geography of a city, CARS develops new models for the design and activation of public space. The firm’s impressive repertoire of work has garnered CARS a significant reputation in the fields of cultural and urban planning, event programming and production, community outreach and engagement and marketing. Community Arts Resources has a long history with Los Angeles and Southern California. Since founders Katie Bergin and Aaron Paley launched Community Arts Resources, they have been instrumental in utilizing the arts and civic engagement strategies to bring communities together, reclaim public spaces and cultivate awareness of local histories, cultural connections and creative resources. Dubbed by the New York Times as “Los Angeles’ preeminent festival producer,” CARS designs, installs and oversees festivals and other events for the likes of the City of Santa Monica, the Getty, CicLAvia, Metro, Disney Theme Parks, the Natural History Museum, and the California Endowment; consults for city governments, private developers, and nonprofits on the uses of public and private space for cultural and artistic purposes; arranges artist-in-residence programs at local schools; books cutting-edge performers for celebrated concert series; and develops unique marketing, outreach and engagement strategies for cultural organizations, community groups and planning and design projects.
