Washington, DC -- NEA Chairman Rocco Landesman will visit Woodland and Los Angeles, California, February 21–23, 2012, as part of his Art Works tour. In each city, Chairman Landesman will learn about the efforts to use the arts to create vibrant, livable communities by visiting the recipients of NEA Our Town grants and ArtPlace grants. Inspired by the NEA's Our Town initiative, ArtPlace is a privately funded consortium that is investing in projects that use the arts to increase community vibrancy. On February 21, Chairman Landesman will be in California's Central Valley to visit YoloArts in Woodland, the recipient of an ArtPlace grant for the Yolo County Arts & Ag project. On February 23, Chairman Landesman will visit two recipients of Our Town grants in Los Angeles -- the City of Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs, which is working on a master plan and design for the Watts Historic Train Station Visitors Center and connecting Artist Pathways, and the Los Angeles County Arts Commission, which is working on an inventory and analysis of cultural assets in the Willowbrook neighborhood of Los Angeles County. Chairman Landesman will also visit the recipients of two ArtPlace grants in Los Angeles -- GOOD Ideas for Cities, which aims to advance the role that creative problem-solving and civic engagement play in building great communities, and the Watts House Project, which is re-creating three neglected houses in the Watts neighborhood as The Platform, an office space, exhibition venue, and visiting artist work site. As part of this trip, Chairman Landesman also will deliver the keynote address at the College Art Association's Centennial Convocation on February 21 and participate in a public conversation with Los Angeles County Museum of Art's CEO and Wallis Annenberg Director Michael Govan on February 23. In addition, coinciding with Chairman Landesman's trip to California, the California Arts Council will be posting daily features to the NEA's Facebook page the week of February 20 as the prize for being the first state arts agency to reach 10,000 friends on Facebook. Last fall, the California Arts Council went head to head with the Arizona Commission on the Arts and the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities to be the first to achieve this goal. The NEA supported this friendly competition by setting the prize of a week's worth of Facebook features. In this video, Chairman Landesman congratulates the California Arts Council on their win. Please see the full schedule below for more information on all of these events.

Tuesday, February 21, 2012 - Central Valley, CA
2:00-3:00 pm	Meeting with YoloArts about Yolo County Art & Ag project    Participants: NEA Chairman Rocco Landesman Marilyn Nielsen, chief deputy, California Arts Council  Dani Thomas, executive director, YoloArts YoloArts board leaders County of Yolo partners  Art & Ag Project steering committee members Location: <:/strong> Gallery 625, 625 Court Street, Woodland, CA 95695

Wednesday, February 22, 2012 - Los Angeles, CA
5:30-7:00 pm	Keynote address at College Art Association Centennial Convocation  *This event is free and open to the public. More information is at conference.collegeart.org/2012.    Location: West Hall Meeting Room 502AB, Level 2, Los Angeles Convention Center, 1201 South Figueroa Street, Los Angeles, CA 90015

Thursday, February 23, 2012 - Los Angeles, CA
9:00-10:00 am	Meeting with GOOD Ideas for Cities    Participants:  NEA Chairman Rocco Landesman Craig Watson, director, California Arts Council Casey Caplowe, co-founder & creative director, GOOD Alissa Walker, GOOD Ideas for Cities Location: 915 N. Citrus Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90038
12:30-1:30 pm	Meeting and tour of Watts House Project    Participants:              NEA Chairman Rocco Landesman Craig Watson, director, California Arts Council Edgar Arceneaux, executive director, Watts House Project Will Sheffie, managing director, Watts House Project Trinidad Ruiz, programs director, Watts House Project  Channing Henry, board chair, Watts House Project Location: 1726 East 107th Street, Los Angeles, CA 90002
1:45-3:00 pm	Meeting and walking tour of Watts with City of Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs    Participants:     NEA Chairman Rocco Landesman  Craig Watson, director, California Arts Council Olga Garay-English, executive director, City of Los Angeles  Department of Cultural Affairs Timothy Watkins, CEO, Watts Labor Community Action  Committee Location: Watts Historic Train Station, 1686 E. 103rd Street, Los Angeles, CA 90002
3:15-4:15 pm	Meeting and walking tour of Willowbrook with Los Angeles County Arts Commission    Participants:  NEA Chairman Rocco Landesman Craig Watson, director, California Arts Council Laura Zucker, executive director, Los Angeles County Arts  Commission Project leaders Location: 10833 South Wilmington Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90059
7:30-8:30 pm	Public conversation with Los Angeles County Museum of Art CEO and Wallis Annenberg Director Michael Govan * This event is free and open to the public but tickets must be reserved in advance. More information is at lacma.org.    Location: Los Angeles Museum of Art, Bing Theater, 5905 Wilshire Blvd. Los Angeles, CA 90036