Three years ago this week, we launched Culture OC with an ambitious but simple vision: to give Orange County’s diverse and vibrant arts scene the deep, high-caliber journalism it deserves.
At a time when mainstream media outlets were retreating from arts and culture coverage, we stepped into the void as an independent, nonprofit newsroom. Our goal was beyond simply documenting performances and exhibitions. We intended to keep the vital dialogue between artists and audiences alive.
As we celebrate our third anniversary on Friday, Sept. 8, I am incredibly proud to say that thanks to our passionate readers, donors and community partners, Culture OC has grown far beyond our early expectations.
Since our debut, our newsroom has published more than 600 stories, serving as a daily guide to the region’s cultural landscape. We’ve covered everything from major milestones at institutions like the Segerstrom Center for the Arts and Pacific Symphony to grassroots cultural events and underserved artists and communities.
We pride ourselves on delving beneath the surface. Our veteran writers have tackled complex trend analyses, investigative deep-dives and comprehensive guides like this month’s fall arts preview. We’ve also forged innovative community media partnerships such as our collaboration with the OC Theatre Guild, ensuring that local theater companies receive the rigorous spotlight they need to thrive.
Have You Noticed?
We’ve updated the website!
You might have noticed that Culture OC has a fresh look. Here are the new features of our redesigned website:
- Spark OC’s event listings are now linked on our home page! Upcoming events are easily found here.
- Our weekly editors’ picks have a prominent spot near the top.
- When you go to cultureoc.org, there are more stories to skim, separated by categories.
- We have a new ad spot that sits right inside every story so that our supporters can be seen by every reader.
Our dedication to old-school, boots-on-the-ground reporting has not gone unnoticed. Over the last three years, our team of seasoned journalists — many of whom spent decades writing for The Orange County Register and Los Angeles Times — has collectively racked up over 100 journalism awards, including several prestigious National Arts Journalism honors.
This past summer at the 2026 Orange County Press Club Awards, the Culture OC team brought home 17 individual honors. Joel Beers took home top prizes for his profiles and regional features, while our advisory board member Christopher Trela received the club’s highest honor, the Sky Dunlap Award, for lifetime achievement and community service. And our high-profile collaboration with PBS SoCal profiling the Pacific Symphony’s Carl St.Clair was recognized at the Southern California Journalism Awards.
These accolades reinforce what we’ve known all along: Localized, deeply informed cultural storytelling matters.
While our anniversary is an appropriate time to look back, we are even more excited about where we are heading. Beginning this month, Culture OC is officially partnering with Apple News. Our daily arts reporting, in-depth reviews and cultural features are now available to millions of Apple News readers worldwide.
This partnership represents a massive win for the local arts community. By elevating Orange County’s cultural storytelling onto a global platform, we are ensuring that the world sees our region for what it truly is: a dynamic, world-class hub of creativity, theater, music and art.
None of this would have been possible without you. As a reader-funded, nonprofit publication, we rely completely on the generosity of our community to keep our virtual doors open. Every article we write is free to read, but it is not free to produce. When you join our Culture Club, you are actively protecting something essential to our communities: dedicated, local arts journalism. Your support keeps our team in the theaters, the gallery spaces, and the places where culture of all kinds is being made.
Thank you for an incredible three years. We can’t wait to share the next chapter of Culture OC with you.
Related Stories
Shelley Debuts as Pacific Symphony’s Music Director
‘Assassins’ at Curtis Theatre and Southgate Productions
Shaping More Than Clay: Orange County Ceramics Studios Build Community
Taking Bea Arthur SeriouslyRecent Stories
Shelley Debuts as Pacific Symphony’s Music Director‘Assassins’ at Curtis Theatre and Southgate ProductionsShaping More Than Clay: Orange County Ceramics Studios Build CommunityTaking Bea Arthur Seriously
At Culture OC, our mission is to engage with a diverse range of Orange County’s artistic and cultural communities at every level by publishing news and critical analysis to encourage interest, participation, fellowship and dialogue.