To say the Los Angeles art community has been devastated by the wildfires would be an understatement. Artists in areas like Altadena and the Palisades have seen their workspaces gutted and livelihoods threatened as ongoing fires continue to wreak havoc across L.A. County.
Since the onset of the fires on January 7th, the damage has been catastrophic. Flames have consumed more than two dozen lives and over 40,000 acres of land. Upwards of 180,000 people have been evacuated and displaced over the past two weeks. This crisis has affected every corner of Los Angeles, including its cultural hubs.
Los Angeles galleries and artists alike have rushed to support one another in the face of these wildfires. One remarkable initiative, Grief and Hope, has been coordinated by Various Small Fires director Ariel Pittman and former David Kordansky Gallery director Julia V. Hendrickson, along with artists Kathryn Andrews, Andrea Bowers, and Olivia Gauthier. At the time of publication, the effort has successfully raised $453,165, approaching its $500,000 target. Meanwhile, major arts institutions, including the J. Paul Getty Trust, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, MOCA Los Angeles, and the Hammer Museum, have raised $12 million to aid artists and art workers in the city.
As the city and its residents reckon with the past two weeks, Artsy spoke to eight artists about the personal and communal impacts of the Los Angeles wildfires.
Jessica Taylor Bellamy
“Los Angeles has an eternal magic hour. People who are not from here often describe the light as intoxicating. I have lived here my entire life, growing up in Whittier, going to school at USC, living now on the Westside, and working at my studio in Inglewood. I can recognize my city instantly by the light, this defining characteristic of place.
“The idea that all of Los Angeles operates as one, pausing to look at the sky when there is a particularly striking sunset, or pausing again when the light holds the threat of disaster (that tinge in the sky is already a long source of trauma for Californians) is nothing new, but looking at the sky and needing to ask ‘are you safe?’ repeatedly to family, friends, mentors is an unwelcome first.
“It’s a common conversation among artists in my orbit to feel like they have to give everything right now, but organizations will need volunteers and support for months, along with those helping our environment and non-human neighbors.
“Anat Ebgi gallery is holding a group show of L.A. artists to support the L.A. arts community on February 8th.”
Adam Alessi
“I just want to preface that I didn’t lose my home and was not directly affected by the fires. I’ve been operating a donation drop-off for materials to get to the people who lost their studios, homes, and practices in the fires.
“The drop-off has had an overwhelming response of donations coming, from people in L.A. to people all over the U.S., and even some international donations. My goal is to build resources for artists of any medium who lost everything, to start rebuilding. I understand these resources may not be immediate for everyone so I am working to look at how to make this available for the long term.
“I’m also working on trying to get book publishers on board with donations to help kickstart people’s libraries. If people would like to get involved from afar, there are many artists who have GoFundMe. There is also @griefxhope [on] Instagram, which has information on donating to their fund, which will be allocated to the people who are in contact with them and need the resources. They have a survey that people can fill out for everything from donations to receiving help.”
Contact Alessi with questions or contributions via Instagram, or email at ArtistReliefLA@gmail.com.
Sayre Gomez
World 1, 2022
Sayre Gomez
Pinto Gallery
World 2, 2022
Sayre Gomez
Pinto Gallery
“2025 marks my 19th year in L.A., and despite all its flaws, I love it—it’s the strangest place, but for the first time, I’m considering the idea of leaving.
“My family and I bought a home last summer on the northeastern edge of Eagle Rock, about a five-minute drive from Pasadena. January 7th was my son’s fifth birthday, and as he was blowing out his birthday candles, we lost power. By the next morning, I received the official evacuation notice, and we decided to leave town. I’m writing from a friend’s house just north of San Francisco.
“Our home, my studio, and all our loved ones are safe, and we feel extremely lucky because SO MANY friends and family have lost EVERYTHING. But we can’t escape the ‘what will happen next time’ thoughts. Not to mention the asbestos and formaldehyde ash floating down all over our Los Angeles right now.
“Since 2017, I’ve made an ongoing series of paintings called ‘Fire Season’ that imagines what L.A. would look like if a catastrophic event like this took place, and tomorrow, I’ll finally travel home to see it for myself.”
Jessie Homer French
Generations, 2024
Jessie Homer French
MASSIMODECARLO
“Whenever the Santa Ana winds blow—I stick close to home—pack a bag—line up the dry paintings & wait—But I never thought the Palisades would burn—a whole world—a past—gone.”
Gwen O’Neil
Mountain Passage, 2024
Gwen O'Neil
Almine Rech
“It is so uncanny to think that this work, a series I’ve been preparing for over a year, was inspired by the many impelling elements of Los Angeles and, in some cases, the Santa Ana winds directly. To exhibit it [at a current solo show in New York with Almine Rech] comes with equal parts sheer excitement and sobering sympathy.
“In the same sense, I’m so saddened by the event entirely, but proud of L.A. for supporting each other and my artist peers supporting other artists. Like the poppies that bloom after the devastation of wildfires, L.A. has shown the same resilience. This will likely permanently reshape how I approach the canvas, with a deep appreciation for my peers and our community.”
Ben Sanders
Siren XXIX, 2024
Ben Sanders
Gana Art LA
“Most of us are just trying to figure out where to put ourselves and our families. Fundraisers and fundraiser awareness are at max capacity right now, bordering on just very noisy and confusing. I am actually going to my studio right now to try and do some freelance work that was interrupted by the fire so that I don’t lose the gig. I have no time or bandwidth to sit and reflect or write down anything or really do anything other than what is immediately around me....We don’t even have reflections yet, a lot of us are just numb and in shock still. And I still HAVE my house, so you can imagine what it’s like for people that lost it all.”
Mark Whalen
Sweet grapes, 2023
Mark Whalen
STATION
“It was an incredibly shocking experience, to say the least. My wife, Kimberly, and I watched the fire creep down the mountain toward us for 10 hours. All our friends on the opposite side of Altadena had already evacuated hours earlier. We never thought it would reach our house, as we were so far from the mountain. But when we left during the evacuation, I had a strange feeling—it was like we were saying goodbye.
“We lost a lot of great art from our collection, which is incredibly heartbreaking. These were pieces I had collected over the course of my career, each with its own memories and stories attached. On top of that, I lost my own works—finished canvases, paintings in progress, sculptural works, and other projects I had been working on.
“Most of all, though, we lost the memories we had begun creating in that home. It was a new place we had renovated and had only lived in for a year, but it already felt so special to us.”
Piper Bangs
Transferring, 2024
Piper Bangs
Megan Mulrooney
“Los Angeles’s landscape always fills the bank of visuals I’m drawing from when I’m imagining the landscapes in my paintings. Watching mutual aid pour in from the community, like Altadena Girls and the wave of support for GoFundMes for people who lost their homes is inspiring—how important community support is is on my mind. It’ll filter into the next paintings, and I’m grateful I still have my studio to make them in.”
For more information on fundraising initiatives and supply drop-offs, see Artsy’s full list of resources. If you have additional relief efforts or fundraisers to highlight, email us at pitches@artsy.net with the subject line “LA wildfire resources.”
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