Some of Los Angeles’ largest arts institutions, including the J. Paul Getty Trust, LACMA, MOCA and the Hammer Museum, are among those supporting the $12 million emergency reserve for artists and arts workers — and growing.
The LA Arts Community Fire Relief Fund aims to provide immediate support to artists who have lost their homes or studios, and arts workers whose livelihoods have been impacted by the Los Angeles wildfires. The fund, which organizers say is growing by the day, will be managed and managed by… Cultural Creativity Centera non-profit organization that has helped artists since 2001 secure financial stability.
“I think this is really the first time that the arts community in Los Angeles has come together so quickly, across so many institutions,” said Michael Govan, director of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. “The fires are still burning. We are not out of the woods yet, and yet the Los Angeles arts network is not only connected within itself, but globally.
Besides the Getty Museum, the Los Angeles Museum of Art, and the Museum of Contemporary Art, other organizations participating in the new fund include East Bank, the Mellon and Helen Frankenthaler Foundations, the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Qatar Museums, and the Ford Foundation. Contributions have poured in from individual philanthropists, corporations and other organizations, such as the Melody Hobson and George Lucas Family Foundation; Kate Capshaw, Steven Spielberg and their Hearthland Foundation; Robert Rauschenberg Foundation; Broad Art Foundation. Mike Kelly Foundation for the Arts; Gagosian and Hauser & Wirth Gallery; And a frieze.
From the moment the fires started burning in Pacific Palisades, it became clear that the arts community was going to take a hit, said Katherine Fleming, president and CEO of the J. Paul Getty Fund, rejecting the narrative that the coastal community is made up solely of wealth and privilege. As Altadena caught fire hours later, the scope of the tragedy for creatives across Los Angeles began to take shape.
Govan said Altadena could represent “one of the largest concentrations of artists and creatives in the country.”
The fund will not help rebuild lost neighborhoods, Fleming said, “but there should be enough support for many workers so that they have no choice but to leave.”
The high cost of living has already pushed many artists out of the state, and those who remain have major concerns about the possibility of another exodus. Fleming said the funds would be administered as quickly as possible, with a focus on making sure fire victims could put down deposits to purchase new housing, buy clothes and continue feeding their families.
This is the immediate goal. But the Fund also has the future in mind, as the rebuilding process is expected to take a very long time. The hope is that the funds will be distributed in phases over several months, perhaps years.
“This is ongoing, and we are still raising money,” Fleming said. “This is not a one-and-done event, and it’s really important that it’s not a one-and-done event.”
With the crisis still in its critical phase, it may be difficult for those affected to begin thinking about what the rebuilding process might look like, Govan said. But he has hope that the community can recover.
“This initiative of organizations and individuals coming together very quickly… I think it bodes well for Los Angeles,” he said.
Starting Monday, artists and arts workers affected by the fires across all disciplines can apply for an emergency grant at the following address: www.cciarts.org.