Some of Los Angeles' largest arts institutions, including the J. Paul Getty Trust, LACMA, MOCA and the Hammer Museum, are among those backing a $12 million emergency reserve for artists and arts workers and is growing.
The Los Angeles Arts Community Fire Relief Fund is intended to provide immediate support to artists who have lost their homes or studios, and arts workers whose livelihoods are affected by the Los Angeles wildfires. The fund, which according to the organizers is growing day by day, will be managed and administered by the Cultural Innovation Centera non-profit organization that since 2001 has helped artists ensure their financial stability.
“I think it's really the first time that the Los Angeles arts community has come together so quickly, across so many institutions,” said Los Angeles County Museum of Art director Michael Govan. “The fires continue to burn. “We are not out of the woods, and yet the Los Angeles arts network is not only connected within itself, but globally.”
In addition to the Getty, LACMA and the Museum of Contemporary Art, other organizations involved in the new fund include East West Bank, the Mellon and Helen Frankenthaler Foundations, the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Qatar Museums and the Ford Foundation. Contributions have come from individual philanthropists, corporations and other organizations, such as the family foundation of Mellody Hobson and George Lucas; Kate Capshaw and Steven Spielberg and their Hearthland Foundation; the Robert Rauschenberg Foundation; the Broad Art Foundation; the Mike Kelley Foundation for the Arts; Gagosian and Hauser & Wirth galleries; and Frieze.
From the moment the fires began burning in Pacific Palisades, it became clear that the arts community was going to be hit hard, said J. Paul Getty Trust President and CEO Katherine E. Fleming, dismissing the narrative of that the coastal community was made up of only wealth and privilege. When Altadena burst into flames hours later, the scope of the tragedy for Los Angeles creatives began to crystallize.
Govan said Altadena could represent “one of the largest concentrations of artists and creative people in the country.”
The fund won't help rebuild lost neighborhoods, Fleming said, “but there has to be enough support for a number of workers to have an option other than just leaving.”
The rising cost of living was already driving many artists out of the state, and those who remain have serious concerns that another exodus could take shape. The funds will be administered as quickly as possible, Fleming said, with an eye to ensuring fire victims can put down deposits on new housing, buy clothing and continue to feed their families.
That is the immediate objective. But the fund also has the future in mind, and rebuilding is expected to take a long, long time. The hope is that the money will be distributed in phases over months and possibly years.
“This is ongoing, we're still raising funds,” Fleming said. “This is not something that's already done, and it's really important that it isn't.”
As the crisis is still in its critical phase, Govan said, it may be difficult for those affected to begin thinking about what rebuilding might look like. But he's hopeful the community can recover.
“This initiative of institutions and individuals coming together so quickly… I think it bodes well for Los Angeles,” he said.
Starting Monday, artists and arts workers affected by the fire in all disciplines can apply for an emergency grant at www.cciarts.org.
