Three Questions for Los Angeles: Part 1
In the first of a three-part series, Kathryn Andrews, Tim Blum and Janelle Zara consider their city’s future in the wake of the wildfires
In the first of a three-part series, Kathryn Andrews, Tim Blum and Janelle Zara consider their city’s future in the wake of the wildfires
![](https://static.frieze.com/files/styles/hero_image/public/article/main/28206753486_81d58aff2d_k.jpg?VersionId=j7kAgwUFZCJcf4P0aYcp8uza_fowjmQo&itok=iqPwXP1t)
1. What role does art play in the rebuilding of Los Angeles?
Kathryn Andrews, artist and co-founder of Grief + Hope, Los Angeles:
Art will connect us as it always has. Its ongoing presence will draw us together to heal in this moment of great fracturing. Grief + Hope is an organizational effort by artists and art workers to serve those impacted. And this effort is really about individuals coming together and making a difference. I think that’s what real change looks like: it’s not waiting on bigger entities to save us. It’s everybody jumping in and making a difference in this moment. It’s working and it’s incredible to see.
Tim Blum, gallerist, Blum, Los Angeles:
Art can be a sanctuary and a refuge in times of grief. In the case of Los Angeles – as the artist community was hit particularly hard by the fires – art has also been a common ground for bringing people together and cultivating support and relief, as well as activism. We’ve seen this with the fundraising efforts, but also the goodwill of friends and neighbours offering shelter and safe haven.
Janelle Zara, writer, Los Angeles:
People are really showing up. Grief + Hope is currently having a print sale, there’s a fundraising group show at Last Projects, and a really good one by Gene’s Dispensary too. There is also a heartbreaking number of GoFundMe campaigns – truly too many to list without leaving anyone out.
2. What’s special about the Los Angeles art community?
Janelle Zara:
This disaster has made a lot of us realize that the LA art community is actually a very small place. So many artists who lost their homes in the fires are friends, or friends of friends. I'm really grateful to the people who led the way forward, establishing mutual aid as the way out, tuning in to the specific needs of the community – people with one or two degrees of separation offering up resources. We’re all looking at one another and saying, ‘Maybe I have something you could use right now.’
Kathryn Andrews:
Its diversity: people in the LA art community come from everywhere. They have many different backgrounds, many perspectives. Also, because the city is so spread out, and we see each other rarely, connection isn’t taken for granted. Meaningful exchanges happen at openings, at art fairs. Personally, I’m looking forward to seeing people. I want to make sense of what’s occurred. Art is central to this. We look to it to see new perspectives, and to understand the human experience.
Tim Blum:
For generations, Los Angeles has inspired artists – painters, musicians, filmmakers. The climate, the light and the horizon line, the surrounding sea, canyons and deserts, have caught the imagination of creative minds. This undeniable tether to the environment is distinct from other art epicenters, and defines the community here.
3. What does the future of the LA art world look like?
Janelle Zara:
I hope this isn’t a fleeting microtrend, and that this feeling of solidarity lasts into the future. It has to. Rebuilding LA is going to take a very long time. This disaster has brought us all closer: imagine the LA art community as a group of people huddling together for warmth. Collective grief is a very strange feeling, but no one is being left to grieve alone.
Tim Blum:
I believe that more often than not, something positive comes from the negative. People have come together in the face of this recent devastation – as they have with countless other natural disasters from our local past, whether fire, landslide, or earthquake – to heal and rebuild. I believe Los Angeles and its arts community will only get better.
Kathryn Andrews:
I hope for a more equitable market structure. Those disadvantaged by the market – women, persons of colour – are particularly hard-hit by this kind of event. And I say that as someone who’s gone through a fire twice: now and in 2020.
Further Information
Frieze Los Angeles, 20 – 23 February 2025, Santa Monica Airport.
Frieze is proud to support the LA Arts Community Fire Fund, led by the J. Paul Getty Trust. In addition to Frieze’s contribution, 10% of the value of all newly purchased tickets is being donated to the fund.
To keep up to date on all the latest news from Frieze, sign up to the newsletter at frieze.com, and follow @friezeofficial on Instagram and Frieze Official on Facebook.
Frieze Los Angeles is supported by global lead partner Deutsche Bank, continuing its legacy of celebrating artistic excellence on an international scale.
Main image: Eric Haake