Three Questions for Los Angeles: Part 3

1. What is the role of art in the rebuilding of Los Angeles?  

Clara Kim, chief curator, MOCA, Los Angeles:

The art community in LA has already demonstrated the power of the collective. Whether on a grassroots level with the incredible initiative of Grief + Hope or the LA Arts Community Fire Relief Fund initiated by the Getty with many institutions like MOCA through the Mohn Art Collective and individuals supporting, we are witnessing what is possible when a community comes together. It’s been heartening to participate in many in-person and Zoom conversations with various constituents and cross-sections of the LA art world led by artists, gallerists, museum colleagues and philanthropists.

Jonathan Griffin, writer, Los Angeles:

I’m not sure that it has one. Art was with us before the fires, and will be with us throughout the rebuilding process. But I don’t know what it can contribute to the massive civic process of making these ravaged areas livable again, or to preserving the macroeconomic conditions that once made Altadena a diverse and inclusive neighbourhood where artists could put down roots. I certainly don’t want to see a planned ‘arts district’, or any corny public sculptures. The challenge is to ensure that artists and other economically marginalized communities aren’t priced out of their neighbourhoods by the rebuilding process, and that it can remain a place that is attractive for such people in the future. We need local and state governments to be protectionist and munificent in a way they never have been before. That’s a lot to hope for.

Personally, I’ve never felt so deeply connected to the city and its people. Casey Fremont

Casey Fremont, director, Art Production Fund, Los Angeles:

Art, especially public art, brings communities together and helps process events and feelings that are often difficult to articulate. Shared experience is critical during traumatic events, which can otherwise be quite isolating.  At the risk of sounding super-cliché, I really believe art gives the opportunity for healing together.

2. What is special about the LA art community? 

Jonathan Griffin:

The community here is open and generous, and largely nonhierarchical. It’s not jealous or competitive, and most people aren’t looking over their shoulders at others coming up behind them. Older, successful artists genuinely support younger artists in concrete ways. It’s uncynical, and unjudgemental (for better or for worse). It’s a community that values depth over breadth, individual connections over wide networks, intimacy over collectivity. It is full of social pockets and substrata, which nobody except the people within them knows about.

Casey Fremont:

As a New York transplant living in Los Angeles, I have always been impressed by the energy of the LA art world. There is an appreciation and excitement within the community and beyond – I’ve always gotten the feeling that the city is really rooting for its success.

Jenifer Piejko, writer, Los Angeles:

I’d love to highlight the work of the Altadena Seed Library. Neighbours and visitors are encouraged to leave seeds at one of the wooden collection structures (they look like birdhouses) around Altadena and across LA, in a call for local seeds to help reseed the area once the fires die down, particularly plants like buckwheat, which help to pull heavy metals out of the soil that's been compromised from toxic fumes. The initiative is such a caring gesture to reconnect the community to the nature it shares its land with. 

3. What do you see in its future?

Jonathan Griffin:

Many people – myself included – often feel lonely in this city, where it’s quite possible to go about your life without seeing old friends for days or weeks at a time. I think that sense of alienation has already been recalibrated, given the outpouring of mutual care and support that we’ve seen since the fires. Even if we don’t see each other more often, we will know we’re part of a shared project, and part of a shared plight. Existence here used to feel pretty easy compared to most big cities. That will change. 

It’s a community that values depth over breadth, individual connections over wide networks, intimacy over collectivity. Jonathan Griffin

Clara Kim:

LA is in many ways a lateral art scene, unlike any other major city. Our future will depend on how we continue to listen to the voices who are most affected by this crisis (and others we face in the future), to determine how we can build more effective and sustainable relationships down the line. It is not a top-down, hierarchical art world. When the dust settles, the most urgent matter we need to confront is affordable studios and housing. LA has always been a beacon for artists and if we don’t create better avenues for artists to stay and make work here, we will lose the unique character that makes LA LA.

Casey Fremont:

From what I see, the coming together of this community is proving that it’s stronger than ever. Personally I’ve never felt so deeply connected to the city and its people. So many artists, curators and galleries are all in for LA, and I would expect that the momentum would only build during a time when it’s needed most.

Three Questions for Los Angeles Part 1: Kathryn Andrews, Tim Blum and Janelle Zara

Three Questions for Los Angeles Part 2: Andrea Bowers, Dominique Clayton, David Kordansky and Gary Tyler

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. 

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^{Main image: Santa Monica Mountains by John Verive, CC by 2.0 via Flickr}