Following the calamitous loss suffered by Angelenos impacted by the ongoing fires, which have destroyed entire bodies of work, materials, studios, family heirlooms, and homes, art workers are stepping up to help meet the growing demand for recovery aid.
Over the last week, artists, studios, and galleries have launched artwork sales and raffles to fund fire relief efforts. The proceeds from these efforts benefit impacted individuals, mutual aid networks, and national organizations such as the American Red Cross. Some of these sales and raffles are rounded up in a list at the end of this article.
Thomas Pilnik and his husband Jake Carvallo, who run the Los Angeles-based design studio Feia, evacuated their Highland Park neighborhood safely with no damage to their home.
“I realized just how much of what I have cultivated around me contains whole universes of meaning, and just how devastated I would be if I lost it all,” Pilnik told Hyperallergic.
The couple is now hosting a raffle on Feia’s website for three artworks by Pilnik, including a large tufted cigar sculpture and a ceramic tangerine and pair of dice. The funds raised by their raffle, $15 per entry, will be donated to individual artists on GoFundMe and the Mutual Aid LA Network.
“This series of fires has filled Los Angeles with a raw kind of grief,” Pilnik said. “We can do our part to offer solidarity, empathy, and some secure footing so those who have lost everything can build new meaning, new foundations, and a clear path forward as quickly as possible.”
Outside LA, artist and recent Columbia University graduate Lolo Dederer has been selling linocut prints on her Instagram account since Friday, January 10. Dederer, currently based in Washington, is asking for donations of a minimum of $10 in exchange for her prints, which depict a human heart with phrases such as “LA Forever.”
After only one post on her Instagram story, which has just under 1,000 followers, Dederer said she raised $450 and donated it to a GoFundMe for an Altadena family that lost their home to the Eaton Fire.
“It feels empowering to rally my community and provide something that provides joy and comfort and that can be a powerful tool to help people,” Dederer told Hyperallergic.
Dederer said she chose the linocut medium for its relative efficiency, which allows her to produce many prints in a relatively short amount of time. “I would encourage other artists to use [their skills] to redirect funds at this time — people underestimate it as a fundraising tool,” Dederer said.
Below is a list of art fundraisers to aid fire recovery efforts. Note that Hyperallergic could not individually vet each sale.
- Feia Raffle: The design studio’s raffle is open until Wednesday, January 15, at 5pm Pacific Time. Tickets can be purchased for $15 on Feia’s website.
- Lolo Dederer’s mutual aid linocut print Instagram drive: The minimum donation requested is $10 and is ongoing. Funds will be donated to individual GoFundMe campaigns, mostly in the Altadena area. DM the artist to request a print.
- Shepard Fairey’s limited-edition prints: Serial campaign artist Shepard Fairey, most famously known for designing Obama’s “HOPE” and Kamala Harris’s “FORWARD” posters, published a design featuring a sparrow soaring above a flame, symbolizing resilience. Fairey wrote on Instagram that he will donate 100% of profits from the sale of this LA-specific design, going for $80 each, to the American Red Cross and other vetted organizations supporting California wildfire relief efforts. Pre-orders of the print opened on Monday and will remain on sale until Thursday, January 16 at 12pm Pacific Time.
- Art fundraiser for Alec Egan: The artist, who was preparing for a January 25 exhibition at Anat Egbi gallery, lost his home and studio and all of his artworks for the show in the fires. Anat Egbi is selling posters featuring work from his 2022 show Look Out; all of the proceeds will support Egan. You can purchase the poster here for $100. Additionally, Kinstler Puzzles is selling a 1,000-piece puzzle version of Egan’s oil painting “Cupcake with bouquet of flowers (dessert)” (2022) for $50 and donating all proceeds directly to the artist.
- Hashimoto Contemporary Art Raffle: Over 30 artists, including Devra Fox, Carlos Rodriguez, and Madeline Tonzi, have donated to an LA benefit raffle hosted by the San Francisco and New York-based Hashimoto Contemporary gallery. Entries are $10 each and the raffle closes at midnight Pacific Time on Wednesday, January 15.
- Soey Milk Chine-Collé Raffle: Seoul-born artist and Pasadena-educated artist Soey Milk is raffling off a debossed Chine-Collé print to fundraise for affected individuals including the founding couple of Fugu Fugu Press, an Altadena letterpress print business that burned in the Eaton Fire.
- Brendan George Ko Butterfly Prints: The Ontario-born photographer, known for his nature photography featured in the New Yorker and New York Times, is selling prints of two butterfly photographs for $220 each. Proceeds will go to Mutual Aid LA Network. DM the artist to order.
- NY Loves LA T-shirt: The Brooklyn-based screen printing studio Kingsland Editions is selling a $50 T-shirt design featuring “New York” and “Los Angeles” sandwiching a massive red heart. Proceeds will go toward the Mutual Aid LA Network. You can order a shirt here.
