Los Angeles’ leading art institutions, including the J. Paul Getty Trust, LACMA, and the Hammer Museum, have launched a $12 million emergency fund to aid artists and cultural workers who have lost their homes, studios, or livelihoods to the wildfires still ravaging California.
The L.A. Arts Community Fire Relief Fund, which is reportedly still growing, will be organized and administered by the Center for Cultural Innovation, a San Francisco-based nonprofit that helps artists achieve financial security. A significant portion of the initial funding pool comes from the Getty, which counts as the world’s richest art institution due to its $9.1 billion endowment. The area surrounding the Getty Villa, home to thousands of prized antiquities, faced evacuation orders on Tuesday. Getty staff have reported that the grounds and collection are safe, as of writing.
Other organizations that have donated to the fund include MOCA, Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, the Mellon and Helen Frankenthaler foundations, and Qatar Museums. The commercial galleries Gagosian, Hauser & Wirth, and Jeffrey Deitch, each of whom has LA outposts, also contributed.
The fires have left thousands in the LA area homeless, fueling fears that rising rents and the years of rebuilding ahead could force an exodus of artists, many of whom made a community in Altadena. According to a statement from J. Paul Getty Trust President and Chief Executive Katherine E. Fleming, the funds will be administered as soon as possible, with the immediate aim of ensuring locals can afford new housing.
“Los Angeles is such an incredible community for and of artists and it would be horrible if we lose that and lose them,” Fleming told the Art Newspaper. “We’re aware there is going to be a huge amount of bureaucracy for victims of this fire, so we want this to be as swift and painless as possible.”
Artists and cultural workers affected by the fire can apply for an emergency grant at www.cciarts.org.