Los Angeles County Department of Arts and Culture is...
The mission of the Los Angeles County Department of Arts and Culture is to advance arts, culture, and creativity throughout LA County. We fulfill our mission by providing services and support in areas including grants and technical assistance for nonprofit organizations; professional development opportunities; commissioning civic artworks and managing the County’s civic art collection; implementing countywide arts education initiatives; research and evaluation; career pathways in the creative economy; free community programs; and cross sector creative strategies that address civic issues. This work is framed by the County’s Cultural Equity and Inclusion Initiative and a longstanding commitment to fostering access to the arts.
Artists Marcus Kuiland-Nazario, Connie Martin Trevino, Jackie Amezquita, Nicole Rademacher, and Paul Donald will lead participatory workshops to commemorate the public histories and cultural memories Los Angeles residents carry that are not, or are no longer, represented by physical spaces and objects downtown. Participants will create ephemeral artworks as “anti-monuments” or "unmonuments" that reflect their own experiences of Los Angeles.
Illuminate graphics designed by David Hernández, Taller Para Nosotros.
Artists whose lives and art practices intersect with Downtown Los Angeles will convene to discuss forgotten histories and recent transformations in Downtown’s landscape. They will draw on this research and their personal stories for this virtual panel on Thursday, October 27, and a series of audio tours released in late Fall 2022 and Winter 2023.
Moderator: Anuradha Vikram, Curative Projects
Panel: Carmen Argote, Sebastian Hernandez, Alan Nakagawa, Isaac Michael Ybarra
Event Recording
Artist Reflections on Monuments and Public Space - Audio Tours
Illuminate graphics designed by David Hernandez, Taller Para Nosotros.
Across the US, it is increasingly acknowledged that artworks and monuments have the power to inspire or perpetuate harmful histories that exclude the rich and diverse history of communities. Interventions of civic artworks in Los Angeles and beyond have prompted conversations about the evolution and representation of cultural memory. This panel will include public art leaders and historians who will discuss their roles in the current dialogue about monuments, offer historical context to related artworks and monuments, and shine a light on approaches and programs that support equitable and inclusive futures of public art collections.
View a Recording of the Event
Learn More
Moderator Anuradha Vikram | Cultural Organizer - Curative Projects
Welcome Remarks Grace Ramirez Gaston | Civic Art Director - LA County Department of Arts and Culture Dr. D’Artagnan Scorza | Executive Director for Racial Equity for LA County
Panel Dr. Alison Rose Jefferson | Historian and Heritage Conservation Consultant - Belmar History + Art Project Desireé Reneé Martinez, MA, RPA, Gabrielino (Tongva) | Tribal Archaeologist Naomi Okuyama | Cultural Affairs Supervisor - City of Santa Monica Kristin Sakoda | Director - LA County Department of Arts and Culture Dr. Charlene Villaseñor Black | Professor, Art History and Chicana/o Studies - University of California Los Angeles
About Illuminate LA
Illuminate LA is a new initiative of the LA County Department of Arts and Culture to shed light on the collective and complex history and memory of LA County by exploring the County’s Civic Art Collection and public artworks across the region. With panel discussions, events, and artist engagements, Illuminate LA will uplift promising practices and examples of civic art that support greater cultural equity and inclusion, and expand opportunities for diverse artists diverse artists underrepresented in public art.
