Over 1,700 Artists and Arts Workers in LA Receive $14.3 Million for Urgent Fire Relief

Six weeks after a Getty-led coalition of institutional and individual donors established the LA Arts Community Fire Relief Fund, more than 1,700 artists and arts workers across all disciplines are receiving emergency support. A total of $14.3 million in immediate help is being provided to individuals who lost residences, studios, archives, and more in the devastating Palisades and Eaton fires.

Announced on January 15, 2025, within days of the outbreak of the fires, the Fund has responded to the urgency of the need by reaching out rapidly to the community, reviewing and processing applications within a tight timeframe, and now quickly disbursing all awards.

Donors from across the country and around the world responded with unprecedented speed, recognizing both the vitality of LA’s diverse and inventive arts community and the need to support them so they can remain in LA. Contributors to the Fund range from major institutions such as the Getty, Mellon, Frankenthaler, Warhol, and Ford foundations and Qatar Museums to galleries, corporations, philanthropists, and individuals from 28 countries.

The vast majority of those receiving support are being funded at their requested amounts, to a maximum of $10,000. All those who lost a home, with or without insurance, and all artists who lost an uninsured studio or workspace are being fully funded at their requested amounts. Among the recipients, 85 percent applied as artists and 15 percent as arts workers, with 78 percent of the group impacted by the Eaton fire and 22 percent by the Palisades fire.

The Fund is administered by the Center for Cultural Innovation (CCI), a longstanding intermediary that manages funding, advocacy, and research support on behalf of individuals in the arts. Working closely with the Fund donors, CCI opened applications less than two weeks after the fires began and conducted deep community outreach and one-on-one technical assistance, ensuring the support was as accessible as possible to as many as possible.

“Understanding how severely our cultural community has been impacted by the fires, we designed a program that would quickly get funds to those who needed it most,” says Angie Kim, president & CEO of CCI. “We involved everyone possible to conduct outreach, connecting with arts employers, hiring community artists, coordinating with other relief funders, and attending neighborhood gatherings. We appreciate the trust Getty and the many funders placed in CCI to foster community and build relationships as a foundational step toward recovery.”

Arts organizations such as Side Street Projects in Altadena and Armory Center for the Arts in Pasadena coordinated closely with CCI to offer guidance to those interested in applying.

“It was important that the Armory and Side Street Projects came together to uplift our artist communities in the face of profound loss,” says Leslie Ito, executive director of the Armory. “With warmth and empathy, our fundraising team sat with artists, offering tea, encouragement, and the support they needed—both emotionally and technically—to apply for this crucial relief fund to help them move forward with their practice and their lives.”

More information about the Fund and its donors is available at https://www.getty.edu/about/development/LAArtsReliefFund2025.html.