New Grant Protects Stories and Art of Communities Hit by 2025 LA Wildfires

LOS ANGELES — LA County Library and Foundation, LA County Department of Arts and Culture, and Library Partners have received a $1.2 million grant from the Mellon Foundation to fund a new collaborative initiative led by LA County Library in partnership with the LA County Department of Arts and Culture, Los Angeles Public Library, Altadena Library District, and their respective Foundations, titled LA County Cultural Climate Commons: Community Memory Lab & Living Archive. 

This cross-jurisdictional project brings together two of the nation’s largest public library systems, the local arts agency, and civic partners in a landmark collaboration that aims to preserve the lived experiences, cultural heritage, and collective memory of communities impacted by the 2025 Eaton and Palisades wildfires in LA County. Coinciding with the one-year anniversary of the devastating wildfires, the grant arrives at a meaningful moment of reflection and renewal, supporting a new mobile memory lab, community artmaking, digital archiving events, and the creation of a digital hub that together will foster healing, cultural preservation, public learning, and a deeper understanding of the impacts of climate change.

The project, which spans from January 2026 through June 2028, will support three core offerings:

• LA County Library will launch a new mobile memory lab and offer digital archiving and oral history programs, with events focusing on Altadena and surrounding communities in partnership with Altadena Library District, but also spanning to the Palisades area, in partnership with Los Angeles Public Library, to help bring together two fire-ravaged communities in sharing and archiving their stories and experiences.
• An artist/archivist-in-residence, along with an art historian and curator, local artists, and arts groups, will be engaged in partnership with LA County Department of Arts and Culture to identify local legacy artists, and offer community artmaking workshops as a space to create and preserve culture, stories, and memories, with resulting artworks contributing to a new digital archive as well as the LA County Civic Art Collection.
• A climate-focused digital hub will be created as a central repository for regional archived artworks, memories, and oral histories—while also elevating local cultural stories, research, and projects responding to climate change, beginning with the 2025 Altadena and Palisades wildfires.

“We are incredibly thankful for the Mellon Foundation’s support of this project,” said Dr. Skye Patrick, LA County Library Director and County Librarian. “The devastating wildfires caused widespread loss across Los Angeles County, taking lives, homes, and the cultural memory and social fabric that connected the impacted communities. Through this unique cross-jurisdictional Library and Arts and Culture partnership, we will support healing and resilience by safeguarding community histories and stories through arts and archiving and developing sustainable models for cultural preservation.” 

The LA County Cultural Climate Commons project represents a significant investment in preserving the stories, creative contributions, and lived experiences of wildfire-impacted communities while fostering public understanding of climate change and community resilience. 

Additional details about project’s activities, public programming, and opportunities for community participation will be shared in the coming months as the initiative launches.