All but one Cal State campus have Native American remains and cultural items that federal and state laws require them to return to tribes. In many cases, the process has been slow.
The backstory: Federal and state Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation laws require agencies and institutions with Native American remains and cultural items, such as the ancestors’ remains. While there was not a deadline for when collections had to be returned, federal law required campuses to complete an inventory of their collections by 1995.
Why it's been difficult to return Native artifacts; To move forward with repatriation, universities have to contact potential culturally affiliated tribes, based on geographic location or historical evidence, for consultation. Then, tribes can submit a request for repatriation. While the process can be slow, multiple tribal leaders said that the campuses are supportive and are up against federal and state rules that complicate returns for non-federally recognized tribes. There are also times of confusion over who exactly has authority to make those returns.
About the Cal State collections: Though the size of their collections varies, campuses like Cal Poly Humboldt and San Francisco State have made progress in returning human remains and cultural items, with Sacramento State having returned most of its Native collections. But others, like Cal Poly Pomona, have yet to see much progress and Cal State Bakersfield has not made any returns. The Cal State system holds the remains of more than 2,000 Native Americans and more than 1.57 million artifacts, according to the most recent list of the system's collections. Another 500,000 collections of items are still in storage awaiting proper tribal review to be cataloged.
All but one Cal State campus have Native American remains and cultural items that federal and state laws require them to return to tribes. In many cases, the process has been slow.
Though the size of their collections varies, campuses like Cal Poly Humboldt and San Francisco State have made progress in returning human remains and cultural items, with Sacramento State having returned most of its Native collections. But others, like Cal Poly Pomona, have yet to see much progress and Cal State Bakersfield has not made any returns.
The Cal State system holds the remains of more than 2,000 Native Americans and more than 1.57 million artifacts, according to the most recent list of the system's collections. Another 500,000 collections of items are still in storage awaiting proper tribal review to be cataloged.
Campus officials say they are working diligently to follow legal mandates to return items to tribes, but the road can be long and arduous.
Last February, members of the Konkow Valley Band of Maidu tribe reburied three ancestors whose remains had been held at Sacramento State since 1963. The Lake Concow Campground donated 10.7 acres of land to the tribe within their traditional territory in Northern California, where they were able to perform the reburials.
“During the process it’s a very, very heavy feeling,” said Matthew Williford Sr., the tribal chairperson and cultural resource director. “But when you receive the remains back, you feel lighter. It doesn’t feel like so much weight.”
If collections stay in storage, for Williford, it's as if "nobody knows that we were ever around."
"It's important for us to get that back, because we believe that those items still have spirit," he said. "They need to come back to the people."
Federal and state Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation laws require agencies and institutions with Native American remains and cultural items, such as the ancestors’ remains from Williford’s tribe, be returned to tribes. While there was not a deadline for when collections had to be returned, federal law required campuses to complete an inventory of their collections by 1995.
“La Memoria de la Tierra,” a mural by Judith Baca on the north side of Ackerman Union at UCLA in Los Angeles, on Nov. 9, 2022.
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Pablo Unzueta
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for CalMatters
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As of February 2025, Sacramento State had repatriated 89% of the human remains and 68% of the cultural items on their campus. That means control of the collections has been legally transferred to a culturally affiliated tribe, but collections may remain physically held by the campus if requested by the tribe. The figure also does not include what the campus holds for other state or federal agencies.
“Some tribes want us to hold on to collections, in which case we might do a held trust agreement, where we just are saying, 'We’re holding this for you until you’re ready to take it for repatriation,'” said Sarah Eckhardt, Sacramento State’s repatriation coordinator.
Eckhardt has been the repatriation coordinator for more than six years, overseeing the university's compliance with repatriation laws and policies. Eckhardt shared that the campus has a good relationship with local tribes, to whom the majority of their collections belong, allowing them to repatriate the collections effectively.
The amount of cultural items at Sacramento State decreased significantly from about 30,000 in 2024 to about 6,000 in 2025.
Why it's hard to return Native artifacts
To move forward with repatriation, universities have to contact potential culturally affiliated tribes, based on geographic location or historical evidence, for consultation. Then, tribes can submit a request for repatriation.
While the process can be slow, multiple tribal leaders said that the campuses are supportive and are up against federal and state rules that complicate returns for non-federally recognized tribes. There are also times of confusion over who exactly has authority to make those returns.
Sacramento State reported an increase in their collection of human remains from 171 in 2024 to 223 in 2025, which Eckhardt said was due to some confusion over who manages them.
“There were several collections that we thought were the responsibility of another agency, that they denied responsibility for and so we accepted responsibility for that,” said Eckhardt.
Near the end of 2024, 32 boxes containing three human remains and cultural items previously held at Sacramento State were returned to Williford's state-recognized tribe. But since they are not federally-recognized, federal law meant they'd have to partner with a federal tribe to claim the collections on their behalf, and also have local tribes sign off on the handover, said Williford. That process took about six months after a notice was published to the federal registrar, which informs other tribes in case any want to rebut the claim. To him, that was a quick timeframe.
“At least they’re trying… I think they need to up their game on helping nonfederal tribes with federal repatriation,” said Williford.
San Jose State has run into a similar situation. The university has returned all the remains belonging to federally recognized tribes, but still possesses remains affiliated with non-federally recognized tribes, posing the biggest challenge, according to Alisha Marie Ragland, the campus’ repatriation coordinator. As of December 2025, San Jose State reported having 514 human remains and more than 5,000 collections of stored items waiting to be reviewed.
“SJSU will continue to work with tribes to find appropriate and respectful means of sending the Ancestors home,” said Ragland via email.
So, why do some campuses struggle to make returns under their care?
“Repatriation can take years. Just for what we consider one artifact potentially could take up to a couple years,” said David Silva, the repatriation coordinator at Cal State Bakersfield.
Cal State Bakersfield is still in the process of consulting with tribes to determine what the boxes under their care contain, he said.
“There’s no direct timeline for our tribal partners to have to conduct consultation,” said Silva. “The only timeline is really when we start to submit notices or when we complete that inventory verification.”
A sign displayed behind glass at California State University, Long Beach, on Dec. 14, 2023.
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Jules Hotz
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for CalMatters
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Curtis Alcantar is a member of the Tejon Indian tribe and a tribal representative for the NAGPRA committee at the Bakersfield campus, working with Silva. Alcantar said he has had a good experience working with the university and other Cal State campuses and that he believes the system is moving in a positive direction.
Before, Bakersfield housed items in five different rooms spread throughout campus, creating a hassle for tribal members. They recently moved to a new building on campus, allowing tribes easier access to review collections.
When he first started helping with tribal consultations, Alcantar was troubled by how many Native American remains and cultural items were still in possession of museums and universities. Universities acquired Native remains and items through excavations and research often from anthropology and archeology disciplines. Some collections were acquired through donations.
At the time, it was difficult for him to understand how much Native American collections museums and universities still held and were refusing to give back, said Alcantar. But now, he says that people are more open minded and willing to repatriate.
The process does take a lot of research and time, he added. For him, the most helpful tool Cal State has provided is the campus collections map, making it easier to find which campuses have collections from Kern County, his home base. According to the map, eight different Cal State campuses have collections from Kern County and Cal State Bakersfield has collections from 18 California counties.
“The fulfilling part for me is seeing the objects go back home, watching the ancestors just finally get their journey back home,” said Alcantar.
Cal Poly Humboldt has repatriated about 39% of the 23,889 cultural items initially in its possession, according to figures provided by Megan Watson, the campus' NAGPRA coordinator. San Francisco State has repatriated roughly 36% of its original 44,000 collections of stored items, according to Robert King, the campus’ director of communications. The campus has about 250 remains, a number that hasn't budged much in recent years. Since November, it has returned two remains with about 260 collections of items, the official said.
Cal State updates list of Native collections
Cal State's updated list was released in December after, for the first time, all Cal State campuses completed an inventory review.
Sonoma State has more than 1.52 million cultural items, by far the highest count in the system. Meanwhile, Cal State Fullerton holds the most remains with 534 individuals counted, and San Diego State has the highest collections of stored items awaiting tribal review, totaling more than 426,000.
One reason for Sonoma State's high count is that it has a large facility to house those collections under proper care, said Samantha Cypret, a member of the Mountain Maidu tribe and executive director of the office of tribal relations for the Cal State Chancellor’s Office, which oversees NAGPRA compliance. Campuses with large anthropology or archeology departments also tend to have larger collections, she added.
Multiple members of Sonoma State’s NAGPRA team were contacted for comment. Some declined an interview while others did not respond.
Cal State revamps how it returns remains — with some delays
In November 2025, Cal State launched a systemwide NAGPRA policy providing campuses with a consistent approach for repatriations. The move came in response to Assembly Bill 389 – a 2023 amendment to the 2001 state NAGPRA Act – and a critical Cal State audit. The assembly bill required the Chancellor's Office to adopt a systemwide policy and committee, and that committees form at each campus.
Cypret said that the policy took time to enact after the audit was issued and the Assembly Bill passed because they wanted to make sure they were letting tribal voices take the lead, learning about what tribes wanted to see included in the policy.
“We also really wanted to make sure that we were centering tribal voices in the development, in the implementation of this policy, so we held over 30 tribal outreach sessions in about the year and a half that this policy took to create,” said Cypret.
The new system policy outlines responsibilities of each campus, such as employing a full-time repatriation coordinator, conducting ongoing surveys of holdings and forbidding the use of collections for teaching and research. Cal State allocated $3.7 million for campuses with Native American collections for the fiscal year 2025-2026 to support the costs of staffing repatriation coordinators, reburial costs, reimbursing tribes for travel costs, and other expenses related to repatriation.
The University of California system and community colleges also have Native American collections on their campuses. An audit of the University of California published in April 2025 determined that the system lacked urgency and accountability.
Williford said that his tribe has made formal requests to receive two woven baskets from UC Berkeley that are part of his tribe's dogwood collection. For him, helping return collections for his tribe has helped him feel connected to his dad who passed away in 2015. He said his dad was part of a “lost generation” that knew who they were but didn’t have a lot of cultural information. But today, the tribe's elders find meaning when returns are made.
“To see an elder’s eyes light up like a child’s, it’s something special,” said Williford.
Cal State will review its systemwide policy again in November 2026 after tribal consultations.
Brittany Oceguera is a contributor with the College Journalism Network, a collaboration between CalMatters and student journalists from across California. CalMatters higher education coverage is supported by a grant from the College Futures Foundation.
A bald eagle couple has been spotted in Los Angeles County this past week.
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Courtesy L.A. County Dept. of Parks and Recreation
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Topline:
A pair of nesting bald eagles was spotted in Los Angeles County this past week, according to a social media post from the Department of Parks and Recreation.
Why it matters: Nesting bald eagles are a fairly rare sight in Southern California, since they typically nest along the California-Oregon border.
The backstory: The Department of Parks and Recreation did not disclose the location of the birds, and reminded L.A. residents in their post that bald eagles are a federally protected species and disturbing their nests could “disrupt breeding and impact their success.”
What's next: It takes about 35 days for bald eagle eggs to incubate. If the new visitors lay eggs, Los Angeles could have our very own eaglets as early as next month.
A pair of nesting bald eagles was spotted in Los Angeles County this past week, according to a social media post from the Department of Parks and Recreation. (You can check out the full post and video on Instagram.)
The Department of Parks and Recreation did not disclose the exact location of the birds.
Nesting bald eagles are a fairly rare sight in Southern California, since they're more commonly found close to the California-Oregon border.
A look at where bald eagles typically nest.
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Courtesy California Department of Fish and Wildlife
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Of course, there are notable exceptions, including Southern California's most famous bald eagles: Big Bear's Jackie and Shadow, whose yearly attempts at parenthood have become big national news on occasion.
Park officials are reminding everyone that bald eagles are a federally protected species and disturbing their nests could “disrupt breeding and impact their success.”
The history
Bald eagles were once close to extinction in the lower 48 U.S. states. By the early 1970s, there were fewer than 30 pairs in California, all in the northern part of the state. The species has rebounded since being protected under federal and state laws.
What's next
It takes about 35 days for bald eagle eggs to incubate. If the L.A.'s new eagle residents lay eggs, Los Angeles could have our very own eaglets as early as next month.
People walk through a courtyard full of small publishers during LITLIT.
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Los Angeles Review of Books
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Topline:
The free book festival LITLIT celebrates small independent publishers on the West Coast from Seattle to Santa Monica. It’s returning to L.A. the weekend of June 6 and 7.
Why it matters: The “Big Five” major publishers dominate publishing in the country. The literary fair highlights works from small presses on the West Coast.
The backstory: The Los Angeles Review of Books started LITLIT in 2019, to introduce LARB publishing workshop students to the industry; it has since grown into a festival celebrating independent publishers and other local literary arts practices.
Read on... for details on the event.
Held by the Los Angeles Review of Books since 2019, LITLIT, or The Little Literary Fair, started out as a way to introduce students from workshops to the publishing industry.
It has since grown into a gathering of independent West Coast publishers from Seattle to Santa Monica. This year’s iteration on June 6 and 7 is the biggest yet, with more than 50 publishers participating in the event at Sci-Arc in Downtown L.A.
People look through a small library of used books from "A Good Used Book," a Los Angeles based book pop-up, during LITLIT 2024.
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Los Angeles Review of Books
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It’s ‘small’ lit
The fair aims to get the public in front of books that don’t originate from the so-called “Big Five” publishers — behemoths like Penguin Random House and HarperCollins.
The Little Literary Fair Southern California Institute of Architecture (SCI-Arc) 960 E. Third St., Los Angeles Preview day: Friday, June 5, 6 p.m. Full fair: Saturday, June 6, to Sunday, June 7, from 10 a.m. - 5 p.m. Free admission Info and RSVP
“They really get to control what people get to see, and so we hope LITLIT lets people see more of what is out there and what they can support directly,” said Emily VanKoughnett, public programs and engagement director for LARB.
One of VanKoughnett’s favorite independent publishers will be there. Two Lines Press, the publishing arm of San Francisco’s Center for the Art of Translation, deals specifically in translated works.
Two Lines Press, which specializes in translated works, show off their books to attendees of LITLIT.
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Los Angeles Review of Books
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They’ve published authors from across the world, translating books from more than 100 different languages into English.
“ We do our work in quiet rooms, so it's really nice to be able to meet readers and talk to them about what's interesting them. These festivals are really valuable to us in that way,” said CJ Evans, publisher and editor-in-chief of Two Lines.
Pressed locally
Local favorite Angel City Press, which operates under the auspices of L.A. Public Library, will also be there with one of their newly published titles, Los Angeles Central Library POPS, that celebrates 100 years of the Central Library.
People at LITLIT 2024 look through different small presses.
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Los Angeles Review of Books
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You’ll also find LA-based Errant Press, which specializes in books that break the traditional form — like a poem printed on measuring tape or a matchbox sized poetry collection.
“It’s really cool to see the kinds of risks that people are able to take, the kinds of communities they’re able to serve and really highlight here on the West Coast,” said Irene Yoon, executive director of LARB.
Panels, printing presses, and workshops
The two-day fair also hosts various panels and workshops, including one on the art of comedic writing and another on how to tell the stories of Los Angeles through archival materials.
“This is, I think, the most panels we've ever done,” VanKoughnett said.
People sit down for a panel discussion at LITLIT 2024.
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Los Angeles Review of Books
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Workshops on how to navigate the literary world with a completed manuscript and making your own comics and zines are also on the itinerary.
“It's not until we're all in the same room with all our best books literally out on the table that you get to see kind of what a phenomenal publishing culture Los Angeles truly has,” said Terri Accomazzo, editorial director of Angel City Press.
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Josie Huang
is a reporter and Weekend Edition host who spotlights the people and places at the heart of our region.
Published May 31, 2026 5:00 AM
Stephanie Trujillo and her mother Linda Alashti have co-owned Wet Paws since 2023.
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Josie Huang
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LAist
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Topline:
After the Eaton Fire displaced most of its customers, Altadena pet groomer Wet Paws faced a June 1 deadline to decide whether to renew its lease. A social media plea sparked an outpouring of community support.
The backstory: Wet Paws estimates its lost up to 90% of its customer base after the fire, leaving it struggling to stay afloat.
What's next: The business has decided to renew its lease banking on Altadena's recovery and more customers returning to the area.
Running a small business is tough under normal circumstances. Running one in a wildfire burn scar can feel nearly impossible.
That's the reality many Altadena business owners are still navigating nearly a year and a half after the Eaton Fire destroyed the community and the local economy. Businesses are grappling with how do you stay open when so many of your customers are gone?
At Wet Paws, a pet grooming business along Lake Avenue, that question recently came to a head.
The shop reopened in January but business remained slow. Wet Paws co-owner Stephanie Trujillo estimates the fire had displaced up to 90% of their customers.
Marley, a Cane Corso from Pasadena, went for her first grooming session at Wet Paws in more than a year.
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Josie Huang
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LAist
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Then came a conversation with their landlord several months ago that forced a decision.
"He reached out and said, 'Are you going to re-sign your lease?'" Trujillo recalled.
The answer wasn't obvious.
Marketing Lab+ Los Angeles County has launched a program offering free marketing assistance and storefront improvements to eligible Altadena businesses. The deadline to apply is June 8.
"I said, unfortunately, we're not even making it. We're paying out of our own pocket," she said. "So he said, 'I'll give you until June 1.'"
The deadline meant Trujillo and her mother, Linda Alashti, who have owned the business together since 2023, had only a few months to figure out whether Wet Paws had a future in Altadena.
Wet Paws is hardly alone. As businesses struggle, Los Angeles County recently launched a programoffering free marketing assistance and storefront improvements to fire-affected businesses. The deadline to apply is June 8.
A flag banner and sandwich board on the sidewalk outside Wet Paws advertises its services.
But relief has not arrived quickly enough for many businesses.
One particularly slow April Sunday at Wet Paws drove home how dire the situation had become, when they had only one customer.
As she drove home to Fontana, Trujillo began composing a social media post.
"So this isn't easy for us to share," the post began, "but I wanted to reach out with an open heart and hope."
In the message, Trujillo asked the community to book appointments and spread the word to help their business survive.
Before posting it, Trujillo showed it to her mother.
Wet Paws groomer Elizabeth Ranes takes care of a basset hound client.
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Josie Huang
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LAist
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"We're very prideful, and it's very hard to ask people for help," she said. "I felt embarrassed that we had to ask the community for help."
Her mother's advice was simple. "Just post it," she told her. "The worst that's going to happen is nobody sees it or nobody cares."
Instead, the opposite happened. By the next day, the post had been viewed and shared hundreds of times across Instagram and Facebook.
The phone started ringing, said Wet Paws groomer Elizabeth Ranes.
"I got well over 50 calls," Ranes said. "We booked out for the last three weeks of the month when we made that post.”
Customers told Alashti that they “didn't know you were back, because they don't come this way anymore.”
Decor inside Wet Paws embraces a playful canine motif.
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Josie Huang
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LAist
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Among those who returned was Penny Dahlstrom, a Pasadena resident whose 113-pound Cane Corso Marley had been a Wet Paws regular before the fire.
Dahlstrom had tried taking Marley to a large pet store chain while Wet Paws was closed.
"My husband went in to pick her up, and he hears crying, and it was her," Dahlstrom said. "That's not just her nature."
The social media appeal didn't just bring back former customers. It also introduced the business to new ones, Trujillo said.
But recovery remains uneven.
Some days are still slow. And the shop continues to deal with lingering fire-related electrical damage in the back of the building.
Wet Paws is operating on a temporary electrical system, limiting how much power it can use at any given time.
"If we run our AC, and the neighbors run their AC, we lose power," Trujillo said.
As the June 1 lease deadline approached, Trujillo and her mother weighed their options. They could walk away and cut their losses. Or they could commit to rebuilding alongside a community they had come to love.
Ultimately, they thought about the response to their post and the customers who had shown up when the business needed them most. And they had faith that Altadena would rebuild to its full strength.
They chose to renew the lease for another three years.
"I can't imagine what the community is going through, losing their homes and losing everything that they had," Trujillo said. "Yet they're still coming back."
And as long as they do, she said Wet Paws will be there for them and their fur babies.
Fiona Ng
is LAist's deputy managing editor and leads a team of reporters who explore food, culture, history, events and more.
Published May 31, 2026 5:00 AM
Mural by Geoff McFetridge.
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Operation Creative Freedom
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Operation Creative Freedom
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Topline:
A collective of artists has painted more than 70 murals across seven elementary schools in and around Los Angeles to bring art to students in under-resourced communities.
Why now: The collective just wrapped up their latest murals at Breed Street Elementary in Boyle Heights.
The backstory: The idea to paint murals at schools came from Erik Caruso, a fifth grade teacher in Paramount, after he found out that many of his students had never been to an art museum.
On a recent Monday, students at Breed Street Elementary in Boyle Heights started their day like no other — with a tour of the murals hand-painted over the weekend across the playground.
It’s the latest of seven elementary schools in and around L.A. to get the treatment. Over 70 murals in the last 13 years, brought by a collective of artists to students in under-resourced neighborhoods with little access to art education.
“The kids were so excited,” said Stefanie Barbee, a math teacher at Breed. “Just pure joy.”
The students snaked through the paintings on handball courts and school walls: cartoon animals, bright orange flowers, a circle of meticulously painted lines. The works span genres and sensibilities.
Mural by artist hi-dutch.
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Operation Creative Freedom
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Operation Creative Freedom
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“It's grassroots. We're not getting money from anyone,” said Erik Caruso, the fifth grade teacher in Paramount who's the group glue. To them, they are just an assembly of like-minded friends — and friends of friends — who spend one weekend out of the year hanging out and painting murals for school kids.
But the collective is anything but typical. It includes artists like the late Rich Jacobs, who died from leukemia this year; Tim Kerr; pro skater Ray Barbee; and Japanese artists Yusuke Hanai and hi-dutch. The vibe's always low-key, and somehow they've managed to stay under the radar.
Mural by artist Yusuke Hanai.
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Operation Creative Freedom
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Operation Creative Freedom
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Mural by artist Yusuke Hanai.
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Sandy Yang / James Hamblin
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“The kids have no idea that they show in huge galleries or have pieces hanging in museums,” said writer Martin Wong, co-founder of the pioneering Asian pop culture magazine Giant Robot. "Or they're famous in the skateboarding scene or surf or music."
Their reward is the Monday morning after, seeing the happiness on the kids’ faces.
“The artists are waiting all weekend — it’s that moment,” Caruso said.
Mural by artists Sandy Yang and James Hamblin.
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Operation Creative Freedom
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Operation Creative Freedom
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James Hamblin was at Breed for the meet-and-greet earlier this month. He painted a mural designed by his partner Sandy Yang on one of the handball walls.
“Sandy's design is pretty abstract, so it was interesting because the kids were [asking], you know, ‘ What is it?’” Hamblin said. “It was great because I could tell them I had no idea and like, ‘What do you guys think it is?’"
Bring the art museum to the school
Erik Caruso.
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Operation Creative Freedom
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Operation Creative Freedom
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The idea came to Caruso in 2011, after he took about two dozen students from his Paramount school to MOCA and discovered that only four had ever been to an art museum.
“I wonder if there's a way we can bring the art museum to the school,” he said.
Caruso, a 24-year veteran, was no stranger to bringing art — and artists — directly to his students. In 2009, he launched a monthly art project for fifth graders that culminated in a year-end show where they met and shared work with living contemporary artists.
Caruso's 5th grade art project, featuring works by artist Tim Kerr.
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Operation Creative Freedom
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Operation Creative Freedom
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The murals were next.
They painted their first ones at his school in 2012. Soon, the project expanded to the rest of Los Angeles.
Crew at work
Mural by artist Chris Johanson.
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Operation Creative Freedom
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Operation Creative Freedom
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Mural by artist Chris Johanson.
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Operation Creative Freedom
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Operation Creative Freedom
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The painting takes place between Friday and Sunday, but planning takes months.
At Breed, the connection was made through math teacher Barbee — wife of Ray — who is on a two-year stint at the Boyle Heights school to help students catch up on the subject.
“I had sort of planted that seed that at some point I would love for a school I was working at to be the recipient of the beautiful work,” she said.
Breed Street Elementary in Boyle Heights.
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Sandy Yang / James Hamblin
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She brought Caruso out for a site visit last September.
“He has a really amazing kind of vision about where to place the artists … based on just their artwork and where it is in relation to the street view,” Barbee said.
Next came an introduction to the principal and the approval process.
“One of the biggest challenges with what we are doing is, you know, they want flipping dolphins and stuff like that,” Caruso said. “But we want to cross over into fine art pieces.”
Mural by artists Lookout & Wonderland.
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Operation Creative Freedom
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Operation Creative Freedom
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Mural by artists Lookout & Wonderland.
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Operation Creative Freedom
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Operation Creative Freedom
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Paying it forward
Caruso estimated that as many as 40 artists and musicians have joined the effort.
The core group now, he said, is about 11 people, and friends and families often tag along to help out, given they have just 16 hours over three days to finish the job.
Mural by artist Oitama.
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Sandy Yang / James Hamblin
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Mural by artist Lori Damiano.
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Operation Creative Freedom
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Operation Creative Freedom
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Among the regulars: Wong and his wife, Wendy Lau, who once organized DIY punk shows to fund music education at their daughter's Chinatown school. In Caruso, they saw a kindred spirit.
Caruso later brought the collective to paint at that school and eventually invited their daughter, Linda Lindas bassist Eloise Wong, to join his fifth grade art and music project.
“All of these kids on the blacktop were all just screaming their hearts out,” Eloise said. “It's cool how Erik — Mr. Caruso to them — shows them, like, raw ways to express themselves through cool art.”
