LA County opening free storage facility downtown for artists affected by the fires

L.A. County’s Department of Arts and Culture is opening up storage space about the size of two basketball courts in the L.A. Civic Center for artists affected by the fires in January.

"The need for creative space in L.A. has been exacerbated by the fires,” said Kristin Sakoda, the department’s director.

Storage will be free for a year from July 2025 through July 2026. L.A. County staff and arts professionals will document each step of the process — photographing, wrapping and driving the art to the storage facility. Artists will be able to access the art if they need to retrieve it. (The county notes the facility is not climate controlled to museum standards.)

The deadline to apply is June 6, and will be offered on a first come, first serve basis.

“It's very generous and it's a very worthwhile offer for so many artists. I know so many artists that lost everything,” said visual artist Mark Dean Veca.

His Altadena house is one of a group left standing while those around were destroyed.

Veca has created paintings, drawings and sculptures for decades and has considered taking up L.A. County’s storage offer.

Mark Dean Veca's art studio in his Altadena home.

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Mark Dean Veca

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“Stored in my garage… there's got to be, literally, hundreds of paintings and drawings and all that stuff,” he said, although soot and ash still coats a lot of his work.

He says just wrapping the art work for storage could have cost him at least $10,000.

But he’s built a studio in his backyard and will begin moving his art soon from his garage to the new space.

Storage is good but studio space is more important

Since storage units cost hundreds of dollars a month, offering free storage will definitely save artists money. But some think L.A. County should consider going a step further.

Coleen Sterrit's Altadena drawing studio burned in the January fires along with her home.

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Coleen Sterrit

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“I think studio space would be really, really valuable,” said sculptor Coleen Sterritt, who lost decades worth of art when fire destroyed her house and studio in Altadena in January.

While she praised the county’s storage space offer, she said officials should also think about offering artists idle space to use as art-making studios.

“Which would be way more helpful at the moment for artists that have lost all their work,” she said.

L.A. County officials aren’t ruling that out.

“In addition to the support we have provided so far, which included funding from FireAid directed to grants for nearly 300 artists and creatives who lost homes and studios,” Sakoda said. “We are exploring additional ways to connect fire-impacted artists who lost their studios with spaces in L.A. County."

This spreadsheet of resources for artists affected by the fires includes some offers of studio space for artists.