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WeHo Wants To Bring Color (And Business) To All Those Empty Storefronts
A sign for available restaurant space for lease is seen amid the novel coronavirus pandemic, is seen on May 15, 2020, on the Sunset Strip in West Hollywood. (Valerie Macon/AFP via Getty Images)
Drive around L.A.’s usually bustling commercial centers of late and you’ll see empty storefronts and “for lease” signs — evidence of the COVID-19 pandemic’s devastating impact on local businesses.
A less visible but no less significant casualty of the pandemic has been many artists’ livelihoods due to a lack of in-person audiences. Now the city of West Hollywood has come up with a plan to unite the two struggling sectors by inviting local artists to display their work in empty storefronts.
The Windows of WeHo program aims to extend a helping hand to the local artist community while also bringing light, color, and hopefully business to struggling stores, according to Rebecca Ehemann, West Hollywood’s acting arts manager:
“We’ve heard that over 95% of our artists are reporting a loss of income. And in the creative city, you know — a city full of creatives, artists, actors, performers — that number is significant, because artists are small businesses.”
Ehemann spoke with our newsroom's local news and culture show, Take Two, which airs on 89.3 KPCC.
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