The Public Artists in Development (PAiD) program’s Artist Council is an eight-member group of artists selected to provide recommendations to help shape the future of Los Angeles County's public art policy and processes.
Over the course of a 6-month long, two-part program of dialogue and art creation led by PAiD program art consultant, Dyson & Womack, the Artist Council has engaged in a series of discussions about topics such as public art contracts, creating community engagement plans, project management, and working with subcontractors. Guest presenters have included public art administrators, other established artists, and subject area experts. At the end of their tenure on the Council, the artists will craft a set of recommendations that seek to address historical barriers to participation and expand support for artists working in the field of public art.
The group was also granted individual project budgets to create temporary public artworks to engage communities about their work and further the artists’ artistic goals. The projects include the creation of sculptural installations, pop-up events, and performance-based artworks, which will be on view throughout August and September 2024. You can read more about the artists and their projects on this page.
Noé Montes (b. 1973, Modesto, California) is an award-winning artist based in Los Angeles who has documented underrepresented communities for over 20 years to effect change through storytelling, education, and advocacy around social, economic, and environmental issues. His work focuses on personal and community development and the social issues shaping a new American narrative. Montes has extensive experience collaborating with educational, cultural, and civic institutions and non-profit organizations. His commissions include work for the Annenberg Foundation, the California Air Resources Board, The Getty Foundation, and L.A. Metro, among others.
Noé Montes was commissioned by the LA County Department of Arts and Culture to create a temporary artwork as a member of the Public Artists in Development (PAiD) program’s Artist Council.
About the Artwork
Housing, Blue Tarp, Sculpture, 2024
Wooden plinth, blue tarp, wood, and metal armature
Kenneth Hahn Hall of Administration
August 5 – September 6, 2024
Housing, Blue Tarp, Sculpture is a three-dimensional iteration of a photograph depicting homelessness and the unhoused community in Los Angeles County. The image is based on a scene the artist Noé Montes encountered on a Los Angeles street, which was then recreated in his studio. This sculpture is one part of a two-part project, with the second part consisting of a series of interviews and information about homelessness in LA County that can be found at https://unhousedlacounty.com/.
Adee Roberson (b.1981, West Palm Beach, Florida) is an interdisciplinary artist whose work is a meditation on symbolism and texture. Synthesizing performance and installation, her work melds vibration and technicolor visions through paintings, video, and melodic compositions. These works offer a refracted timeline of black diasporic movement, weaving sonic and familial archives, with landscape, rhythm, and spirit.
Roberson has exhibited and performed at numerous venues including, Portland Institute of Contemporary Art, Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, Antenna Gallery, Project Row Houses, Palm Springs Art Museum, Human Resources , UTA Artist Space, NADA Miami, Charlie James Gallery, Contemporary Art Center New Orleans, MOCA Los Angeles, and Art Gallery of Ontario. They have been an Artist-In-Residence at Echo Park Film Center, Treehouse Lagos, and ACRE. Roberson is a recipient of the New York Foundation for the Arts Cutting Edge Grant and the 2021 Los Angeles Artadia Award. She is based in Los Angeles, California.
Adee Roberson was commissioned by the LA County Department of Arts and Culture to create a temporary artwork as a member of the Public Artists in Development (PAiD) program’s Artist Council.
About the Artwork
BLUE NILE (Cosmogram #2), 2024
Selenite crystal sculpture and performance
Greenstone Farm and Sanctuary
August 8, 2024 | 6:30PM - 8PM
BLUE NILE (Cosmogram #2) is a sculptural work dedicated to and inspired by jazz musician and composer Alice Coltrane Turiyasangitananda and her song, "Blue Nile." Cosmograms invoke African and Black diasporic rituals and symbols, offering a site for healing and care practices. A spiral with no beginning and no end, the cosmogram offers a connection between the physical and spiritual worlds, representing the eternal seasons of a life cycle: dawn, midday, sunset, midnight, and back to dawn; rebirth and renewal. The sculpture—consisting of selenite—creates an axis between worlds, a portal to commune with ancestors and the spirits of the cosmos.
This work is a part of an ongoing series by interdisciplinary artist Adee Roberson; a meditation on sound and form as a spiritual language for liberation and peace on earth. Healing is an infinite journey. Frequency and intention create healing. Sound expands states of consciousness and has calming effects on the cardiovascular and nervous systems. For this engagement, renowned multi-instrumentalist Laraaji, together with Roberson, will activate BLUE NILE (Cosmogram #2) using sounds from the zither, mbira, crystal singing bowls and various percussion tools.
Star Montana (b. 1987, Los Angeles) is a photo-based artist who lives and works in Los Angeles, CA. She was born and raised in the Boyle Heights neighborhood of East Los Angeles, which is predominantly Mexican American and serves as the backdrop to much of her work.
Her work has recently been exhibited at Charlie James Gallery (2019, 2016); Residency Art Gallery (2018); LA Plaza de Cultura y Artes (2018); Occidental College (2017); The Mexican Center for Culture and Cinematic Arts at the Mexican Consulate General of Mexico (2017); The Main Museum (2017); Ballroom Marfa (2017); and Vincent Price Art Museum (2016). Montana will be an artist-in-residence at the Robert Rauschenberg Foundation in 2020. She holds a Master of Fine Arts in Art from the University of Southern California, a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Photography from the School of Visual Arts, and an Associate of Arts in Photography from East Los Angeles College.
Star Montana was commissioned by the LA County Department of Arts and Culture to create a temporary artwork as a member of the Public Artists in Development (PAiD) program’s Artist Council.
About the Artwork
Meet Me at the Park, 2024
Photography pop-up event
Hollenbeck Park, August 10-11, 2024 | 12PM - 6PM
The studio family portrait is a beloved art medium and object many families cherish and show off in their homes. These photographs serve as important documentation of family lineage and existence, and yet are not always available to the everyday person to arrange or afford. Meet Me at the Park is a community pop-up photo project by artist Star Montana that aims to break the inaccessibility of studio portraiture by offering free personal photography sessions for families and people to be represented through portraiture and photography.
The project aims to serve the Boyle Heights community around Hollenbeck Park. Hollenbeck Park has been a greenspace since the mid-1830s, when it was known as Paredon Blanco or White Bluffs. From that time until today, families, teenage lovers, and everyday people go there for community, playtime, and the enjoyment of greenspace.
Edgar Fabián Frías (b. 1983, Los Angeles, CA) is a multidisciplinary artist, psychotherapist, educator, curator, and brujx based in Los Angeles. With a passion for breaking boundaries and creating new forms of knowledge, Frías blends diverse artistic disciplines to produce thought-provoking and immersive works of art that transcend conventional categories. Their oeuvre encompasses installation, photography, video art, sound, sculpture, printed textiles, GIFs, performance, social practice, and community organizing, reflecting their commitment to experimentation and innovation.
Frías' work explores themes of resistance, resiliency, and radical imagination in the face of colonization, environmental racism, and other contemporary issues. Drawing on Indigenous Futurism, spirituality, play, pedagogy, animism, witchcraft, and queer aesthetics, Frías offers a unique perspective on the complexities of modern society. Through their art, they bridge the gap between the traditional and the contemporary and create spaces for contemplation and transformation. As a nonbinary, Wixárika, and Latinx artist whose family hails from Mexico, Frías brings a rich and diverse background to their practices.
They hold dual BA degrees in Psychology and Studio Art from UC, Riverside, and an MA in Clinical Mental Health Counseling with a focus on Interpersonal Neurobiology and Somatic Psychotherapy from Portland State University. In 2022, they completed an MFA in Art Practice at UC Berkeley. Frías' work has been exhibited at the Vincent Price Art Museum, Institute of Contemporary Art San Francisco, Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive, Oregon Contemporary, MOCA Jacksonville, Project Space Festival Juárez, and ArtBo. Their art, tarot, and multidisciplinary practices have also been featured in numerous publications, including Cosmopolitan, Taschen, ELLE UK, Bustle, Nylon, Los Angeles Times, Slate, CVLT Nation, Terremoto, and Hyperallergic, among others.
Edgar Fabián Frías was commissioned by the LA County Department of Arts and Culture to create a temporary artwork as a member of the Public Artists in Development (PAiD) program’s Artist Council.
About the Artwork
Vessel, 2024
Mixed media installation
Gloria Molina Grand Park
DATES, TBD
In early 2024, artist Edgar Fabián Fr&iaacute;as, a descendant of the Wixárika people, was one of 135 contemporary artists selected to have their art preserved for millions of years. Their work was etched on nickel plates using cutting-edge nanotechnology and placed on the moon's surface by the Odysseus Lander spacecraft as part of the Arch Lunar Art Archive.
Inspired by this monumental achievement and the Wixárika origin story—where Takutsi Nakawé, known as Our Great Grandmother Growth, asked Watakame to create a canoe from a fig tree to save life on earth from a great flood – Frías created Vessel (2024). This artwork explores the role of vessels, such as spaceships and canoes, in symbolizing preservation, resilience, ancestral pacts, and intergalactic communication through the lens of Indigenous Futurism.
Humans have a deep desire to preserve culture for future generations. Vessel invites viewers to reflect on UAPs (unidentified anomalous phenomena) as modern symbols that speak to our collective hope for survival and the power of art and storytelling to transcend time and space. Situated at the site of the Indigenous village of Yaangna in Gloria Molina Grand Park, this piece honors the diverse communities of Los Angeles, connecting past and present.
Jazmín Urrea (b. 1990, Artesia, CA) is a visual artist working in installation, photography, video, sculpture, and performance to explore symbols and totems prevalent in Latino communities. She received her MFA in Photography and Media from the CalArts (2017), and a BFA in Photography from CSU, Long Beach (2014). Urrea’s works have been exhibited at the Studio Museum in Harlem, The J. Paul Getty Museum Los Angeles, UAM Long Beach, The Music Center, Flatline, and SADE-LA. She participated in CURRENT LA: FOOD Triennial (2019) funded by the Department of Cultural Affairs and recently received the Rema Hort Maan Foundation Emerging Artist Grant (2020). She currently lives and works in South Los Angeles,CA.
Jazmín Urrea was commissioned by the LA County Department of Arts and Culture to create a temporary artwork as a member of the Public Artists in Development (PAiD) program’s Artist Council.
About the Artwork
El Barrilito de Fuego, 2024
Mixed media installation
Mudtown Farms
On view August 25 – September 25, 2024
Reception: September 14, 2024 | 12PM - 4PM
Jazmín Urrea’s art practice often explores the lack of access to fresh food faced by communities with limited resources and the health risks posed by artificial dyes and additives such as Red 40 and Yellow 6, commonly found in junk foods. In Urrea's hometown of Watts, she highlights these issues with an installation at MudTown Farms—a cylindrical structure standing 8 feet tall, filled with Flamin’ Hot Cheetos. This installation symbolizes the prevalence of processed snacks due to limited grocery options, emphasizing the scarcity of nutritious choices in financially vulnerable areas. Visitors can walk through the structure, which acts as a tunnel leading into MudTown Farms, symbolizing a nutritional oasis in the community.
Urrea will host a snack workshop for local children on September 14, 2024, in collaboration with a chef. This initiative aims to empower and educate youth about food equity, fostering awareness, and sustainable change within the neighborhood.
Terrick Gutierrez (b. 1994, Los Angeles) is an LA-based interdisciplinary artist, creative technologist, activist, storyteller, and curator. He is the child of Belizean and Mexican immigrants. His work explores urban life in LA through the lens of the built environment, such as liquor stores and public housing projects. Social issues including food insecurity, cultural erasure and displacement are themes found throughout his work. His work also explores personal histories addressing topics such as race, identity, and migration.
Gutierrez received his Bachelor of Arts in psychology with a minor in art from Morehouse College in 2017 and his Master of Professional Studies in Interactive Telecommunications from New York University in 2019. He has exhibited in Atlanta, New York, and Los Angeles and has work included in East and West Coast private collections.
Terrick Gutierrez was commissioned by the LA County Department of Arts and Culture to create a temporary artwork as a member of the Public Artists in Development (PAiD) program’s Artist Council.
About the Artwork
Why is There A Liquor Store on Almost Every Corner? 2024
Sculptural installation
Mudtown Farms
On view August 25 – September 25, 2024
Reception: September 14, 2024 | 12PM - 4PM
Terrick Gutierrez’ Why Is There A Liquor Store on Almost Every Corner? is a six feet high freestanding liquor store sign. The installation is an extension of his liquor store series on paper that addresses critical issues including food insecurity, discriminatory land use, zoning practices, and the pervasive presence of nuisance businesses.
Growing up in South Central, LA, Terrick recalls his close proximity to liquor stores while having to travel outside of his neighborhood to find healthy food options. Noticing the concentration of liquor stores in his community prompted him to ask the very question that this work is titled after.
Viewed from a distance, the illuminated sign resembles a traditional yellow and red liquor store sign. As viewers approach, they will notice the sign reads “Why Is There A Liquor Store on Almost Every Corner?” The reverse side features three panels: a map of South Central, a heatmap of South Central-based liquor stores, and a rendering of a liquor store the artist grew up nearby. Viewers can interact with the panels by sliding the handles to overlay the panels.
Michelle Sui is a multidisciplinary artist, performer, choreographer, and director from Los Angeles. Their immersive multimedia works merge film, installation, dance, music, and oral history to examine the body and voice in relation to cinematic histories, language in translation, the performance of femininity, and the dislocations of memory. These experimental operas, complex encounters in duet with historic neighborhoods, scores with dancers and non-dancers, interactive installations, and documentary films have been presented in Germany, Italy, Poland, Republic of Georgia, and throughout and the Unites States.
Michelle's work has received support from the Foundation for Contemporary Arts, Center for Asian American Media, Sundance, Rauschenberg Foundation, California Arts Council, New York Foundation for the Arts, Bang on a Can, La MaMa Umbria, and Poets and Writers. They have taught voice and improvisation at UC Irvine, University of Michigan, Loyola Marymount University, and the Music Center. Michelle’s 2020 film Street Angel, on Los Angeles Chinatown, has screened across the U.S. and internationally and is currently streaming on Aeon, which calls it "an exploration of Chinese American identity and culture that’s exponentially more sophisticated than the vast majority of media…over the past century."
Michelle Sui was commissioned by the LA County Department of Arts and Culture to create a temporary artwork as a member of the Public Artists in Development (PAiD) program’s Artist Council.
About the Artwork
Night Train, 2024
Performance
Pico House
August 25, 2024 | 7:30PM - 8:30PM
Night Train is a new work written, choreographed, and directed by Michelle Sui. Drawing upon the vibrant legacies of Chinese American workers who contributed to labor, railroad, and film industries of Los Angeles, the artist will activate the historic Pico House, located in El Pueblo of downtown Los Angeles, in a performance developed onsite and in response to the neighborhood’s complex, real, and cinematic histories.
Dominique Moody was born in the 1950s in Germany, the sixth of nine children in an African American military family. Her first conscious memory awakened her desire to tangibly harness the power of stories; her family’s migration to the US gifted her perspective as she experienced the gravity of journeying into the unknown. While traversing the racial policies of redlined communities in Philadelphia, her family transformed neglected houses out of necessity. She found objects with each move, intuitively knowing they were manifestations of memories with unique stories to tell. Photos rarely survived the family’s journey, so Moody recreated stories through drawing, silhouette, and collage.
Although her portraiture and narrative illustration skills were refined through diverse education, she began to gradually lose central sight in her 20s, which diminished color, detail, depth of field, and facial recognition. With my ability to render traditional portraits challenged, Moody experimented with assemblage art forms that required vision more than sight.
Her lineage within the African Diaspora and the nomadic Fulani have expanded her concept of home, encompassing not only shelter, but a culturally rich way of life. Nomad—the artist’s mobile art dwelling project—was conceived decades before it was materialized; its evolution defining the artist’s purpose as a Visual Griot Storyteller. Moving 46 times and traveling by road has enlightened Moody about being at home in the world while navigating the intersections of race, gender, disability, migration, and environment. These creative sojourns have strengthened bonds with family and community through resonating stories of the artist’s social practice.
About the Artwork
AT HOME: In the LAndscape, 2024
Interactive installation and pop-up events
On view at the following locations:
Stoneview Nature Center, September 7, 2024 | 9AM – 6PM
Gloria Molina Grand Park, September 13 - 14, 2024 | 8AM – 7PM
As an assemblage artist, when Dominique Moody walks through LA, discarded objects often call out to her. Industrial salvage, shed belongings, and natural cast-offs may be considered waste by many, but to Moody find a peculiar beauty in the hidden potential usefulness residing within them. In this piece, AT HOME: In the LAndscape, Moody assembled found objects into an artwork that expresses the deeper stories of how we individually and collectively think of "HOME." "Home Dwells Within Us," is what the artist’s mom used to tell she and her siblings when they moved from place to place—reassuring them that no matter where they lived, a sense of home went with them.
The work includes reclaimed wood pallets, industrial metal vintage wheels, natural reeds, and an eclectic mix of found metal objects that form mobile silhouettes of “HOME” and create dimensional lined structures that pop up in the landscape without intruding on the view. The base of the piece reflects the diversity of LA by incorporating the word “HOME” in various languages. It is the artist’s hope that these simple structures draw people’s attention to the landscape and spark opportunities for dialogue and exchange—asking, what does "HOME" mean to them?