Altadena Cultural Preservation After Eaton Fire

Wildfire relief

San Gabriel Valley

Pilot or new project, program, or initiative (testing or implementing a new idea)

The Eaton Fire resulted in the tragic loss of at least 18 lives and total erasure of numerous historic places and entire neighborhoods of cultural significance. Roughly half of Altadena’s buildings and structures were destroyed. As rebuilding efforts begin, Altadena’s remaining heritage resources will be critical touchstones for returning community members. Immediately following the Fire, LAC President & CEO Adrian Scott Fine discussed the total erasure of heritage in articles and programs in The LA Times, PBS NewsHour, and the New York Times, among others. LAC is already immersed in efforts to work with historic preservation partners to identify destroyed and damaged significant historic resources, fully documenting the post-fire condition of all heritage resources, creating a searchable digital map data base of historic resources lost or damaged, and collaborating with community groups to support conversations about what heritage looks like in light of rebuilding after a disaster.

ACP will be a place-based art project reflecting the Altadena community’s sense of identity, culture, collective loss, and hope for the future. Funding from LA2050 will support the creation and implementation of a community-driven public art project, including materials and installation expenses. This could take the form of a digital memory wall or other public artwork.
ACP will be the second phase of LAC’s work with the Altadena community, intended as a tangible follow up to LAC’s recently launched work with Altadena stakeholders on cultural asset mapping, which was funded by the Getty Foundation in June 2025. Cultural asset mapping is a process to help a community identify and acknowledge both tangible and intangible values, attributes, and aspects that make it special. This months-long effort guides rebuilding by integrating cultural assets in the broader planning process, with input from a wide range of community members, and helps ensure that cultural heritage remains a cornerstone of rebuilding. Rooted in equity and engagement, this process is a powerful tool to support cultural memory, identity, and advocacy, and will foster community healing, engagement and empowerment.
Phase 2 funding from LA2050 would enable the results identified through the Phase 1 Getty project to be actualized in a permanent piece of public art and would be a powerful incentive for community members to buy in and participate in a several-month Phase 1 envisioning process.

Rooted in equity, ACP will support Altadena’s cultural memory and identity and can serve as a celebratory culmination from a rigorous community engagement program. ACP will:
1) engage Altadena’s diverse communities in guided activities of remembering, acknowledging, commemorating, and preserving their heritage, fostering community healing and empowerment.
2) elevate and support Altadena community groups and organizations already immersed in healing, remembering, and providing resources to residents (Altadena Heritage, Altadena Historical Society, Altadena District Library, Altadena Rising, Altadena Rebuild Coalition, My Tribe Rise, Altadena Green, local businesses, and more).
4) further work in the relatively new field of cultural asset mapping that will build on existing models and lead to better cultural heritage strategies to manage, preserve, interpret, and celebrate the tangible and intangible heritage of diverse and underrecognized communities.