LA County Library and Foundation, LA County Department of Arts and Culture, and Library Partners have received a $1.2 million grant from the Mellon Foundation to fund a new collaborative initiative led by LA County Library in partnership with the LA County Department of Arts and Culture, Los Angeles Public Library, Altadena Library District, and their respective Foundations, currently titled LA County Cultural Climate Commons: Community Memory Lab & Living Archive.

This cross-jurisdictional project brings together two of the nation’s largest public library systems, the local arts agency, and civic partners in a landmark collaboration that aims to preserve the lived experiences, cultural heritage, and collective memory of communities impacted by the 2025 Eaton and Palisades wildfires in LA County. Coinciding with the one-year anniversary of the devastating wildfires, the grant arrives at a meaningful moment of reflection and renewal, supporting a new mobile memory lab, community artmaking, digital archiving events, and the creation of a digital hub that together will foster healing, cultural preservation, public learning, and a deeper understanding of the impacts of climate change.

The project, which spans from January 2026 through June 2028, will support three core offerings:

• LA County Library will launch a new Mobile Memory Lab and offer Digital Archiving and Oral History Programs, with events focusing on Altadena and surrounding communities in partnership with Altadena Library District, but also spanning to the Palisades area, in partnership with Los Angeles Public Library, to help bring together two fire-ravaged communities in sharing and archiving their stories and experiences.
• An Artist/Archivist-in-Residence, along with an art historian and curator, local artists, and arts groups, will be engaged in partnership with LA County Department of Arts and Culture to identify local legacy artists, and offer community artmaking workshops as a space to create and preserve culture, stories, and memories, with resulting artworks contributing to a new digital archive as well as the LA County Civic Art Collection.
• A climate-focused digital hub will be created as a central repository for regional archived artworks, memories, and oral histories—while also elevating local cultural stories, research, and projects responding to climate change, beginning with the 2025 Altadena and Palisades wildfires.

“We are incredibly thankful for the Mellon Foundation’s support of this project,” said Dr. Skye Patrick, LA County Library Director and County Librarian. “The devastating wildfires caused widespread loss across Los Angeles County, taking lives, homes, and the cultural memory and social fabric that connected the impacted communities. Through this unique cross-jurisdictional Library and Arts and Culture partnership, we will support healing and resilience by safeguarding community histories and stories through arts and archiving and developing sustainable models for cultural preservation.”

“We are thrilled the Mellon Foundation is supporting this important countywide collaboration, and we look forward to working with our dedicated partners in LA County and Altadena,” said City Librarian John F. Szabo. “Through our partnership with the Library Foundation of Los Angeles, this funding supports the Library’s work to steward shared memory and community storytelling, preserving and elevating local histories as part of a collective cultural response to climate change.”

“Altadena is a small, tight-knit community where we live our stories through our neighbors, schools, places of worship, small businesses, community groups, and civic organizations. The Eaton fire devastated our beloved Altadena, but it hasn’t broken its spirit. Every person has a story, and every story has a place,” said Altadena Library District Director Nikki Winslow. “This is a community of resilience, and our district is grateful to be here to support it. This grant will help us record, preserve, and share those stories, even as our community makes the long journey to rebuild and recover.”

“One thing we’ve learned over time, especially in the wake of the January 2025 fires, is that arts, culture, and creativity are a vital part of community recovery—helping us process grief, preserve civic memory, commemorate the significance of place, sustain cultural identity, and support social connection,” said Kristin Sakoda, Director of the Los Angeles County Department of Arts and Culture. “This project will serve as a powerful model for creative recovery and resilience, providing space for Altadena and Palisades communities to heal, engaging local artists, and promoting artistic legacy. We are deeply grateful to the Mellon Foundation for supporting this bold collaborative vision that bridges arts, culture, and recovery.”

The LA County Cultural Climate Commons project represents a significant investment in preserving the stories, creative contributions, and lived experiences of wildfire-impacted communities while fostering public understanding of climate change and community resilience.

Public libraries and arts institutions are trusted, accessible spaces with long-standing relationships with the communities they serve and are uniquely positioned to lead this initiative. Their missions center public access, stewardship of knowledge, and cultural preservation, making them essential partners in documenting lived experiences, supporting collective healing, and ensuring community histories remain publicly accessible for all.

Additional details about project’s activities, public programming, and opportunities for community participation will be shared in the coming months as the initiative launches. Members of the media and the public are encouraged to follow updates from the partner organizations as this multi-year effort develops and more resources, workshops, and archival materials become available.