Can the Arts Heal L.A.?: Round 2

The cover story by Diane Haithman and accompanying commentary by Max Benavidez were welcome and excellent, a fine service to the arts and to Los Angeles.

But there was one striking omission in Haithman’s list of art projects generated by last spring’s sad events and an injustice in Benavidez’s assertion that the major institutions of L.A.’s art Establishment have been so far unresponsive.

“Art From Ashes” is a private, nonprofit and so far lamentably unfunded effort chaired by Rebecca Street. It isn’t “planned”; it is all but completed.

First, children of South-Central have produced more than 200 extraordinary pieces of art that express their reactions to last spring. These works will be on display and for sale starting Dec. 12 at the Museum of African American Art. In addition, a silent auction of works by 40 major L.A. artists, most produced for “Art From Ashes,” will be held Nov. 27 at UCLA’s Pauley Pavilion. That event will serve as a preview for the next day’s Book Fest for Los Angeles, which will include another benefit auction.

Every penny taken in by “Art From Ashes” will go to the Library Foundation of Los Angeles, fund-raising arm of the Los Angeles Public Library, to restock the John Muir and Junipero Serra branch libraries, burned out last spring, and to expand library services. The Getty Trust is matching all the money that goes to the foundation, up to $350,000.

Plainly for the arts, for rebuilding, for self-help, indeed for the future of Los Angeles, a key element is education. And it all starts with books.

ROBERT J. SCHOENBERG

Book Fest Coordinator

Los Angeles