Friday, May 22, 2026

Resource Fair Targets Artists Who Lost Tools, Studios, and Livelihoods in Eaton Fire

[photo credit: Eventbrite]

A free daylong event at Altadena’s Collaboratory will offer workshops, wellness services, and networking for fire-impacted creatives on May 30

The Eaton Fire took more than homes. It took cameras, ceramics, computers, woodworking tools, paint supplies, production equipment, and entire studios — the physical infrastructure of creative lives built over years and sometimes decades.

On Saturday, May 30, a free resource fair called Creative Workers Rising will bring fire-impacted musicians, dancers, storytellers, filmmakers, and visual artists together at the Collaboratory, the Eaton Fire Collaborative’s recovery hub at 540 W. Woodbury Road in Altadena. The event, organized by the Arts & Culture Coalition of Altadena and the Eaton Fire Collaborative, responds to what organizers describe as persistent, unmet needs among the region’s creative workers nearly 17 months after the January 2025 fire. Family and friends of affected creatives are also welcome, according to the organizers.

A survey conducted by the coalition in March 2026 found that many artists are still struggling without financial support, a stable income, creative spaces, or community connections, according to the organizers. The event is designed to address those gaps directly.

Creative Workers Rising will run from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and include resource support, wellness services, art workshops, live performances, and networking opportunities, according to the coalition’s announcement. Specific exhibitors and performers have not yet been publicly listed.

“When the unthinkable happens, we need to use our hands, eyes, and hearts to create,” said Alma Cielo of 1000 Voices Altadena Mosaic, a community art project that turns ceramic shards from burned Altadena homes into a public mosaic. “Resilience grows, and recovery happens magically through the spirit of art and community.”

Cielo, a Yale-trained artist and Eaton Fire survivor who lost her own Altadena home, has been working with the Los Angeles Conservancy’s Artists at Work Program since June 2025 on the mosaic project, which draws its name from a proverb: “It takes a thousand voices to tell a single story.” She was previously an arts educator at Norma Coombs Elementary School in Pasadena for seven years.

“Along with the beauty of the foothills, a diverse collection of accomplished artists are a natural resource in Altadena,” said Rasheed Ali, executive director of Digital Rain Factory, an Altadena-based digital storytelling organization.

The Eaton Fire, which began January 7, 2025, burned more than 14,000 acres and destroyed more than 9,400 structures across Altadena and surrounding communities. It was the second most destructive wildfire in California history. The fire killed at least 17 people, with additional remains discovered in the months that followed.

The Collaboratory, where the event will be held, opened on October 7, 2025, as a centralized recovery space where fire survivors can access vetted services and community resources. The Pasadena Community Foundation, the California Community Foundation, and other funders provided $975,000 to secure the Woodbury Road location and launch the facility, according to the Pasadena Community Foundation.

The Arts & Culture Coalition of Altadena describes itself as an organization that builds connection and communication for fire-impacted creatives while working to preserve Altadena’s cultural legacy, according to a statement from the group.

The event is free. Registration is available through Eventbrite.

For more information, contact Sunder Ganglani, co-artistic director of Cornerstone Theater Company, at sganglani@cornerstonetheater.org or (646) 321-8859.