Creative Capital in Los Angeles 2026

Thank you to everyone who escaped the east coast blizzard and joined us for an incredible few days in sunny Los Angeles for Art Week. Together with our Board of Directors and Creative Capital Awardees, we enjoyed exciting art exhibitions, artist panels, and energizing conversations. Our trip strengthened bonds with our extensive community in LA, which continues to be fertile ground for innovative new works in film, visual arts, theater, dance, music, literature, and technology.

Our first evening began with a board dinner with amazing LA-based artists Mercedes Dorame (2020 Creative Capital Awardee), Sandy Rodriguez (2021 Creative Capital Awardee), and Sarah Rosalena (2022 Creative Capital Awardee). Enormous thanks to our board member Grace Oh for kindly hosting our board meeting and always making it feel like traveling to California is like coming home.

Huge thanks to Bennett Simpson, Senior Curator, MOCA Geffen, for the powerfully illuminating tour of MONUMENTS. The exhibition reflects on the histories and legacies of post-Civil War America as they continue to resonate today, bringing together a selection of decommissioned monuments, many of which are Confederate, with contemporary artworks borrowed and newly created for the occasion. Newly commissioned works included those by Cauleen Smith (2008 Creative Capital Awardee) and Abigail DeVille (2015 Creative Capital Awardee). This show examines questions of race, history, and memory, framing the debate as an urgent cultural reckoning.

In the evening, Channning Dungey and Scott Power generously hosted an artist dinner at San Vicente Bungalows. Guests received complimentary prints by the conceptual artist JonMarc Edwards. Special thanks to William D. Caballero (2021 Creative Capital Awardee, Film), Sophia Nahli Allison (2025 Creative Capital Awardee, Film), Darol Olu Kae (2025 Creative Capital Awardee, Film), Rasheedah Phillips (2022 Creative Capital Awardee, Technology, Multimedia), Marike Splint (2025 Creative Capital Awardee, Theater), Martine Syms (2021 Creative Capital Awardee, film/video art), and Vishal Jugdeo (2021 Creative Capital Awardee, Visual Arts). Awardees discussed their Creative Capital projects and how Creative Capital’s services and community continue to support their practice. Darol Olu Kae movingly said about our artist support structure, “Creative Capital supports a creative life.”

On day two, Creative Capital enjoyed the intimate and relaxed vibe of the Felix Art Fair at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel representing nearly 60 international galleries exhibiting emerging and established artists focused on Los Angeles and California-centric art inside the hotel’s rooms and poolside cabanas.

The trip culminated in the Creative Capital Artist Panel at the Hammer Museum, which featured Kenturah Davis (2026 Creative Capital Awardee, Visual Arts), Alice Bucknell (2025 Creative Capital Awardee, Technology), Thanh Tran (2024 Creative Capital Awardee, Film), who shared deeply personal stories about their new projects addressing wildfires in Altadena, the San Quentin prison system and houselessness, and the possibilities for community and climate action through video gaming technology. With nearly 100 guests from across California and the United States, including many 2026 Creative Capital Awardees, board members, and supporters, it was a special night celebrating California-based artists and the creation of groundbreaking new works.

Thank you for your participation and support of our vibrant artist-led community!

Christine Kuan
President & Executive Director