LOS ANGELES — After LA County officers issued a controversial name for public artwork to beautify leisure automobile (RV) encampment websites from which unhoused folks have been displaced, over 150 artists and housing advocates have signed an open letter denouncing the challenge, which they are saying seeks to “‘beautify’ (i.e. cover up) sites of trauma and loss.”
“These are not just RVs — they are actually people’s homes and even more importantly, together they are communities,” reads the letter, despatched on October 1 and distributed by artists Hayk Makhmuryan and Carol Zou and activist Judy Branfman.
“Lives depend on these networks and nearby services. Targeting poor people in this way seems like political maneuvering,” the missive continues. “Why not use highly creative approaches to help people get back on their feet?”
Issued by the Los Angeles County Department of Arts and Culture (LACDAC), County Supervisors, and Los Angeles Housing Services Authority (LAHSA), the call invited artists to present public artwork for encampment areas together with “any barriers erected to discourage RVs from returning once they have been removed.”
The latest letter outlined considerations with the initiative, together with the recruitment of artists to create or embellish obstacles to forestall RVs after the county evicts them, and the inefficacy of applications like LA Mayor Karen Bass’s initiative Inside Safe, which they are saying fails to present complete, long-term housing.
“Actively participating in the displacement of unhoused residents is antithetical to what artists do,” reads the artists’ latest letter. “Respect commonalities, meet people where they are, create trust, build relationships, co-create, and speak truth to power.”
In October 2023, LA County handed the so-called “RV resolution” meant to scale back the variety of these autos parked throughout LA by forcing residents out into “interim housing” below a program often called Pathway Home. The program and the decision for artists are a part of LA County’s Homeless Initiative program, launched in February 2016.
On October 3, Branfman, Makhumuryan, and Zou met with LA County Deputy Supervisor Isela Gracian, whose workplace oversees a lot of downtown Los Angeles. The artists instructed Hyperallergic that they reiterated their considerations outlined within the letter and their demand to rescind and rewrite the decision for proposals with a story that prioritizes creative engagement with RV residents, and for LACDAC to host a public dialog as a part of the method.
By the tip of the assembly, Gracian allegedly confirmed that even when no artists utilized, the county was decided to transfer forward with the challenge, which she described as “experimental,” with or with out the Department of Arts and Culture.
Branfman, one of many letter’s co-authors, instructed Hyperallergic that she was upset by the end result.
“There are so many ways we could work together to find caring solutions rather than furthering divisions among marginalized communities and using artists to cover that up,” Branfman mentioned.
On June 28, the United States Supreme Court dominated in City of Grants Pass v. Johnson that cities can implement bans on public tenting and sleeping with out violating the Eighth Amendment, even when satisfactory shelter choices are unavailable.
Within a month of this ruling and within the height of one of many hottest summers on document, California Governor Gavin Newsom ordered state businesses to sweep through encampments, which intensified domestically within the City of Los Angeles by September, when many RV residents moved to unincorporated areas.
“As a sociologist who does research with vehicle residents in Los Angeles, I’m concerned to see LACDAC misuse the language of ‘community,” Sam Lutzker, a PhD candidate within the Department of Sociology on the University of California, Los Angeles, instructed Hyperallergic.
As an emergency response program launched in August 2023 in accordance with the RV decision, Pathway Home targets the 120 unincorporated zones in LA county, the place 538 RVs have been removed or pushed out of the world, regardless of having long-term residency of their communities and no matter whether or not or not these residents dwelling in RVs have been housed short- or long-term. The program’s on-line dashboard says that 824 people have been “moved into interim housing.”
“Where have all of those vehicle residents gone?” mentioned Lutzker. “Pathway Home has not been transparent with its program data, especially regarding participant returns to homelessness.”
Hyperallergic has contacted Christina Villacorte, liaison for LA County’s Homeless Initiative program, in addition to LA County Deputy Supervisors Gracian, Kathryn Barger, Janice Hahn, Lindsey Horvath, and Hilda Solis.
LACDAC didn’t reply to requests for remark.
According to a 2024 report, between 2021 and 2023, the town spent round $3 million on sweeps and enforcement, however solely two folks remained in long-term, everlasting housing. Most cleared encampments have been repopulated inside weeks, suggesting that sweeps are an ineffective long-term answer to the area’s housing disaster.
“The city and county have numerous tools at their disposal,” Makhumuryan instructed Hyperallergic. Passing strict tenants’ rights protections and redirecting funds to construct social housing tasks with funded upkeep and built-in helps are two concepts Makhumuryan advocates for as an artist.
“Artists are community members who are impacted ourselves by rising rents and eviction,” Zou, an artist who usually works with non-arts organizations, instructed Hyperallergic.
“We are asking the Board of Supervisors, LAHSA, and LACDAC, to open up their imaginations and imagine a world in which art can uplift, humanize, and resource the most marginalized in our society,” Zou mentioned.
