When Judy Branfman was evicted from her longtime apartment in Venice Beach in 2003, the idea to document the loss of affordable housing in the neighborhood came to her.
But after obtaining a list of the nearly 1,500 rent-controlled units that have left the housing market in Venice in the past couple decades, Branfman realized just how much the dearth of affordable housing affected the neighborhood, and incorporated more voices into her project.
“At first, I thought, ‘Oh, I’m just gonna take photos of the [previously affordable units], and gradually over the years, I realized it should be more of a community project because it’s a community problem,” Branfman says.
Between February and April 2023, she embarked on a series of workshops throughout Venice, gathering testimonials from locals who experienced eviction.
The Where Has All The (affordable) Housing Gone? exhibit at Beyond Baroque Gallery in Venice showcases Branfman’s efforts, demonstrating through data and people’s stories how the community lost affordable housing. It’s on view through November 4.
Viewers can see photographs, poetry, and a giant map of Venice. The map pieces together data of the lost affordable units on each block, along with the stories of the people who were evicted from them.
“[The map] ties in both the personal and the political right there, and what we’ve lost, and how it feels to people,” Branfman says.
The exhibit focuses attention on the impacts of the Ellis Act, a 1985 state law that allowed California landlords to evict tenants of rent-controlled housing for redevelopment, to later lease the same units at market rates. Branfman herself was a victim of the Ellis Act when she was evicted from her apartment.
“For many people, whoever they are –– homeowners or tenants –– people are shocked to see the number of [affordable housing units] lost, and the visual representation of it,” Branfman says.
