Five months have passed since the Eaton Fire swept through Altadena. As the community recovers, its multi-generational creative enclave is at the center of the California African American Museum’s (CAAM) ongoing exhibit called “Ode to Dena: Black Artistic Legacies.” The show features both well-known artists and newcomers from the area, according to curator Dominique Clayton.
“When you look at the Black community of Altadena, the big figures like Charles White come up. He bought his home [in] 1959 and made a big life there, and had many friends in the arts community across LA,” she explains. “Starting from artists like him and Betty Saar — they're both widely collected and part of CAAM’s permanent collection — I was able to build this map around these legends. … From there, this Black arts family tree and all of their peers.”
It also includes works crafted by multiple generations of families, including Keni Davis, his daughter Kenturah Davis, and her 2-year-old son Micah Davis O’Connor.
Clayton says Black culture in LA has largely been centered around neighborhoods like Leimert Park and Compton, but Altadena offers an alternative sanctuary for Black creatives and their families.
“It’s a different pace and energy, which produces maybe a different wavelength. Families were able to build a home and a foundation to provide an environment for their children and be these artsy kids and be part of a new generation doing that work,” she says. “That’s what we almost lost in these fires, and I don’t want to see that happen. We want to make sure that remains part of the soul and pulse of Altadena.”
Clayton, an LA native who spent some of her childhood in Altadena, says she feels called to help protect and preserve the community. “LA is home to me. I was born and raised here. I was born in Inglewood and the hospital no longer exists. That's where the SoFi Stadium is.”
She continues, “I also spent a lot of time away. I went to school in New York. I traveled. I lived abroad, and I recently came home and all of this happened. So I felt like I was called home, and I needed to do something to make sure that it's safe and protected, and I felt this longing and nostalgia for the LA that raised me.”