LA has always had an artistic soul. The culture and heritage of our city, like most great cities, owes a tremendous debt to the arts community. Supporting local art is something we care deeply about and we’d like to do everything we can to help the local arts community thrive. Unfortunately, too often media attention is monopolized by corporate interests and tabloid gossip – but culture doesn’t come from a focus on celebrity breakups it comes from a focus on the arts. Below, you’ll find some incredible artists from in and around Hollywood that we hope you will check out, follow and support.
Nicolette Wood
I was always into drawing as a little kid. I feel very fortunate that my mother encouraged it. I grew up in the suburbs of Miami. As a second generational Jamaican, I grew up speaking patois with my many aunties, grandmother, and older cousins. It was my older cousins, these cool teenage women, experimenting with black and white photography, reading x men comics, and watching this thing called anime that helped me to never give up my passion for art and animation. I was fortunate enough to get into a public art school where I got into lithograph printmaking and figurative drawing. I loved trying to create narratives about women and folklore. My passion for cartoons and animation didn’t seem to fizzle out as I grew older, so after graduating from high school, I moved out to California for college. Read more>>
Mercedes Hachuel
I was born In Caracas, Venezuela to a very mixed family of Spanish, Moroccan and Jewish descent. Although my passion for the film industry began later in life, I always had a soft spot for art and creativity. I was always coming up with stories about fantasy plots, writing different characters and drawing the worlds they lived in, which then merged with my devotion for video games and started a passion for the visual language. My dream started as a video game artist but back home there weren’t any schools that helped you develop that craft so I went to the closest route and got a bachelor’s degree in Social Communications with a major in Film. Read more>>
Mikhail Saburov
I was born in an industrial provincial city in Russia. My father, a son of factory workers, made his way from a police detective to a vice-president of a large company through one of the most unstable and criminal times in Russian history. No wonder he’s always been an adventurer. A trait he passed on to me. From a young age, I would travel the world – Asia, Africa, Middle-East, Europe. Every year I would look forward to leaving my home and exploring a different place, a different culture. Read more>>
Claire Stanton
I grew up doing a lot of sports, but once I went to high school, everything sort of flipped. Instead of doing sports, I got completely involved with the performing arts: marching band, theater, and show choir. I was pretty dedicated. Around that time, a family member got me a camera, and I thought I should start to use it to express myself. I started a YouTube channel where I would vlog, do internet challenges, and make little movies. Read more>>
