Life & Work with Rachel Schmeidler of West Hollywood

Today we’d like to introduce you to Rachel Schmeidler.

Hi Rachel, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
Years ago, I founded Hollywood Least Wanted, a nonprofit focused on using art and storytelling to challenge stereotypes, and to support people and animals who were struggling to get by in Los Angeles. Since then, that organization has evolved into Rooted in Los Angeles, RILA, a broader initiative dedicated to preserving the human stories that I believe make Los Angeles extraordinary.

Los Angeles is often known for glamorous celebrities and grabby headlines, but the city’s true identity is found in its neighborhoods, and the everyday people who quietly make a difference. Our goal is to document their stories through public art, interviews, and creative media, so that they aren’t lost over time.

As a daughter of a holocaust survivor, I always wondered how my father survived in the concentration camps. Strangely and ironically enough, it was the kindness of some of the Nazis imprisoning him that led to his survival. His story taught me that heroes come in all forms, and I want to recognize and honor those heroes while they’re still alive.

As Rooted in Los Angeles evolved I started experimenting with using it as a platform for my 13-year-old son who has had difficulty with his own social skills due to Autism, to interview these heroes. It offered him an opportunity to learn that everyone has struggles they need to overcome – not just children with special needs, and maybe give him tools to over come his own struggles in the process.

As he progressed I realized that I had a created a unique experience for him and wanted to expand the focus of RILA to possibly allow other children with similar challenges to learn and interact in this way.

So in fact, Rooted in Los Angeles has become more of a personal passion project to me. Of course it is about preserving history and celebrating humanity, but the true heart and focus is about reminding the world that every single person has unique value.

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
It’s been far from a smooth road…

I think what really turned me from passive to proactive, was when my son had a restraining order issued against him by the family of a 9-year-old classmate of his. The fact that the court approved it was shocking. This classmate was interacting in a combative way, and I know that he is only a child, we first learn how to have empathy at home, but it should have been a learning opportunity for all involved. Instead the school took sides and made the situation worse. My son’s Autism caused him to become triggered and totally dis-regulated.

I remember sitting in the courthouse with my son when his Vice Principal and 4th grade teacher were passing us on the way to give testimony. When my son tried to say hello to them, they ignored him completely and just kept walking. Seeing their cruel rejection cause my son to break down in sobs and scared me so much – as a parent, and as a human being.

Children with Autism cannot be criminalized, and it’s been immensely challenging for me to forget the cruelty my son experienced during that whole process. It did however spur me into action using the tools at my disposal, which happens to be art.

Through his involvement with RILA and more hands-on therapy provided by the city of Los Angeles, he has improved his social and adaptive skills immensely. So much so, that he has been able to take up golf – a sport that he particularly excels at. (His progress has inspired me to write and perform a TEDx talk in the near future that explores how the sport of golf can promote social, emotional, and developmental growth in children with Autism.) (maybe off topic)

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I’m a Los Angeles-based multidisciplinary artist, and for nearly 20 years I’ve been best known for transforming celebrity mugshots into contemporary portraiture through my series Hollywood Most Wanted.

I started the series in the mid-2000s after working alongside journalists covering Michael Jackson’s criminal trial, and becoming enthralled by the collision of celebrity, media, public fascination, and the legal system. Mugshots have always been particularly interesting to me because they’re one of the rare celebrity portraits that aren’t controlled by publicists, stylists, or the celebrities themselves.

I transform those timeless images using a combination of traditional silkscreen printmaking, painting, digital imaging, and mixed media. What began as a commentary on celebrity culture eventually evolved into a much broader exploration of fame, judgment, and American history.

Today, four of my large-scale portraits are installed at The Woods in West Hollywood, including mugshots of Woody Harrelson, Willie Nelson, and Matthew McConaughey. One of my favorite professional moments was having Woody Harrelson actually sign his own mugshot. I’ve also had the wonderful experience of Cheech Marin and Tommy Chong signing the mugshot portraits I created of them as well.

My work has been exhibited throughout Los Angeles, and has been covered by outlets like CNN and The Los Angeles Times. But I’m especially proud that the concept has remained relevant for nearly two decades. Celebrity culture has changed, laws have changed, and social media has completely changed our relationship with fame and public images – yet the mugshot remains an incredibly revealing cultural artifact.

That history is also helping shape my newest project: Rooted in Los Angeles. RILA expands my interest in portraiture, archives, and cultural memory beyond the mugshot and into documenting the people and their stories that make Los Angeles what it is.

What sets my work apart is probably that intersection of fine art, pop culture, historical research, and technology. I’m equally comfortable working with a silkscreen and paint as I am digging through public records or experimenting with new technology.

Ultimately, I’m interested in the stories behind people’s images – and what those images reveal about the culture that created them.It is not lost on me that these photos are taken during a very difficult moment in their lives. Being arrested and how they face the camera in that moment of truth has fascinated people since the very first mugshot ever was taken. I also have a broader series of collections with a focus on Civil Rights leaders in the 50’s and a series that focuses on Jewish Gangsters (name some of these people)

What matters most to you?
What matters most to me is people. And making sure they know they have value while they’re still around to hear it.

I think we have a tendency to recognize people and their accomplishments when it’s too late. We write tributes after someone dies, celebrate someone’s accomplishments once they’ve left a community, and define people by one difficult moment without taking the time to understand the rest of their story.

I don’t want to wait.

Being the daughter of a Holocaust survivor has shaped much of how I see the world. Humans are complicated, and heroes aren’t always famous, perfect, or even obvious. Sometimes they’re simply everyday people who choose kindness, help their neighbor through a difficult moment, or quietly make another person’s life better.

Becoming a mother has reinforced that belief even more.

I’ve learned how damaging it can be when society decides what someone is capable of before giving them an opportunity to show us. I want my children, and any young person who may need additional support, to grow up knowing that they have something meaningful to contribute.

There is a famous quote by Andy Warhol – “If everybody is not a beauty, then nobody is.”

That’s really the heart of Rooted in Los Angeles. I want to find those who have made a difference, sit down with them to hear their stories, and create their portraits. So that we can recognize them now.

Los Angeles will always have celebrities. But it also has teachers, artists, activists, immigrants, small-business owners, parents, mentors, and countless characters who may never become household names. They are integral parts of our city’s history, too.

Everyone has a story. Everyone has struggled. Everyone has value.

I think those people’s stories deserve to be seen, heard, and remembered.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://rootedinlosangeles.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rachel.schmeidler/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@rootedinlosangeles