Inspiring Stories from DTLA

The heart of our mission at VoyageLA is to find the amazing souls that breathe life into our city. In the recent weeks, we’ve had the privilege to connect with some of the LA’s finest artists, creatives, entrepreneurs and rabble rousers and we can’t begin to express how impressed we are with our city’s incredibly deep talent pool.  Check out DTLA’s rising stars below.

Xinyi Alice Liu

My story really started with music. I’ve always been drawn to the way music creates emotions, memories, and entire worlds around it — not only through sound, but also through album covers, concert visuals, posters, stage design, and merchandise. Those things made me realize that visual design could become another way of telling stories. Read more>>

Mika Green

I’ve been playing music as long as I can remember. I started learning guitar because my older sister started learning and I looked up to her a lot. As I started growing up, I got really into rock music, especially emo music and pop punk. However, I was sort of pushed to be a singer songwriter in acoustic and indie music. Read more>>

Juliet Rofé

When I was fourteen, my dad made a discovery that would reshape both of our lives: his mechanic, Kevin Champeny, was an extraordinary artist. Convinced that talent like Kevin’s belonged in galleries rather than garages, my dad encouraged him to pursue art full-time and helped him make the leap. Read more>>

Timothy Dahlum

I started volunteering with the American Red Cross, Los Angeles Region in March 2020 when the city stopped due to the Covid pandemic, we were partnering with LAUSD to provide meals, and eventually food resiliency boxes in partnership with LA Foodbank. Read more>>

Fon Davis

My father was from Oklahoma and met my mother in Vietnam during the war. I was borin in Saigon, at the Tân Sơn Nhứt Air Force Base. My father brought our family to California in 1975 after the war ended. It was there that he took me to the drive in theatre to see Star Wars. After the movie, I became fascinated with special effects. Read more>>

Kirsten Coleman

I grew up in a creative family. My grandparents were jewelry makers and art teachers, so I was surrounded by art from a young age. To say the least, I did all the classic art things growing up. Read more>>

Adair Stephens

For as long as I can remember, creativity has played a significant role in how I process the world around me. Growing up in the suburbs of Houston, Texas, I would spend hours and hours alone in my bedroom, bringing stories to life through Legos and Star Wars action figures. Read more>>

Geraldin Ferrer

I started creating content back in 2016, originally focusing on beauty and makeup reviews before eventually transitioning into sharing my natural curly hair journey. At the time, I was learning how to embrace my natural hair after years of damage and transitioning, and I began sharing the products, tips, and techniques that genuinely helped me along the way. Read more>>

Todd Westover

Todd Westover is an internationally exhibited artist, known for his distinctive “flower power” style. His work has been shown in Barcelona, Spain; Paris, France; Venice, Italy; Brussels, Belgium; Osaka, Japan; Dubai, UAE; New York, NY; as well as the greater Los Angeles, CA area. Read more>>

Brande Victorian

I always loved reading magazines as a teenager, and though I initially majored in communications at the University of Cincinnati, all it took was an Intro to PR class for me to switch my major to journalism with a concentration in magazine writing. Read more>>

Kaoru Samidare

I am a Japan-based colored pencil artist and fine art model, currently working toward obtaining an O-1 visa and relocating to Los Angeles. I have been drawing for as long as I can remember. After graduating from high school, I found myself unable to adapt to working conventional jobs, so I began sitting on the street and selling my artwork. Read more>>