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 the Valley that we hope you will check out, follow and support.
Lynn Svoboda
My story starts with my childhood growing up on a farm in rural Minnesota. I grew up outdoors, and around animals. Living on a farm taught me a lot about life and uncontrollable circumstances. I learned at a very young age the process to grow and make food. As well as the love and discipline it took to care for hundreds of animals and the pain of losing them. I am a true Gemini and have been active and involved all my life. I was involved with 4-H, youth group, cheerleading, choir, volleyball, and dance. Read more>>
Kalen Whitfield
I’m a kid who grew up making indie cartoons in the basement! In the late 90’s/early 2000’s the internet was soaked in Flash-based indie content on sites like Newgrounds and AlbinoBlackSheep. Flash was getting passed around like crazy and gave kids who did nothing but draw in class an outlet for all their cartoon and videogame ideas. When I got my hands on Flash at 12, my life began to immediately and irreparably revolve around cartoons. I spent all of my spare time studying the program up and down, running drills on every tutorial I could find and at 15, I uploaded my first internet cartoon to Newgrounds. Read more>>
Pedro Avila AMC
I’ve never been one to inconvenience anyone else, so when I came to this world I decided to arrive at 8 pm, so my mother could have a good night sleep and well-rested in the morning we could start a new day together. I grew up in Durango, a small city in Mexico, but along with my brother, two sisters, and parents, we spend most our summers in Los Angles where my grandmother lived. Sometimes we would travel to a small town in rural Idaho where my mother’s sister lives. Read more>>
Zoey Black
I was just a little girl from a local area with big dreams. Growing up on the Northern Beaches in Sydney, Australia, where I lived a pretty normal life. I used to watch my sister dance as a hobby after school and when I watched her classes, I knew I wanted to be in them too. I’ve been dancing since the age of five years old but at first, only in the technical categories. I’ve always been competitive and always wanted to be good, the best, the one in the middle in the front row. Read more>>
Andres Vergara
I remember this Spanish class in school, in which we talked about symbolism and how it applies to films. I could go on about the things we talked about and how I was utterly amazed about this way of looking at movies, but let just leave it as “it changed my life”. Ever since, I found any excuse to turn anything into a movie-making opportunity: homework, school presentations, Mother’s Day’s gift but never really contemplated it could be something I could grow up to do for a living. Read more>>
Oliver Akuin
I have been drawing ever since I was five years old. I remember going on family vacations and doodling on the hotel memo pads that were by the phone in our room. That’s all I needed! I would sketch cartoons that I loved, like The Ninja Turtles and Animaniacs. I eventually got confident enough to create my own characters. They were silly and unique. I knew right then that I wanted to do this all my life. Read more>>
Emily Satterfield
I’m a visual artist working out of lil ol’ Burbank. I specialize in animation, but also dabble in various other creative pursuits in this splendid city. I’m not a native Angelino however I’m from way over yonder on the opposite coast. I grew up in a lovely semi-rural area in Greenville, South Carolina. Blessed to be raised in a home where the ‘practical’ career path was finding something I loved to do. Read more>>
