The Eaton Fire, and the loss and destruction it wrought, is raw material for an immersive installation from the ArtCenter College of Design at the Pasadena Convention Center this Saturday.
“Resilience in the Ashes” gathers three artifacts from the fire, recreated into pieces inviting reflection, healing and remembrance. James Meraz, ArtCenter associate chair of spatial experience design, Everard Williams, chair of photography and imaging, and alumnus Jeffrey Sugishita collaborated on the installation.
“The Eaton Fire struck just a week before the start of the ArtCenter term and caused profound loss and trauma for many in our community, including our alumni, faculty and students,” Meraz said. “As artists and designers, the way we process grief is we create and create and create. We find and share meaning, memory and beauty in the chaos in life. This special installation represents our shared memories, dreams and our resilience.”
The installation brings together three symbolic elements recovered from the destroyed residences of the ArtCenter family, Meraz said: “a chair – representing memories- from the residence of a beloved faculty member, Norman Schureman, who passed away in 2010. A charred tree – representing dreams — from alumnus Jeffrey Sugishita’s home. And a haunting, beautiful photograph of a burnt remnant of wood – representing resilience – taken by ArtCenter chair of photography and imaging, Everard Williams.”
It took Sugishita 30 minutes after he’d returned to the ashes that was his home on Mendocino Avenue in Altadena to cast an artist’s eye over the devastation.
“I made the decision to create something new out of this disaster, on Jan. 8,” he said.
The ArtCenter’s former valedictorian graduated in 2023 and said he was able to save some items the night the Eaton Fire erupted: a handful of artwork and some clothes. Several sculptures he had made that stood outside the home did not burn.
The tree in the installation is from a maple in his front yard. People are invited to hang cards with messages and reflections on the tree, creating a living memorial and collective expression of community strength and resilience.
“It’s a nice gesture to have an installation that people can interact with and be able to crystallize that communal emotion into a physical structure that only art can accomplish,” Sugishita, 27, said. “It was a personal experience I hope helps in the collective effort of recovering.”
The installation is part of ArtCenter’s spring Grad Show, which opens free to the public from noon to 5 p.m. Saturday, April 26, at the Pasadena Convention Center.
Part of the installation “Resilience in the Ashes” is a salvaged chair from the Altadena home of the late Norm Schureman, a beloved ArtCenter faculty member who died in 2010. (Photo courtesy of ArtCenter College of Design) On the foreground is a branch from a maple tree burned in the Altadena home of artist Jeffrey Sugishita, an ArtCenter alumnus. Visitors are invited to write personal messages, reflections and wishes on cards to hang from the tree, part of an installation in the college’s spring Grad Show. It opens free to the public from noon to 5 p.m. Saturday, April 26, at the Pasadena Convention Center. (Courtesy of ArtCenter College of Design) ArtCenter College of Design’s spring Grad Show displays works from more than 300 students graduating this spring. It is one of the largest showcases of emerging artists and designers in the West Coast. (Photo courtesy of Juan Posada) This year’s spring Grad Show from ArtCenter College of Design in Pasadena includes an installation reflecting on the Eaton Fire. The showcase is from noon to 5 p.m. Saturday, April 26, at the Pasadena Convention Center. Admission is free. (Courtesy Juan Posada) Show Caption1 of 4Part of the installation “Resilience in the Ashes” is a salvaged chair from the Altadena home of the late Norm Schureman, a beloved ArtCenter faculty member who died in 2010. (Photo courtesy of ArtCenter College of Design) Expand“ArtCenter’s Spring 2025 Grad Show showcases the work of 327 graduating students and serves as an incredible celebration of creativity and the next generation of artists and designers,” Meraz said. “But this year, as the first Grad Show and graduation after the fires, it was equally important to also create a space for collective remembrance and to acknowledge and pay respect to those in the community who are still coping with tragic loss and ongoing recovery.”
College president Karen Hofmann said visitors to the show will see the creativity and innovative thinking that define an ArtCenter education. Graduates display works in animation, art, film, furniture design, game design, illustration, graphic design, photography and more.
“The quality of work shown at Grad Show is nothing short of extraordinary,” Hofmann said.
“While we are delighted and eager to celebrate the accomplishments of our talented Spring 2025 graduates, we do so in the wake and midst of significant challenges within in our community,” added Babette Strousse, ArtCenter dean, industrial design. “A great many of those impacted by the fires have had a hand in the outcomes we are exhibiting and celebrating at Grad Show. I want to acknowledge their extraordinary efforts, continued commitment, and profound resilience in the face of ongoing adversity and recovery.”
The showcase is one of the West Coast’s largest exhibitions of emerging artists and designers, the college said. It opens immediately following the spring graduation commencement at the Pasadena Civic Center. Steven Lewis, Altadena architect and social justice advocate, is the commencement speaker.
ArtCenter Spring Grad Show, featuring “Resilience in the Ashes”
When: Noon to 5 p.m. Saturday, April 26
Where: Exhibit Halls A and B, Pasadena Convention Center, 300 E. Green St.
Admission: Free. The one-day public showcase opens immediately following the college’s private commencement ceremony.
For more information: artcenter.edu
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