Ode to ’Dena: Black Artistic Legacies of Altadena

In January 2025, wildfires erupted in Los Angeles, ripping through residential neighborhoods on both the west and east sides of the county. On the west side, the Palisades Fire consumed the oceanside communities of Malibu and the Pacific Palisades. On the east side, the Eaton Fire set ablaze the mountainside communities of Pasadena and Sierra Madre and overtook the town of Altadena, reducing much of it to ash.

During the 1950s and 1960s, Altadena was home to a burgeoning Black community and was hailed as the epicenter of Black arts activity in Los Angeles County. Though this designation arguably shifted to the South Central neighborhood of Watts in the wake of the 1965 Watts Rebellion, Altadena continued to develop as a vibrant and creative haven with a distinctive Black cultural imprint. Since then, Altadena and the adjacent city of Pasadena have served as home to an extraordinary array of Black artists, educators, musicians, intellectuals, entrepreneurs, and activists.

Ode to ’Dena lauds the rich and dynamic Black cultural heritage of Altadena. It surveys the town’s enduring legacy through the work and stories of an intergenerational group of artists and culture bearers that have called it home.

Ode to ’Dena: Black Artistic Legacies of Altadena is curated by Dominique Clayton, independent curator and founder of Dominique Gallery, in community with Larry Earl, Kenturah Davis, Arianne Edmonds, Dylan Joyner, and V. Joy Simmons, MD.