In June 2025, the Artists at Work Program selected the Los Angeles Conservancy and artist and Eaton Fire survivor, Alma Cielo, to embark on an 18-month collaboration in Altadena to celebrate resilience and cultural heritage in the wake of the 2025 January wildfires. Alma and her husband, Paul, lost their home in the fire and currently live at Zorthian Ranch. One year later, as we acknowledge the anniversary of the tragic fires, Alma shares her reflections on her community and special project: 

“As we come to the year anniversary of the fire and sitting on this mountain at Zorthian Ranch in Altadena the loss is so deeply felt. I’ve learned that the community really spans the gamut from the working class families just trying to make it day to day, to very wealthy families with palatial homes. But the sense of HOME and what it means, is so dear to all of us, no matter if we lived in an apartment, rented a room, or had a multi-million dollar house. Home meant a sense of safety, comfort, gathering place for ourselves, our families and our communities. Having friends and family welcome us into their homes was a great blessing. 

The folks who had multi-generations in Altadena, those roots run deep and are important, like great oak trees on the mountainside, to keep living to hold down the ground for the sake of everything else in the ecosystem.” 

Alma is working with Altadena community members to create a mosaic mural from ceramic shards that Altadena residents have collected from the rubble of their homes. The project is titled “1000 Voices Altadena Mosaic,” and is inspired by a quote from an unknown Native American tribe: “It takes a thousand voices to tell a single story”. Alma shares:  

“Through the 1,000 Voices Altadena Mosaic, we are definitely processing a lot of emotions– before we clean the shards we circle up and we reflect on the fact that these broken pieces are often all that people have been able to save, of the physical remains of their home.  We hold these pieces with care, like memories– brushing off the dirt, the depression and bringing back some shine– reflected light. By the end of the workshops, I hear voices talking excitedly– this is community holding space for each other, sharing stories. It’s all the smiles that show me that we are going in the right direction.”

Click below to read Alma Cielo’s reflection in its entirety. 

“As an Altadenan, it certainly feels raw to live and work in our fire-ravaged town, but THIS is the time to be present,” says Cielo. “Altadena is an extraordinary place whose essence is worth fighting to preserve.”

Alma Cielo, who lost her home in the Eaton Fire in January 2025, is a multi-disciplinary artist and educator focused on community art projects and earth wisdom. She has a passion for teaching integrated arts with mindfulness, music, movement/dance, and the sharing of personal stories, and believes that the arts are an important path for healing, developing resilience, recovering from trauma, and building community. Cielo is a graduate of Yale University in Anthropology with heritage studies in the Philippines.

Hero Image Credit: “Tree of Exuberant Life” Mosaic made by Leigh Adams, Alma Cielo and students of Norma Coombs Elementary School, 2023.