Maggie interviews Ed Massey
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00:00Today, we are talking with Ed Massey, who is the co-founder and the creator of Portraits
00:06of Hope.
00:07You have definitely seen his work if you've lived in LA for any amount of time.
00:13I actually have one on my wall right here in the office from the Lifeguard Towers.
00:18Ed, welcome.
00:19I am so sorry that you lost your house in the fires in the Palisades.
00:27Thank you, Maggie.
00:28Thank you for having me on your show.
00:31It's been a very difficult couple of weeks and surreal for not only myself and my family,
00:36but for everyone I seem to be walking into on random streets here.
00:40It seems like a lot of people who are facing the same dilemma that we are.
00:45Right.
00:46Where are you staying now?
00:48In West LA.
00:49We're staying with friends and family right now.
00:53That's great.
00:55For people who don't know about Portraits of Hope, I'm sure they've seen your art, but
00:59maybe they don't know how it got started or what the story is.
01:02Tell us about it.
01:03It's been not only in LA, but in New York and all over.
01:07Tell us a little history of it.
01:10Sure.
01:11My brother and I, we come from two different backgrounds.
01:13We're both Angelenos, so we're both natives of Los Angeles.
01:17We have different disciplines.
01:19My background is in fine art, and my brother's is in civic policy and education-related issues.
01:24We married and combined our strengths to form a program called Portraits of Hope,
01:29which was started back in 1995 here in LA.
01:33We've worked with really large-scale civic and public art projects to unify communities
01:38and bring people together and do really the unimaginable, so children, in particular children
01:43or even senior communities, but children who would never have access to a high-profile
01:48structure or whatever we ended up deciding to do, whether it's planes or tugboats or
01:53blimps, really what we call cool projects, we're kind of the conduit.
01:59We give the kids the access to do these unbelievable projects, and then they're out there for the
02:04public to enjoy.
02:06We've done things from Japan, Mexico, throughout the United States, and we're looking forward
02:12to our next project once we jump through this hurdle.
02:15Yeah, this is a big one.
02:18It's for people just to jog their memories.
02:20You did those big inflatable balls on, was it MacArthur Park, the pond there?
02:26Yeah, so that was called the Spheres of MacArthur Park.
02:30We did that, and that was a beautiful, we transformed MacArthur Park Lake for anyone.
02:37Many people were involved, thousands of students, kids, social service programs, everything
02:45from the Braille Institute, those children who may not be able to visually see what they're
02:52actually working on, but they can feel their way through the substrates, the balls that
02:58we created.
02:59Those were six-foot, five-foot, and four-foot spheres, so anyone going through Wilshire
03:03Boulevard or Alvarado Street would have definitely seen that body of water.
03:07It was beautiful, tremendous project.
03:10It was.
03:11Lifeguard Towers, one of my favorites of your projects, for sure, all in Santa Monica.
03:17Oh my gosh.
03:20I want to talk about what you've been going through.
03:23Go ahead.
03:24Okay, so no, that was a big project.
03:27Again, many people from L.A. County would remember that, or even tourists, because we
03:31covered all 156 Lifeguard Towers, so anyone that's listening today would probably remember
03:37those.
03:38If they had been on the coast for those five months, they would have seen the L.A. County
03:42Lifeguard Towers from Zuma Beach, just north of Zuma, Ventura County line, actually, to
03:47San Pedro.
03:48That was just a magnificent project, so we're very thrilled to have done that one as well.
03:52I love that one.
03:54Okay, we could talk about it all day, but one last one, because you mentioned the Braille
03:58Institute.
03:59It reminded me.
04:00My son and I worked on the one with some students from the Braille Institute.
04:05It was just amazing.
04:07We showed up.
04:08We didn't know who was going to be there, and I just thought, my gosh, Ed, how did you
04:11even think about this?
04:13How to have students who can't see paint these panels, yet it was so organized, and it came
04:19off, and then the end result was gorgeous on the L.A. Convention Center, kind of when
04:24you're on the freeway, and you're turning to downtown.
04:26Yes, that's an iconic structure, and that's right at that great intersection of the 110
04:32Freeway, where millions of viewers would pass it every week.
04:37That was a 1,200-linear-foot stretched canvas, basically, so it was four football fields
04:42across.
04:43It was illuminated with that renewable solar energy lighting at night, so anyone in the
04:47evening hours could see it, and that was all geometric shapes.
04:50It was called Shaping L.A.
04:51That was an awesome project.
04:52We were based at the Westside Pavilion, where our studio was, and we had thousands of participants
04:57on there.
04:58That was a really cool project, also.
04:59Happy to be part of that L.A. project.
05:02A lot of people say they wish they had kept that up forever, and I'm one of them.
05:06Let's get to current day.
05:10What does this mean for Portraits of Hope, and just for you, as a person losing everything?
05:16How do you go forward and get to your next project?
05:20I mean, obviously, your family comes first, and you have to sort through this, but you
05:24tell us the process.
05:26Well, it's a heavy loss.
05:28I won't lie about that.
05:30My wife and my son and my daughter, we've been in that particular house.
05:34That was kind of the hub of Portraits of Hope projects.
05:38Just before COVID, I made that basically our studio, so a lot of the testing, a lot of
05:43the implementation, creative and design was done there.
05:45Our larger studio is in the South Bay, in Redondo Beach, at the South Bay Galleria.
05:49But all the, really, design and work, and some of that very initial steps, all the illustrations,
05:56the drawings that, unfortunately, are no longer in existence.
06:00That emanated in that house, and that house meant a great deal because we were central
06:04to Palisades High School, so we had a tremendous amount of visibility.
06:09Kids and their families would know our house because it was very colorful.
06:11It was that art house that sat right in the El Medio Bluffs.
06:15It was a happy place, and kids would congregate.
06:18If they didn't know our family, often people would invite them in, and it was just a really
06:23nice, very warm feeling.
06:25So I'm thrilled that our family had 15 years of great experience there.
06:30And we also have to move on as well.
06:34I think every community and everyone feels this very differently in our particular situation.
06:43We have a lot to look forward to, and I think every family probably will end up feeling
06:47that way.
06:48And for some, a little bit, it'll take longer.
06:51Every morning, I wake up hurting, but by the time I have my cup of coffee, I start
06:55thinking ahead.
06:57And I'm looking forward to our big projects.
06:59We're going to be including the communities from Altadena and Pacific Palisades, and we're
07:05going to be doing these beautiful ... We're going to invite, in about a few weeks from
07:08now, maybe in three to four weeks, we'll invite the communities.
07:11Once they're ready to come, open studio, families, all generations can come, so from grandparents
07:17to children, anyone who's been affected, and we'll get, I think, a tremendous turnout from
07:21the L.A. County region who just want to give a helping hand and beautify.
07:25We have these panels that will be ready to paint and to help anyone who's been displaced
07:30for their ... Wherever they're staying, whether it's in a small room, a modular temporary
07:35housing apartment, wherever they may be, something will be created by community and then given
07:41back to them to spruce up and beautify and revitalize their surroundings.
07:45I think that's going to be really important.
07:47I love that, Ed.
07:48I'm not surprised, but I am dumbfounded how you could come up with that in the midst of
07:54your own grief.
07:55I mean, you're no stranger to helping other people and thinking of other people.
08:00However, this is kind of a massive scale thing that happened to you and so many people, but
08:06still, for you to come up with that is so great.
08:09They're going to make art, everybody, and then people get to take home something for
08:13their wall?
08:14Is that the idea?
08:15Correct.
08:16I mean, if there are institutions, schools that were damaged or religious institutions
08:21and cafes and restaurants, anything that may exist or may be in a temporary place, why
08:26not have community beautification?
08:29It's really renewal of hope.
08:31That's what our Portrait of Hope program has been doing for decades, is that we go into
08:34communities that have been facing some very adverse circumstances, a lot of children and
08:40adults facing emotional and physical trauma.
08:43Here, fortunately, for so many of the people we knew, they survived this.
08:48And fortunately, again, we're so grateful that when the fires erupted and we were in
08:53the first phase, that we had minutes to get out because we were right near the epicenter
08:58in the sense of the fires.
09:01We got out with very little.
09:02I mean, fortunately, just my dog, our family, and we got the heck out.
09:08But this is just going to be a time, I think, for us to reflect and get back on our feet
09:13and rebuild all the communities that have been devastated.
09:17And we're hoping that, Angelina, as we already know, I can see it on the street and I'm sure
09:21I'm not alone.
09:22In fact, I know I'm not alone because I've heard so many stories of people on the street
09:26trying to give a hand and retailers that I'd never even heard of, never even been in these
09:30beautiful stores that have given me outfits that are better than anything I'd ever owned
09:35previously.
09:36And the shirt I'm wearing right now, man, it's no lie.
09:39This is from a friend from elementary school from L.A. that came with a box of beautiful
09:44clothing and T-shirts and beautiful shirts and jackets for my whole family, for my son,
09:48my daughter, my wife, and I.
09:50We are outfitted lasagna dinner last night by friends I've just brought over.
09:54So it's beautiful outreach of community support and it's really showing the best of humanity
09:59right now.
10:00And I feel very proud to be an Angelina.
10:03I love how positive you are, Ed.
10:05I am floored.
10:06I have a lot of friends who are in your same boat who I grew up with because I grew up
10:11a few miles away from the Palisades, but it just amazes me how positive everybody is.
10:18And I mean, I guess what else can you do?
10:20Well, you could you could feel sad and sorry for yourself and you probably do feel sad
10:24on days, but it is amazing how people who lost everything are still positive and optimistic
10:32and looking forward.
10:35How do you do that?
10:36Because you're a dad, you have family, and you have to kind of show up.
10:40Well, I think that's part of it, but also I think the alternative, there is no alternative
10:45for us, actually.
10:46There is no alternative.
10:47The alternative is to sink in a hole and that's not us, and I don't think that should be anyone.
10:50It's easy.
10:51Maybe someone's saying, well, maybe that's OK for Ed saying it, but maybe it doesn't
10:55fit for another person.
10:57And I believe that.
10:58I'm not saying it's universal by any means, but for our family, I think we have to move
11:04forward.
11:05And I'm hoping to see that light at the end of the tunnel in a very, you know, quick fashion
11:10somehow.
11:11And I'm confident we will at some point.
11:13We're going to sprint to that light.
11:14Yes.
11:15Yes.
11:16So do you have all your supplies for this project upcoming or do you need donations
11:20to, you know, cover what you lost?
11:23Well, there's two things.
11:24So thank you for asking.
11:27So the personal, all the the prototypes and everything from my home and the home studio
11:33is everything Spanish.
11:34There's not a screwdriver.
11:35There's nothing left.
11:36There's no prototypes.
11:37There's nothing.
11:38That being said, the Portraits of Hope studio was spared.
11:41It's in the South Bay.
11:43So people just have to show up.
11:44Of course, we want if anyone wants to help, I should say they should visit the Portraits
11:49of Hope dot org website, because to build that big project is going to take a lot of
11:56effort and we can always use community support.
11:59And we even have beautiful rings that if someone wants to make a small contribution, they can
12:03get a ring and help us out as well.
12:05And also one thing, Maggie, if I may say, we have a huge initiative that we've been
12:09working on for many years that will culminate at the 250th birthday of our country in Washington,
12:14D.C. at the National Mall.
12:16And we know now that the communities affected here and L.A. County in particular will play
12:22a really strong part in that incredible civic and public art project for our 250th anniversary.
12:31So we're proud about that and excited and hopefully a lot of Angelenos will get involved.
12:35Yeah, it sounds good.
12:37So anyone can show up.
12:39We will keep people updated on when you're going to do this next project and where and
12:43all that stuff on the website.
12:44Maybe we'll just do another Zoom.
12:47Do you still make the dog collars with the Portraits of Hope design?
12:52We do.
12:53My dog has his on right now.
12:55So does mine.
12:56As we were involved and we're still involved with the County of Los Angeles Animal Shelters,
13:02all seven shelters, largest animal shelter system in the country to process more animals.
13:07We made sure that any animal that was rescued or adopted would come out with a collar.
13:13So we do have those.
13:14And people can make small contributions to Portraits of Hope.
13:17It's all on our support part of the PortraitsofHope.org site.
13:21They can get a dog collar or cat collar.
13:25They're so cute.
13:26Yeah.
13:27Helps us out a great deal too.
13:29Awesome.
13:30So in closing, Ed, what would you like to say to the firefighters?
13:33Yeah.
13:34Well, first of all, the frontline workers, we are extremely grateful.
13:40We've worked with frontline workers in previous projects.
13:43We've painted the frontline firetrucks rescue.
13:46A lot of the participants that we work with are unfortunate burn trauma recovery victims.
13:50So we know how important those rescue workers are to our entire community and to the country
13:57and even abroad as well.
13:59So those men and women who really risked their lives and were breathing in all the toxicities
14:05that was really unprecedented, I think, we're grateful.
14:10And I know the community is grateful.
14:11And I've heard from people from all regions of the world who said how heroic they saw
14:15those efforts unfolding on their TV screens or on social media.
14:20And we're very grateful to all the first responders and our hats off to them.
14:24You can't thank them enough.
14:25I say it on the air all the time, but seriously, you just cannot for all the fires.
14:31But anyway, in closing, thank you so much for your time because I know you're swamped.
14:36Anything in closing that we didn't cover that you would like to say?
14:39I have something here that I brought.
14:41I just want to show you something.
14:42So we had a house, just real quickly, Maggie, with a very large scale, everything, paintings,
14:47things that we couldn't pull out, of course, things that we didn't even have time.
14:50My daughter or son brought this.
14:52I don't know if you can see this.
14:53This is one of my first self-portraits.
14:56And I think it still works.
14:57I haven't tried it, but you can hear it now, maybe.
14:59I don't know.
15:00I don't know.
15:01I love it.
15:02I can hear it.
15:03Anyway, it's still there.
15:04And that's one of the pieces that they saved.
15:07So I'm grateful that they did.
15:09That's so sweet.
15:10How thoughtful is that?
15:11Well, Ed, good luck to you and your family and all your neighbors affected and all the
15:16people.
15:17But thank you for talking to us.
15:18And again, we will update our listeners on when they can help with that project.
15:25Please do.
15:26And I hope the community joins us in big numbers.
15:27We're ready and they're all welcome.
15:30Absolutely.
15:31Absolutely.
15:32So thank you.
15:33Again, it is portraitsofhope.org to find out more about all that we talked about and to
15:38maybe help them out if you can.
15:40Any amount would be helpful.
15:42And to show up for the project.