The mission of the Los Angeles County Department of Arts and Culture is to advance arts, culture, and creativity throughout LA County. We fulfill our mission by providing services and support in areas including grants and technical assistance for nonprofit organizations; professional development opportunities; commissioning civic artworks and managing the County’s civic art collection; implementing countywide arts education initiatives; research and evaluation; career pathways in the creative economy; free community programs; and cross sector creative strategies that address civic issues. This work is framed by the County’s Cultural Equity and Inclusion Initiative and a longstanding commitment to fostering access to the arts.
The Recovery Garden is a mural that honors the friendships that blossom at Rancho Los Amigos National Rehabilitation Center, particularly in the Restorative Garden, from which Hataya Tubtim drew inspiration. 50 hand-printed and framed statements are included in this piece, collected in story gathering workshops from more than 100 community members, patients, Wellness Center members, other Rancho artists, staff, and more. Together, the statements show how community support is intricately woven into the process of healing and wellness. Their words of encouragement and messages of hope represent the social support network that nurtures Rancho’s ecosystem of recovery. Located on the second floor of the Outpatient Building, the mural’s design emulates a hand-drawn process but has been fabricated digitally by the artist and printed on vinyl wallpaper. Organic lines and shapes meander along the wall, intertwining with the hand-printed and framed statements.
About the Artist:
Hataya Tubtim is a community-based artist who utilizes drawing, design, and collaborative practices to illuminate community stories that build empathy and understanding across diverse groups. Her work examines the exchange between communities and individuals and how each fashions the other. Both her studio and public works solicit public engagement to define a work’s outcomes or make use of changing conditions within a site to offer mutable perspectives. Hataya holds degrees in Illustration (BFA, ArtCenter College of Design) and Social Practice (MFA, Otis College of Design).