What
Is This?
Pali-Altadena Collective is a community-driven art and memory initiative created in response to the 2025 Los Angeles wildfires. Founded by Luca Dal Bello, the project brings together displaced residents, students, artists, and families to preserve the places, routines, and shared experiences that shaped daily life before the fires.
Virtual Exhibition TourWhat Happened
A Community
Lost to Fire
In January 2025, the Palisades Fire swept through Pacific Palisades, destroying homes, schools, businesses, and landmarks that generations of families called theirs. Café Vida. Amazing Music Store. Toppings Yogurt Shop. Paliskates. Palisades Pizza. Vittorio's. Pearl Dragon. Palisades Public Library. Palisades Recreation Center. The Pacific Palisades Business Block. The Palisadian-Post Building. Gerry Blanck's Martial Arts Center. Gelson's. The Farmers Market. Palisades Charter Elementary. Marquez Charter Elementary. Pali High. St. Matthew's Parish School. Village School. Pacific Palisades Presbyterian Church. Community United Methodist Church. Corpus Christi Catholic Church. The Keeler House. Theatre Palisades. Will Rogers Ranch House. Robert Bridges House. Moonshadows. Cholada Thai. Reel Inn. Topanga Ranch Motel. Big Rock. Places that stood at the center of daily life. Gone.
What We Built
Miniature
Reconstructions
Working with professional miniature makers in Japan, Luca commissioned more than 50 hand-crafted reconstructions of Palisades homes, landmarks, and beloved businesses, each built to exact scale and detail. The first exhibition, Rebuilding Memory: The Dioramas of Palisades, opened May 30, 2026 at Emeco House in Venice. Alongside the models: oral history recordings preserved through the Library of Congress, memory keychains, contributed photographs, and community workshops.
Where We're Going
A Traveling
Archive
The exhibition is designed to travel. Discussions are underway for showings at the Los Angeles Central Library, and 17 Altadena models are currently in production, with a dedicated Altadena chapter planned for future stops. future chapters will expand to include Altadena and other fire-impacted communities. Every stop adds new oral histories, models, and memories to the growing archive. Follow the exhibition to know where it goes next.
Follow the Exhibition
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