46TH VENICE FAMILY CLINIC ART WALK + AUCTION RETURNS TO VENICE, CA,  MAY 9-18, FEATURING LITA AND ISABELLE ALBUQUERQUE AS SIGNATURE ARTISTS

Hundreds of Artworks from Established and Emerging LA Artists to be Featured in Exhibition and Auction Honoring Past, Present, and Future, to Support the Nonprofit Community Health Center

Event to Feature Artists Impacted by Los Angeles Fires and Honor Altadena’s Black Artist Community

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Los Angeles, CA – Venice Family Clinic (venicefamilyclinic.org), a nonprofit community health center dedicated to providing quality health care to people in need, announced today that the 46th annual Venice Family Clinic Art Walk + Auction will take place May 9-18, 2025.

The exhibition, featuring the works of established, mid-career, and emerging artists, will be free and open to the public at 910 Abbot Kinney in Venice. The artwork will also be available to view online, and bids will be accepted beginning May 9 through May 18. Proceeds from art sales will support the Clinic’s innovative and integrated approach to providing comprehensive health care services to more than 45,000 people from the Santa Monica Mountains through the South Bay. A private reception for artists, collectors, and Clinic supporters will be held on Saturday, May 10, and a post-auction exhibition will extend through May 25.

The 2025 event embraces the theme “Past, Present, and Future,” celebrating the Clinic’s longstanding connection with the local artist community and honoring the rich diversity of Los Angeles’ creatives across generations. For 46 years, artists, gallerists, and collectors have united to support Venice Family Clinic’s mission of advancing health equity by contributing and collecting artwork at this annual event.

Lita and Isabelle Albuquerque, mother and daughter and individually acclaimed artists, will be honored as the event’s Signature Artists. As visionary forces, their profound legacy embodies the inspirational role of family in their work, as in the Clinic’s.

“Over forty years ago, Clinic volunteers Irma Cohen, Ruth Bloom, Sheila Goldberg and Laura Maslon joined forces with architect Frank Gehry and artists Ed Ruscha, John Baldessari Fred Eversley, Laddie and Guy Dill, Chuck Arnoldi, myself, and many others to create Venice Art Walk + Auction. We banded together to support our neighbors in Venice and created a one-of-a-kind experience, opening our studios and showing art in this colorful place with its canals and eccentric history. Light and Space. Many will remember at that time walking from one studio to the next and buying art. Today the need has grown, the Clinic has grown, and they are still opening their doors to help our neighbors get well and stay well. I am so glad to have been and continue to be part of this history,” said Lita Albuquerque.

“For the last five decades, Venice Family Clinic has been a guiding light for the LA Community and beyond. In a time when basic human rights are at stake, the Clinic continues with their legacy of support to underserved communities, including generations of women and the Clinic’s deep-rooted programs dedicated to women’s health at all stages of life,” added Isabelle Albuquerque. “I find it so moving when the arts community and the health community can join forces in our shared goals of imagining and creating better futures and presents for our grandmothers, mothers, aunties, nieces, sisters, and daughters. This kind of coming together is essential now more than ever, and I am honored to join Venice Family Clinic in their mission of healthcare for all.”

“Venice Family Clinic Art Walk + Auction is a beloved tradition and a testament to what dedicated and talented individuals can accomplish together,” said Erin Harnisch, Marketing and Event Director for the Clinic. “We’re incredibly grateful to the artists, collectors, and volunteers whose generosity enables the Clinic to provide health care in our community.”

This year’s exhibition will include a dedicated section honoring the strength, resilience, and creativity of the communities most deeply affected by the recent wildfires in Altadena and the Pacific Palisades, many of whom are patients, donors, artists, and neighbors of the Clinic.

This exhibit section will speak to the profound impact of the fires — from the hardship and loss of so much destruction to the accompanying health consequences. This spotlight serves as a recognition of the artists’ contributions during these unimaginable challenges and a gesture of gratitude. It will be a moment to speak about the efforts Venice Family Clinic has taken in the wake of the conflagration and the role art and community play in healing and recovery.

The contributions of Black artists from Altadena, a community with a rich cultural legacy and a powerful creative voice, will be highlighted in this section. This work speaks not only to the current moment, but also to the long-standing histories of beauty, solidarity, and self-determination that continue to shape the landscape of Los Angeles.

In addition, this year’s exhibit launches the Honored Gallery Patrons initiative, which recognizes galleries that show exceptional dedication and support for Venice Family Clinic. The 2025 Honored Gallery Patrons are L.A. Louver and Nicodim Gallery.

This year’s exhibit will showcase the works of over 175 artists, including Ed Ruscha, Frank Stella, Helen Pashgian, Don Suggs, Gajin Fujita, Sayre Gomez, Paul Mpagi Sepuya, Adam Silverman, and Kenturah Davis.

Art is selected by the Curatorial Committee led by Max Rippon and consists of Los Angeles gallerists and art advisors, including Charlie James Gallery, Dominique Gallery, dublab, Night Gallery, Noon Projects, Marta, Sarah Brook Gallery, and Vielmetter. Eliane Gans serves as curatorial advisor. The Lapis Press also supported this year’s exhibit. The event will include special events in partnership with dublab.

In addition, later this spring, Venice Family Clinic will host the second annual HEART Gala, supporting the HEART (Health + Art) Initiative–a program inspired by the longstanding tradition of artists championing accessible health care through the Venice Art Walk. Last year’s inaugural gala honored Venice Family Clinic supporters Morleigh Steinberg and U2’s The Edge.

For more information about the Venice Family Clinic Art Walk + Auction, visit venicefamilyclinic.org/veniceartwalk.

Photos surrounding this announcement can be found here for your coverage.

ABOUT VENICE FAMILY CLINIC ART WALK + AUCTION

In 1979, Venice Family Clinic was on the verge of closing its doors when a group of Clinic supporters gathered with local artists to organize the first-ever Art Walk + Auction to ensure the community continued to receive vital medical services. Frank Gehry played an integral role in bringing the event to life by appealing to the artists living and working in Venice’s thriving art scene. Artists such as Lita Albuquerque, John Baldessari, Larry Bell, Billy Al Bengston, Laddie John Dill, Ed Moses and Ed Ruscha donated artwork to the auction and opened their studios to the public. These compassionate and generous individuals continue to inspire new generations of artists like Emily Barker, Jackie Amezquita, April Bey, and Aaron Jupin to donate artwork. Venice Family Clinic Art Walk + Auction has raised more than $24 million cumulatively to support the Clinic’s mission.

ABOUT VENICE FAMILY CLINIC
Venice Family Clinic is a nonprofit community health center that is a leader in providing comprehensive, high-quality health care to more than 45,000 people in need annually, regardless of their income, insurance or immigration status. The Clinic serves an area from the Santa Monica Mountains through the South Bay in Los Angeles County. It has a network of clinic locations and Early Head Start centers in Venice, Santa Monica, Mar Vista, Inglewood, Culver City, Redondo Beach, Carson, Gardena and Hawthorne, plus mobile clinics and an expansive street medicine program to reach people experiencing homelessness. The Clinic’s comprehensive care also includes mental health services, dental care, vision services, substance use treatment, prescription medications, domestic violence counseling, HIV services, healthy food distributions, health education, health insurance enrollment, child development services and more. For more information, please visit VeniceFamilyClinic.org and follow on Facebook, X and Instagram.

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