City of West Hollywood Presents New Exhibition of Artworks Celebrating Places in West Hollywood: ‘Heart of WeHo’

The City of West Hollywood is opening a new exhibition of artworks celebrating the City of West Hollywood in honor of the 40th anniversary of Cityhood. Heart of WeHo celebrates the places of West Hollywood - its landmarks past and present, its street life, and its everyday spaces - through the eyes of 27 artists. All artworks in the exhibition represent physical locations within the exact 1.9 square miles of the City. Within this small but mighty footprint, there is so much to be explored. Heart of WeHo opens with a public reception on Friday, October 24, 2025 from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. at West Hollywood Library, located at 625 N. San Vicente Boulevard. RSVPs are required via Eventbrite.

Heart of WeHo is a group exhibition that invites viewers to experience the City as seen by the artists who live, work, and create here. From iconic buildings and neighborhood corners to vanished venues and imaginary futures, the works on view reflect the layered identity of a city that has always been a beacon of creativity, inclusion, and transformation.

Some artists celebrate places that have stood for a century; others memorialize spaces that exist now only in memory. Together, their works form a collective portrait of West Hollywood - one that honors the mundane and the iconic, the historic and the ephemeral.

Participating artists include: Hera Anderson, Nathan Becker, Zoe Balsam Biggs, Joanne Chase-Mattillo, Kayte Deioma, Pascaline Doucin-Dahlke, Bruno Doucin, Rachel Finkelstein, Shelley Heffler, Robert Heavrin, Hao Jing, Robert Landau, Rupert Lyon, Benjamin Marker, Jeff McMullen and David McCullough, MisterOsborne, Mary Roth, LP Ækili Ross, Frank Rozasy, Little Ricky, Sküt, Gregg Shore, Small Scale LA (Kieran Wright), Ricardo Tomasz, Miggie Wong, and Christina Yi.

Three artworks were awarded top prizes by the City of West Hollywood's Arts and Cultural Affairs Commission:

First Place Prize: Pussycat Theater, by Small Scale LA (aka Kieran Wright). Kieran Wright originally hails from New Zealand and currently lives in West Hollywood. Inspired by historic architecture and iconic businesses, Kieran Wright's unique hand-crafted miniature artworks have been featured in the Los Angeles Times, ABC7, KCRW 89.9 FM and more. This photograph of a scale miniature captures the Pussycat Theater as it appeared in the late 1970s, during the height of the sexual liberation movement. At its peak, the Pussycat chain operated more than 30 theaters across California, becoming a controversial but unmistakable fixture in the adult entertainment industry. This highly detailed miniature of the Pussycat Theater speaks to the idea that our neighborhoods are ever-changing. Today, this stretch of Santa Monica Boulevard is flanked by day spas and coffee shops, but 50 years ago things looked a lot different.

Second Place Prize: Rainy Day WeHo (Tail O' the Pup), by Rupert Lyon. This photographic image was taken through the misty, raindrop-spattered windows of the #4 Metro Bus as it traversed the City in the late afternoon. The artist rides public transit often, and this photograph is part of a series called "View From #4 Bus." Lyon's photographs of cityscapes culminate in turbulent, frothing surges of multi-focus color that resemble mid-century Color Field painting-and reflect his passion for surfing. The discerning viewer will detect the iconic structure of historic Tail O' the Pup landmark. According to the artist, for us in West Hollywood, rain symbolizes both joy and sorrow, nourishment and renewal, loss and growth, a washing away of the old to make way for new beginnings. Rupert Lyon lives in West Hollywood.

Third Place Prize: Design Dreams, by Hao Jing. Digital reproduction of an oil-and-acrylic painting. The artist is an ardent fan of architect César Pelli, and admires the stylish, unique and modern aspects of the Pacific Design Center. Her abstract interpretation attempts to highlight the immediate visceral impact of the Center using oils and acrylics.

The exhibition will remain on view during regular West Hollywood Library hours until May 2026. More information about the exhibition can be found on the City's website: https://www.weho.org/community/arts-and-culture/visual-arts/library-exhibitions.

Also, currently on view at West Hollywood Library are the following artworks and exhibitions:

• Angel of Compassion is a series of seven paintings by artist S.P. Harper featuring images of jewels that were originally owned by Elizabeth Taylor and sold by her estate to benefit the Elizabeth Taylor AIDS Foundation after her death;

• Cacti (Euphorbia, Monstrosus, and Mod Cactus Trio) ceramic and metal sculptural totems by artist Dustin Gimbel;

• Historic WeHo, Architectural Details, a selection of architectural details of West Hollywood's historic buildings as taken by Tony Coelho;

• West Hollywood Park, a painting by Jay Lynn Gomez highlighting invisible labor forces; and

• Remembering Beverly Park, a display of historic photographs of the children's amusement park formerly located just outside the boundary of West Hollywood.

The City of West Hollywood's Arts Division delivers a broad array of arts programs including Art on the Outside (temporary public art), City Poet Laureate, Drag Laureate, Free Theatre in the Parks, Grants, Human Rights Speaker Series, Library Exhibits, National Poetry Month, Summer Sounds + Winter Sounds, Urban Art (permanent public art), the WeHo Pride Arts Festival, and WeHo Reads.

For more information about City of West Hollywood arts programming, please visit https://www.weho.org/arts. For additional information about temporary library exhibitions, please visit https://www.weho.org/community/arts-and-culture/visual-arts/library-exhibitions.

For more information, please contact Mike Che, the City of West Hollywood's Arts Coordinator, at (323) 848-6377 or at [email protected]. For people who are Deaf or hard of hearing dial 711 or 1-800-735-2929 (TTY) or 1-800-735-2922 (voice) for California Relay Service (CRS) assistance.

For up-to-date information about City of West Hollywood news and events, follow @wehocity on social media, sign-up for news updates at https://www.weho.org/email, and visit the City's calendar of meetings and events at https://www.weho.org/calendar. West Hollywood City Hall is open for walk-in services at public counters or by appointment by visiting https://www.weho.org/appointments. City Hall services are accessible by phone at (323) 848-6400 and via website at https://www.weho.org. Receive text updates by texting "WeHo" to (323) 848-5000.

For reporters and members of the media seeking additional information about the City of West Hollywood, please contact the City of West Hollywood's Public Information Officer, Sheri A. Lunn, at (323) 848-6391 or [email protected].