Emily Araújo is an artist based in Altadena, California.

My family home and my studio burned down to the ground in the Eaton Fire. My husband, our two children and I went to my mother’s home in Pasadena on the evening of 7 January for camaraderie and functioning electricity. Then, that same night / 3 a.m. on the morning of the 8th, we evacuated with my mother. We all reached safety at long time friends Sunyoung & Duncan’s home in a safe zone of L.A..

We have been living with them since that night. My mother has been able to safely return to her home and we are constantly in touch with her. We are hunting for long term temporary housing as we deal with all the steps necessary to get closer to a return to the site of our home, with hopes of rebuilding.

The outpouring of support we have received from family, friends, emergency workers, strangers at every turn, donation centers, sheriffs, national guard, our fabulous school communities of Odyssey Charter School and California School of the Arts, SGV has been uplifting in a time of devastation.

We grieve and feel gratitude at the same time. I hope, fervently, that we will rebuild with our neighbors. Altadena was a haven of diversity, creativity and curiosity. May we continue.

Cloud Mandala
Gouache, ink, collage. 2024.
11 5/16" x 17 9/16"

The above and almost everything else on this website was destroyed by the Eaton Fire, 2025.

Several works in the Art in Collections section of my website had been purchased by friends and fellow Altadena residents. Those works are gone too. The number of friends and neighbors who have lost everything is astounding. Our love for them and our community is boundless.

I will continue to make art. My next gallery exhibition will be at Shoebox Projects, L.A., June 7 - 22, 2025.