Who We Are
The Artist Projects LA is an artist driven nonprofit that was founded in 2016 by Lexa Safran to connect collectors with contemporary artists. The company founded a curatorial committee for the purposes of sourcing and selecting emerging artists and bringing them to the forefront of art culture. A collectors club participated in raising funds to support the careers of artists through unrestricted artist grants. Across a three period they successfully helped propel a number of incredible artists including Emily Mast, Candice Lin, Christina Fernandez, Gail Swanlund and Sarah Williams, among others. Each of these artists have since shown in major exhibitions across the US.
An initiative of the founder, Lexa Safran, has always been to champion underrepresented and emerging voices in the art world. Part of the mission of TAP was also to bring together arts educators to develop a new curriculum for a pilot fellowship which provided a thoughtful foundation for the business development of emerging artists. Separately, the company spearheaded a myriad of fundraising events and private salons with artworld luminaries from the LACMA, MOCA, Sotheby’s, Hammer and more, to drive revenue to the areas of the artworld in need of support.
Now in 2021, Lexa Safran has evolved the business to work with private companies, individual collectors, contemporary artists and art enthusiasts with the goal of connecting and creating a more vibrant art community.
The Founder
Raised in LA, a sixth generation Angeleno, Lexa Safran has always championed the LA art scene and since a young age has been fascinated with artists and their stories. An English literature lover, she was captivated by the imagery in the Huntington Library as a visual counterpoint to the literature she loved, and that’s where her love affair with art first began. Over the years she’s formed meaningful connections with artists and helped many achieve their goals as a shepherd through the industry. After completing a post-graduate program at Sotheby’s, her career began with ICM artist representation before she moved on to run three curatorial art councils at LACMA and from there she founded The Artist Project LA. Her additional credits include EGHQ, BWR, Los Angeles Modern Auctions, Frederick R Weisman Museum of Art, and Zach Feuer Gallery.
Her perspective on art has remained the same since she was a young girl, “art can give life greater meaning”. She doesn’t regard herself as an advisor, but as a master connector with the philosophy that “by buying and supporting artists you get to participate in the cultural narrative” and you get to “live with what you love’. A core value of her motivation is that art should be accessible, and artists should be supported and sustained through their work. She works with collectors and artists of all levels and price points.
