The City of West Hollywood, in collaboration with curator Deborah Oliver, presents Art in Odd Places 2025: VOICE, a three-day festival of public visual and performance art from July 25 to July 27, 2025, from 4 p.m. to 9 p.m. daily. Marking the festival’s first appearance in West Hollywood and its 20th global edition, the event celebrates the city’s 40th anniversary of cityhood with performances at three locations:
Friday, July 25, 2025: Plummer Park, 7377 Santa Monica Boulevard
Saturday, July 26, 2025: West Hollywood Park, 625 N. San Vicente Boulevard
Sunday, July 27, 2025: Sunset Boulevard, between N. Sherbourne Drive and N. Doheny Drive
Art in Odd Places (AiOP), founded by Ed Woodham, has showcased innovative art in public spaces worldwide for two decades, fostering open dialogue and diverse interactions. The 2025 theme, VOICE, invites artists to explore how voices shape public spaces, reflecting West Hollywood’s history of activism and cultural vibrancy. The festival poses questions like: “How can art express the complexity of our times?” and “Can art help us find resonance and connection amidst disconnection?”
Curated by Deborah Oliver, an interdisciplinary artist and educator with a BFA and MFA from the California Institute of the Arts, the festival features a diverse lineup of local, national, and international artists across disciplines such as dance, sculpture, sound art, and protest art. Participating artists include Beck+Col with Tetiana Sklyarova and Kayla Aguila, Brian Black & Zane Alexander S.B., Chelsea Boxwell, and others, with works ranging from stationary installations to roaming performances.
Select projects highlight West Hollywood’s legacy:
christy roberts berkowitz – Public Service Announcement: An audio tour via QR codes at Plummer Park, West Hollywood Park, and Sunset Plaza, sharing former mayor Abbe Land’s stories of civic activism and West Hollywood’s resilient history.
Terry S. Hardy – A Long Way But Not Far: An installation of 17 blue banners with excerpts from Paul Monette’s Love Alone, honoring the 30th anniversary of the author’s passing.
Elana Mann & Sharon Chohi Kim – I wish we had the same brain: A performance blending sculpture and operatic vocals to explore censorship and free expression, featuring Mann’s Call to Arms sculpture and Kim vocalizing banned words.
The festival is dedicated to Jacki Apple (1941-2022), a Los Angeles and New York-based artist and advocate for performance art. It is part of West Hollywood’s Art on the Outside program, which funds temporary public art through the Public Beautification & Art Fund. For more details on the festival or the city’s arts initiatives, visit www.weho.org/arts.
As a West Hollywood resident and participating artist, I was proud to be part of Art in Odd Places: VOICE—a powerful, free, public art event that transformed our city for three days. I was interviewed by at least three media outlets, yet I’ve seen little to no follow-up coverage. It’s disheartening, especially considering how much time and labor went into this. My son and I spent three months preparing for the event, and I personally logged over 30 hours across the weekend sharing my work. I didn’t just create one piece—I installed three entirely different, large-scale art environments across three… Read more »
As a West Hollywood resident and participating artist, I was proud to be part of Art in Odd Places: VOICE—a powerful, free, public art event that transformed our city for three days. I was interviewed by at least three media outlets, yet I’ve seen little to no follow-up coverage. It’s disheartening, especially considering how much time and labor went into this. My son and I spent three months preparing for the event, and I personally logged over 30 hours across the weekend sharing my work. I didn’t just create one piece—I installed three entirely different, large-scale art environments across three… Read more »