By design: ArtCenter plants poppy seeds on its campus on Jan. 24

Artists use every experience to inform their creations, and the Eaton fire is no different.

Ideas of loss and destruction were raw material for art installations produced by professors and students from the acclaimed ArtCenter College of Design in Pasadena. The school also hosted students from Odyssey Charter Schools which lost one of its campuses to the blaze. ArtCenter members are thinking up new ways to rebuild Altadena.

Next weekend, the energy will go toward a more natural theme.

“Planting Seeds: Remembering the LA Fires” from 10 a.m. to noon Saturday, Jan. 24, at Sinclaire Pavilion on its Hillside campus, 1700 Lida St., Pasadena. Meant as a gathering for reflection and community, scattering the seeds marks the one-year anniversary of the deadly Eaton and Palisades fires.

Admission is free and community members of all ages are welcome. Those wanting to participate should wear closed-toe shoes and long pants.

Attendees will plant poppy seeds on designated areas of the 165-acre Hillside campus as part of the Great Altadena Poppy Seed Project, a grassroots effort to plant 250 million California poppy seeds in areas impacted by the Eaton fire. The California poppy, the state flower, is known for its resilience and ability to thrive in challenging conditions, serving as a living symbol of remembrance and renewal.

The project is the brainchild of longtime Altadena resident and fire survivor René Amy, who is funding the campaign with help from groups such as the Altadena Rotary Club and other donors. Amy is spending the first weeks of the new year “poppifying” all sorts of locations in Altadena that have been signed up for it. (Many of the spots where Amy waters trees as part of a free Rancho Los Amigos project are included.) To date, 740 signups will be poppified in time for what Amy hopes will be a superbloom in the spring.

Free packets of poppy seeds have found their way to hopeful sowers through events in town. Some 8,000 packets (packed mostly by local Boy Scouts) have been distributed, including some flown to Europe and other countries, in the hopes that soon, California poppies will stand and bloom across the country and worldwide in solidarity with Altadena.

“I think that it’s wonderful to have such a massive effort in such a prominent, highly visible location, and I hope those poppies flourish and bring a bit of hope and joy to all impacted by the devastating fire,” Amy said.

High Point Academy in Pasadena, which sustained damage in the Eaton fire, and lost the use of a church near their campus, will also seed their space.

The ArtCenter event offers space for remembrance, connection and collective healing as recovery and rebuilding continue. Many within the ArtCenter community, including faculty, staff, students, alumni, friends and neighbors, were impacted by the fires and experienced profound loss, including homes and irreplaceable personal belongings, college officials said.

Tending to new growth is a hopeful act for anyone, especially if you have to wait to see proof of your work. The next step, Amy said, would be to pray for moderate rain, and then who knows how a poppified garden can grow?