Artwork by Mariah Garnett ‘21.

Founded in 1997, the City of Los Angeles Independent Master Artist Project (COLA IMAP) is an annual grant awarded by the Department of Cultural Affairs (DCA) to a selection of the City’s most exemplary mid-career artists to support the creation of new works. The 2023/24 series selected eleven master artists in design/visual, literary, and performing arts) to produce a series, a set, or singular new artwork with a grant of $10,000 from the City of Los Angeles. 

COLA IMAP is a collaborative effort between DCA’s Grants Administration Division, Community Arts Division, and Marketing, Development, Design, and Digital Research Division. Artists are chosen by a peer review panel that includes curators, cultural workers, and past COLA IMAP grantees. COLA 2024, the COLA IMAP design and visual artists exhibition, honors the synergetic relationship between Los Angeles, its artists, its history, and its identity as an international arts capital.

COLA 2024 premieres a new body of work by five Los Angeles-based artists, featuring dynamic installations of ceramic, sculpture, photography, video, painting, and drawing. This year’s recipients of the COLA IMAP grants in design and visual arts are Jane Brucker, Mariah Garnett, Janna Ireland, Debra Scacco, and Bari Ziperstein.