UnMapping LA explores the hidden histories beneath Los Angeles’ concrete infrastructure, revealing how federal policy, urban development, and human consumption have reshaped the region’s ecological and cultural landscapes. Through historic maps and newly commissioned artworks by Debra Scacco, the exhibition traces forced transformations through time. Juxtaposing past and present, it highlights the systemic forces that prioritize infrastructure over community and environment. Artworks engage in reclamation and resistance, reimagining erased geographies and offering pathways toward environmental justice, restoration, and resilience.

UnMapping LA is an evolution of Compass Rose (2019), an community project and exhibition that inaugurated Oxy Arts, the community arts hub of Occidental College; and co-founded NELA Stories oral history archive.

Special thanks go to LAPL Librarian Emeritus Glen Creason, LAPL librarians Kelly Wallace and Peter Hauge, and David Deis at the Sanborn Map Library at California State University, Northridge.

Click on images below to view full screen.

UnMapping LA explores the hidden histories beneath Los Angeles’ concrete infrastructure, revealing how federal policy, urban development, and human consumption have reshaped the region’s ecological and cultural landscapes. Through historic maps and newly commissioned artworks by Debra Scacco, the exhibition traces forced transformations through time. Juxtaposing past and present, it highlights the systemic forces that prioritize infrastructure over community and environment. Artworks engage in reclamation and resistance, reimagining erased geographies and offering pathways toward environmental justice, restoration, and resilience.

UnMapping LA is an evolution of Compass Rose (2019), an community project and exhibition that inaugurated Oxy Arts, the community arts hub of Occidental College; and co-founded NELA Stories oral history archive.

Special thanks go to LAPL Librarian Emeritus Glen Creason, LAPL librarians Kelly Wallace and Peter Hauge, and David Deis at the Sanborn Map Library at California State University, Northridge.

Click on images below to view full screen.

UnMapping LA explores the hidden histories beneath Los Angeles’ concrete infrastructure, revealing how federal policy, urban development, and human consumption have reshaped the region’s ecological and cultural landscapes. Through historic maps and newly commissioned artworks by Debra Scacco, the exhibition traces forced transformations through time. Juxtaposing past and present, it highlights the systemic forces that prioritize infrastructure over community and environment. Artworks engage in reclamation and resistance, reimagining erased geographies and offering pathways toward environmental justice, restoration, and resilience.

UnMapping LA is an evolution of Compass Rose (2019), an community project and exhibition that inaugurated Oxy Arts, the community arts hub of Occidental College; and co-founded NELA Stories oral history archive.

Special thanks go to LAPL Librarian Emeritus Glen Creason, LAPL librarians Kelly Wallace and Peter Hauge, and David Deis at the Sanborn Map Library at California State University, Northridge.

Click on images below to view full screen.

UnMapping LA explores the hidden histories beneath Los Angeles’ concrete infrastructure, revealing how federal policy, urban development, and human consumption have reshaped the region’s ecological and cultural landscapes. Through historic maps and newly commissioned artworks by Debra Scacco, the exhibition traces forced transformations through time. Juxtaposing past and present, it highlights the systemic forces that prioritize infrastructure over community and environment. Artworks engage in reclamation and resistance, reimagining erased geographies and offering pathways toward environmental justice, restoration, and resilience.

UnMapping LA is an evolution of Compass Rose (2019), an community project and exhibition that inaugurated Oxy Arts, the community arts hub of Occidental College; and co-founded NELA Stories oral history archive.

Special thanks go to LAPL Librarian Emeritus Glen Creason, LAPL librarians Kelly Wallace and Peter Hauge, and David Deis at the Sanborn Map Library at California State University, Northridge.

Click on images below to view full screen.

UnMapping LA explores the hidden histories beneath Los Angeles’ concrete infrastructure, revealing how federal policy, urban development, and human consumption have reshaped the region’s ecological and cultural landscapes. Through historic maps and newly commissioned artworks by Debra Scacco, the exhibition traces forced transformations through time. Juxtaposing past and present, it highlights the systemic forces that prioritize infrastructure over community and environment. Artworks engage in reclamation and resistance, reimagining erased geographies and offering pathways toward environmental justice, restoration, and resilience.

UnMapping LA is an evolution of Compass Rose (2019), an community project and exhibition that inaugurated Oxy Arts, the community arts hub of Occidental College; and co-founded NELA Stories oral history archive.

Special thanks go to LAPL Librarian Emeritus Glen Creason, LAPL librarians Kelly Wallace and Peter Hauge, and David Deis at the Sanborn Map Library at California State University, Northridge.

Click on images below to view full screen.