Evan Hall on building the Palisades Fire Memorial
December 1, 2026, 5pm
New Canaan CT 06840
USA
Following the devastating 2025 Los Angeles wildfires, artist Evan Hall set out to rescue an extraordinary part of Southern California’s architectural heritage: surviving chimneys from destroyed homes, including those designed by modernist architects Richard Neutra, Ray Kappe, and Eric Lloyd Wright.
Through Project Chimney, Hall and House Museum are transforming these architectural remnants into a public memorial honoring the homes, histories, and communities lost to the fires.
In an illustrated presentation followed by a conversation with Glass House curator Cole Akers, Hall will explore the intersection of art, modern architecture, and preservation—and how fragments of the past can anticipate the future.
Visitor information
Free program; advance registration required. Limited seating.
About Evan Hall
Evan Hall is an artist and the founding director of House Museum. He holds a BFA from The Cooper Union and an MFA from the University of Pennsylvania, where he also received a Graduate Certificate in Archaeological Sciences and Certificate for Teaching and Learning. His work has been exhibited at The Penn Museum, 41 Cooper Gallery, EFA Project Space, and internationally at venues including A Lab Amsterdam and the Municipal Archive of Lugo, Italy. Hall's projects have been featured in Architectural Digest, Los Angeles Times, and The Guardian, and he has given talks at the University of Haifa, Israel, Thomas Jefferson University College of Architecture, and the Academy of Fine Arts of Ravenna. Hall has processed artifacts from The Metropolitan Museum of Art and conducted archaeological fieldwork in Bat, Oman. He has facilitated VIP programs for Frieze Art Fair, The Armory Show, and On Location during Paris Fashion Week. Hall is currently based in Los Angeles, California.
About Cole Akers
Cole Akers produces exhibitions, performances, and partnerships across the fields of art, design, and architecture. Working from New York and Los Angeles, he is Curator & Associate Director of Special Projects at The Glass House, a site of the National Trust for Historic Preservation.
About the Onera Foundation
Founded in 2018 by David B. Peterson, the Onera Foundation advocates for the preservation of historic American architecture by funding art and architecture exhibitions and innovative programming that deepen the public’s understanding of America’s significant, historic architecture. The Foundation also supports education by funding the Onera Prize at Columbia University—an annual 25,000 USD prize that supports students graduating from the MS Historic Preservation program to test new preservation theories and technologies in practice. The Onera Foundation’s landmarked building in New Canaan, Connecticut, hosts exhibitions, lectures, and other public programming.
