{"id":259194,"date":"2025-09-27T16:43:20","date_gmt":"2025-09-27T16:43:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/259194\/"},"modified":"2025-09-27T16:43:20","modified_gmt":"2025-09-27T16:43:20","slug":"newport-beach-artist-donates-portraits-of-homes-lost-to-l-a-wildfires","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/259194\/","title":{"rendered":"Newport Beach artist donates portraits of homes lost to L.A. wildfires"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Sherry Marger has painted in acrylic for decades \u2014 capturing scenes from her travels throughout the United States and abroad \u2014 and the garage of her Newport Beach home is a testament to the artist\u2019s dedication to her craft.<\/p>\n

There, canvases of red-rock Sedona skylines hobnob with portrayals of lush plant life, old-world courtyards and bridges and farmhouses backdropped by autumn in Vermont.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen people come into my garage they say, \u2018Oh, look at this nice art gallery,\u2019\u201d the 78-year-old artist said Wednesday. \u201cI\u2019ve got things hanging on walls and on shelves and stashed in a variety of places.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"A <\/p>\n

A painting by Newport Beach artist Sherry Marger depicts a home on Pacific Palisades\u2019 Galloway Street that was lost in the January wildfire.<\/p>\n

(Courtesy of Sherry Marger)<\/p>\n

An accomplished amateur<\/a>, Marger has displayed her creations in small shows at her local library and John Wayne Airport. She also freely offers her work to friends and local organizations, like City of Hope or the museum at the Chabad Center for Jewish Life.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019d rather have people enjoy my paintings than have them sitting in my garage,\u201d she reasoned.<\/p>\n

So, it\u2019s no surprise that when Marger read a February Los Angeles Times article<\/a> about Homes in Memoriam, an effort to memorialize homes destroyed in the Palisades and Eaton fires by painting them from photos and then gifting the works of art to grieving homeowners, she was all in.<\/p>\n

\u201cI looked it up and found out what it took to get involved,\u201d Marger recalled. \u201cI signed up right away and started to do [paintings] immediately.\u201d<\/p>\n

Homes in Memoriam<\/a> formed in the days following the January conflagrations, as two women who grew up in Pacific Palisades searched for ways to console community members who\u2019d escaped with little more than the shirts on their backs.<\/p>\n

\"Newport <\/p>\n

Newport artist Sherry Marger was inspired by an article in the Los Angeles Times describing an effort to collect portraits of homes lost in the Palisades and Eaton fires in January.<\/p>\n

(Don Leach \/ Staff Photographer)<\/p>\n

Ashley Miller, who\u2019d lost her family home, was feeling distraught and searching for a way to be of help. She sought to volunteer at relief shelters but was turned away due to an overabundance of helping hands.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere was this scramble of feeling like I needed to do something but not really knowing what would be helpful or impactful,\u201d the 24-year-old said Thursday.<\/p>\n

Miller recalled having received, as a graduation present, a portrait of the house she\u2019d lived in while attending college in Louisiana. What if she could stoke interest among area artists willing to volunteer similar gestures for Los Angeles fire victims?<\/p>\n

\"Ashley <\/p>\n

Ashley Miller, left, and Amy Beemer teamed up after the January wildfires to create a Homes in Memoriam project, where artists captured likenesses of lost homes and gifted them to the owners.<\/p>\n

(Courtesy of Ashley Miller)<\/p>\n

So on Jan. 9, she went on Instagram seeking to \u201ccrowdsource artists\u2019 time, love, and labor to provide those who have lost their homes in the 2025 LA fires something to hold on to,\u201d according to the page\u2019s inaugural post.<\/p>\n

The response was swift and, in less than a week, Miller connected with Amy Beemer, whose background in interior design offered wide access to artists and graphic designers. Beemer had started a similar project, and the two decided to combine their resources.<\/p>\n

Today, Beemer maintains a master list of requests and artists, while Miller receives and frames the 8×10 works, shipping them out to grateful recipients.<\/p>\n

So far, Homes in Memoriam has recorded 686 requests for lost home portraits, 510 of which have been fulfilled and many more works in progress. The project\u2019s Instagram page<\/a> is a veritable gallery of mid-century charmers, Spanish-style bungalows, Tudor manses and angular contemporary residences.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe recognize the amount of time and effort and care all our artists have put in,\u201d Miller said of the volunteer painters.<\/p>\n

\"A <\/p>\n

A painting by Newport Beach artist Sherry Marger of a home in Pacific Palisades that reportedly once belonged to actor Anthony Quinn. It was lost to fire in January. <\/p>\n

(Courtesy of Sherry Marger)<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019re working on this around working full-time jobs. For some this has become their full-time purpose. Some artists are in their 70s and retirees, and this has become their third act, something that gives them a lot of purpose at that stage in life.\u201d<\/p>\n

These days find Marger busy at work in her Newport Beach in-home studio. Once she accepts a request, she projects the photo onto a light box and traces out its shapes onto watercolor paper.<\/p>\n

Even painting just a couple hours each day, due to arthritis in her hands, she manages to finish a portrait in two to three days. Since she began contributing to Homes in Memoriam, the septuagenarian has completed 29 paintings and is finishing up a 30th.<\/p>\n

With each piece, she includes her contact information and a note offering to paint a second portrait whenever recipients have settled into their rebuilt homes or a new location.<\/p>\n

\"Artist <\/p>\n

Artist Sherry Marger has made 30 paintings for the \u201cHomes in Memoriam\u201d project, memorializing homes lost in the L.A. fires.<\/p>\n

(Don Leach \/ Staff Photographer)<\/p>\n

Marger said she often feels heartbroken for those who saw everything they\u2019d built and loved over lifetimes disappear in an instant. But, when she receives the occasional note from homeowners glad to have a visual representation of their beloved homes, she knows her art is helping others heal.<\/p>\n

One such missive hinted at the impact of Marger\u2019s artful gesture:<\/p>\n

\u201cI received the rendering of my home last week and I just can\u2019t thank you enough. It is so perfect \u2014 brought my husband and me to tears,\u201d it read. \u201cIt will have a place of honor in our new home. We lived there 41 joyful years and this beautiful artwork will help us to never forget. You are very talented and it is so special that you would lend your talents to help fire victims. That is so generous.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Sherry <\/p>\n

Sherry Marger holds up a painting created for \u201cHomes in Memoriam,\u201d a donation-based art project benefiting those who lost homes in the L.A. wildfires.<\/p>\n

(Don Leach \/ Staff Photographer)<\/p>\n

\u201cIt brings tears to my eyes,\u201d the Newport Beach artist said of the correspondences. \u201cI can just picture them looking at that and having a pang of sadness. It makes me sad, too \u2014 but I\u2019m going to keep going.\u201d<\/p>\n

Miller, too, plans to keep the project alive as long as there are requests to be fulfilled, understanding many fire victims still haven\u2019t found a place to land.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are many still sitting in that group, where there is too much going on and this was either too overwhelming or still felt too soon,\u201d she said. \u201cThis is not a limited time offer.\u201d<\/p>\n