A massive mural now towers over the west side of Los Angeles, standing as a tribute to the fires that devastated the city beginning on 7 January 2025.

For eight days, flames tore through neighbourhoods, destroying over 16,000 structures and leaving thousands more badly damaged.

Seven months later, the many residents remain displaced.

Amid the slow recovery, the mural has emerged as a symbol of something else: the resilience of spirit.

This image is a replica of a Los Angeles Magazine cover, created as part of a special issue produced in the aftermath of the fires.

The magazine invited three internationally recognised, Los Angeles-based urban artists to design original covers under the theme The Art of Rebuilding.

Among them, Thierry Guetta, also known as Mr. Brainwash, whose cover read Never Give Up.

Other pages in the issue featured titles such as Broken But Together and The Art of Rebuilding.

The initiative aims to explore how creativity can support emotional recovery.

Guetta’s mural, now on permanent display, reflects the same themes as his cover: gratitude for the city’s first responders, and unity in the face of destruction.

Fellow artist Guerin Swing, also known as Mr. L.A., contributed another cover to the series.

A North Hollywood native, he lost part of his own home during the January fires.

His magazine cover features a firefighter speaking to a child (his own daughter) and carries the message: L.A. Strong: A New Beginning.

Robert Vargas, known for transforming entire building facades with large-scale murals, also produced a cover titled Heroes Among Us.

Each of the three artists reflected on personal and collective experience.

Swing returned to the studio to develop his cover, focusing on images of rebuilding and emotional connection.

The publisher of Los Angeles Magazine, Chris Gialanella, says the goal was to use art to offer the community something hopeful.

He says: “At a time when you’re feeling like the world is just in a really bad place, art really brings joy. It brings joy to anybody. When you’re on vacation and you visit museums. It’s one of the great cities in the world, art brings people together and that’s what we wanted to do at Los Angeles Magazine. We wanted to bring the community together and continue to do that so that’s why we did this.”

The magazine’s edition featured multiple themed headlines, such as An LA Love Story, State of the Art, and Grab a Hose, Take a Stand.

Alongside Guetta’s Never Give Up, Swing’s cover and its bold “Strong” message became a point of connection for many.

Gialanella says the response from the public was powerful and immediate: “We had such great response from these art covers. People were cherishing them. People were keeping them forever. We’re hearing stories about what everybody went through and stories of what people continue to go through so the art will always be there for everybody and they will always hold a comforting place for people in this city and all over the world.”

The project built on the magazine’s past coverage, including artwork from earlier issues like 2024, chronicling the city’s evolving challenges.

Gialanella says this kind of creative reflection matters at a time of transition for Los Angeles: “Los Angeles is really going through a pivotal time. The Olympics is coming here in 2028 so we have to make sure that we represent the United States in a positive way. We have been through a lot this year, between the protests, between the political environment, and art is really what’s keeping everyone together, in my eyes, so I feel that art is something that will always be there and will always represent our city and the world in such a great light.”

The mural itself continues to be maintained by Guetta, who regularly returns to it.

His broader body of work, much of it housed in his 30,000-square-foot Mr. Brainwash Museum in Beverly Hills, shares similar themes of social commentary, optimism, and cultural symbolism.

From iconic reinterpretations of figures like the Mona Lisa to large-scale Hollywood installations, Guetta’s work mixes humour, irony and hope.

“So it’s many months later but we still have this mural which says thank you to all the fire fighters. They were here for us and everyone in Los Angeles is starting to be together as one so it was incredible that the support of everyone together that had a very strong issue but in the end it was the love between all of us to take this issue and to make something beautiful again.”

At his North Hollywood studio, Swing continues working with the same themes. His artworks surround him, reminders of the events that shaped his cover design.

For him, the project was not only a creative mission, but a way to be involved in the recovery.

Swing adds: “How it inspired me at the time during the fires when I was asked my first thought was that we’re LA Strong and how we can rebuild, the first responders everyone was so impacted that it gave me a way to participate — to give back in my own way — so it was just impactful for me to have a mission to be able to create something that can represent Los Angeles as a whole.”

As Los Angeles continues to face challenges, the covers and mural remain as lasting reminders of how art can help carry a community forward.