The Institute of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles (ICA LA) celebrates the culmination of the 2025 Agency of Assets (AoA) youth fellowship this month. Since its founding, Agency of Assets has been a cornerstone program of ICA LA, offering young people the opportunity to explore careers in the creative economy through mentorship, hands-on training, and real-world experiences.
The 2025 fellowship concludes with an exhibition in ICA LA’s Annex gallery, opening October 11, 2025, titled AoA x IAO: I Smell LA. This year’s project was created in collaboration with the Institute for Art and Olfaction (IAO). Under the guidance of IAO Founder Saskia Wilson-Brown, fellows were challenged to “smell their worksites” and select aromatic notes that represented their experiences across Los Angeles’s cultural nonprofits and creative businesses.
The result? A portrait of the city’s cultural arts ecosystem — expressed entirely through scent. Each aromatic composition captures the unique spirit of an organization or workplace, transforming intangible memories into sensory works of art.
Other exhibitions on view at ICA LA include:
Alongside the exhibition, ICA LA has released a new short film featuring the AoA Youth Fellows. In their own words, they share what it meant to spend the summer immersed in the city’s creative economy, including the lessons they learned, the challenges they faced, and the inspiration they carry forward.
Watch the video here: Agency of Assets at ICA LA
Info about the AoA Annex exhibition AoA x IAO: I Smell LA (October 11-November 9, 2025) can be found here: https://www.theicala.org/en/exhibitions/600-aoa-x-iao-i-smell-la
The creative economy represents one of California’s largest and fastest-growing sectors — contributing more than half a trillion dollars to the state’s GDP. Yet access to these pathways has not always been equitable. Programs like AoA help change that by equipping youth with mentorship, skills, and networks to thrive in artistic and cultural industries.
At Snap Foundation, we are honored to partner with ICA LA in this transformative work. Together, we are helping young people discover their voices, shape their futures, and leave an imprint on Los Angeles’s cultural landscape — sometimes even through the power of scent!
