“When it comes to cultural organizations and their critical potential to expand our
experience and understanding of the world, the IAO is in a league of its own.”
– Todd Lerew (IAO Donor; Program Manager, Library Foundation of Los Angeles)
WHY SUPPORT THE INSTITUTE FOR ART AND OLFACTION?
Make a donation on Paypal, right here.
The Institute for Art and Olfaction’s mission is to make scent materials and education accessible to the people who have traditionally not had access. We use the lens of scent, but we believe that through scent you can reach many fields – sociology, for instance, not to mention history, chemistry, technology, conceptual art, social justice and much, much more.
Experimental cross-media art spaces like the IAO encourage connections between disparate concepts, facilitate the exploration of gray areas, support artists and emerging perfumers, and help people engage in science, creativity, curiosity, and good old fashioned experimentation.
As a non-profit, we invest back into the community that we serve. Any income we have at the IAO is paid forward into the programs we develop – programs like Scent Fair LA, the Experimental Scent Summit, Perfume on the Radio, Open Source Smell Culture, our gallery space, our libraries, and – of course – the Art and Olfaction Awards. There’s more.
In over a decade of activity (and counting!), we’ve hosted hundreds of events to invite visitors into the wild, woolly world of scent. We’ve done this on site at the IAO, and also in partnership with institutions such as Royal College of Art (London), New Mexico Highlands University. Atlas Obscura, Hammer Museum, Craft Contemporary, Getty Institute, Danish Film Institute, the National Media Museum in the UK, and so many more. In this way we promote scent as a viable creative medium, we provide access to the tools and materials and knowledge of scent (and dismantle some exclusionary practices along the way), and we enhance visibility for artists and perfumers working outside the mainstream.
All this, to us, is worth supporting.
HOW TO SUPPORT
ATTEND A CLASS
The single best way to help us keep going is simply to sign up for as many of our classes and events as you can. With a breadth of programming online or in person at our Chinatown location, we do our best to give you good reason!
+ Check out our calendar.
MAKE A DIRECT DONATION
And then, there’s money. We hate it. And we need it. We wilingly accept donations through our Paypal giving page.
+ Just click this link.