Evacuation Memories Featured in Karen Knecht Photo Exhibit at Gallery 169

By Laurel Busby

News & Information Editor

After fiery winds forced Rustic and Santa Monica Canyon’s evacuation last January, resident Karen Knecht spent about six months at a hotel in Marina Del Rey, where she eventually became friends with other affected women.

Like most Canyon residents, Knecht didn’t lose her home, but she did lose possessions when her house was looted within the first 12 hours after her evacuation. The worst loss was an Apple computer and a backup hard drive with 40 years of her work as an artist and creative director. She also lost varied personal items, ranging from linens to jewelry, including pearl earrings that her husband had given her on their anniversary. Although she was thankful that her trauma was much less than so many suffered, it still had an effect.

“Weird stuff has happened to me physically from the stress even though I still have my home,” said Knecht, noting that she returned to the hotel and took her time before coming back so she wouldn’t be thinking of the people who had invaded her home. Even after returning, “it took me a while to acclimate.”

A photo of an Altadena evacuee taken during Karen Knecht’s stay at Hotel MDR.

In spite of the stress and tragedy of the fire, she found that her 176 days at the Hotel MDR offered gifts. She befriended a potpourri of women, including a hotel cleaning lady and a struggling Altadena resident who adopted a small dog for comfort. Using her phone, Knecht took spontaneous photos of her new friends and acquaintances and later wrote vignettes about them that have become the heart of her upcoming exhibit at Gallery 169 (169 W. Channel Rd.)—You Are Here—Hotel MDR: 176 Days.

“What I found in talking to all these women was that everyone wanted to do their best to hold each other up,” Knecht said. “It’s been a life-changing experience, and I’m grateful for that…. It enriched my life in many ways.”

You Are Here—Hotel MDR: 176 Days will include pictures and stories about five of the women who Knecht photographed. A few of them will even be attending Knecht’s opening reception, which will be from 5-8 p.m. on Jan. 10. In addition, the exhibit will include moody and ethereal pictures of the Canyon and the fire’s aftermath.

“It’s this juxtaposition of images that are sort of somber,” said Knecht, who has lived in the Canyon for about 34 years. “The whole show is curated, and the women are the centerpoint.”

In some ways, the exhibit is an outgrowth of her career, which has included about 25 years heading her boutique agency, konnectDesign, as well as time as a creative director at both Deutsch and Saatchi & Saatchi. At her own firm, she has led varied campaigns for clients such as Paramount Pictures, UCLA Library Special Collections, and Virgin Entertainment, while she and her husband, cinematographer Chris Squires, raised their children, Kate, now 32, and Jack, 30, in the Canyon.

Karen Knecht

While she was evacuated, she also had creative projects that provided some respite, including one for a Tuscan vintner and another for a Rhode Island School of Design photography professor. However, much of her time was spent interacting with other evacuees who had lost so much more than she had.

“My friends at the hotel became my community,” Knecht said. “We were all in a daze. This worry and this fear--you can see it in the photos.” The women in particular called to her. “I could connect to them more easily than the men. They were more forthcoming with their emotions, especially if you reached out with kindness, but everybody was vulnerable.”

You Are Here—Hotel MDR: 176 Days will be open by appointment from Monday, Jan. 5 through Feb. 13. The Jan. 10 reception will offer food, drink, and valet parking.

One of the women presented in You Are Here-Hotel MDR: 176 Days. Photo and description: Karen Knecht