Butter, the Indianapolis-founded art fair that returns 100 percent of sales proceeds to artists, will make its Los Angeles debut this week, expanding for the first time beyond its Midwest base as the city fills with collectors and dealers for Frieze week.
Founded in 2021 and organized by Indianapolis-based cultural development firm GangGang, Butter positions itself as a no-commission alternative to the traditional art fair model, centering Black visual artists from California and across the country. Butter LA marks the sixth iteration of the fair.
The fair will take place at Hollywood Park in Inglewood from February 26 through March 1. Organizers say that since its launch, Butter has generated more than $1.2 million in direct sales for Black artists.
Unlike most commercial fairs, where galleries typically take a commission on works sold, Butter operates under an artist-first model in which participating artists retain 100 percent of sale proceeds. Works at the Los Angeles edition will range in price from $200 to $25,000.
The Los Angeles lineup includes former Los Angeles Dodgers player and painter Micah Johnson, Compton-based artist Mr. Wash, photographer Micaiah Carter, April Bey, Autumn Breon, and others representing the African diaspora.
Programming will run alongside the sales floor. R&B singer Ro James is scheduled to speak on the TEDxInglewood stage, while artist Lauren Halsey will lead 1,000 Inglewood students in a collaborative installation presented during the fair’s Education Day. Artist Autumn Breon will debut “The Care Machine,” an initiative distributing feminine care products and HPV self-screening kits. A screening of “The Sugar Shack,” from producers Coodie & Chike, will commemorate the 50th anniversary of Ernie Barnes’s painting of the same name.
Preview Night on February 26 is expected to draw athletes Jrue and Lauren Holiday, actor Gail Bean, comedian Mike Epps, and singer Van Hunt, among others.
Children 18 and under will receive free admission, and organizers have planned a dedicated kids zone with art activities and games. Discounted hotel rooms are being offered through a partnership with Anthem Hotel LA, located near the fair site.
Butter’s expansion into Los Angeles comes as art fairs nationwide continue to face questions about rising booth costs, softening sales in parts of the market, and calls for more equitable structures. By eliminating commissions, the fair positions itself as an experiment in recalibrating how value circulates during fair week — particularly at a moment when attention and capital are concentrated in major coastal markets.
Whether the model scales beyond its Indianapolis origins remains to be seen. But its arrival in Los Angeles signals a growing effort to rethink how artists participate in, and benefit from, the art fair economy.
