Los Angeles is a hotbed of creativity, home to artists, filmmakers, designers, writers, musicians, and countless other creatives. Whether you're looking to make genuine connections or spark new collaborations, here’s your curated guide to finding your creative circle.
Whether you're a designer, illustrator, filmmaker, or working in any creative field, this guide will help you find your people in the city. From casual meetups to vibrant community events,
Los Angeles
offers countless opportunities to connect, collaborate, and get inspired.
Creative Lunch Club is a global community for people working in the creative industries. Whether you are a graphic designer, a photographer, a marketer, or a filmmaker, the Creative Lunch Club gives you the chance to regularly meet other creatives in your city for lunch.
CreativeMornings is a global series of free, monthly morning talks that bring creatives together for coffee, inspiration, and good vibes.
AIGA is the go-to hub for designers in the US to connect and get inspired, with community vibes, events, and resources to level up your craft.
The Design Kids is a global community for emerging designers, with city meetups, interviews, jobs, and practical resources to help you build your folio and grow your career.
Type Thursday brings type lovers together each month for drinks, talks, and a laid-back group critique to sharpen your letterforms. Hang with the community and get feedback on works in progress.
The Preserve is a lush creative campus with abundant greenery and natural light offering office suites, shared workspaces, meeting rooms and relaxing garden areas designed to inspire focus, connection and productivity.
One of the world's largest live-and-work artist colonies, this expansive 16-acre complex houses studios, galleries, and living lofts. Twice a year, its doors open for the Brewery Art Walk, inviting you into artists’ creative territories.
Art Share L.A. is a nonprofit arts organization in Los Angeles that supports local artists through gallery exhibitions, performances, studios, and arts education. Based in the DTLA Arts District, it provides community-centered space and resources for creation, presentation, and engagement.
Non Plus Ultra is an East Hollywood collective that gives artists space to create, perform, and experiment. With studios, event spaces, and residencies, it’s a hub where emerging creatives gather and share their work.
BSPOKE/LA is a flexible creative hub in Los Angeles’ Fairfax district offering studio-space, event hosting, and content production facilities for artists, brands, and entrepreneurs.
The venue supports events, brand activations, podcasting, and other creative projects — providing tools and community for anyone looking to build or showcase work.
Maker City LA is a creative workspace on the 11th floor of The Reef in DTLA, offering flexible studios and offices with high ceilings, industrial vibes, and handy amenities. A relaxed, collaborative community for artists, startups, nonprofits, and more.
18th Street Arts Center is a leading artist residency program that supports visual and performing artists with space to create and share their work. Open studios, talks and community events foster collaboration and cultural exchange.
Living Earth is an outdoor arts series that transforms parks and gardens into creative stages. With music, storytelling and nature based workshops, it brings together artists and communities to connect and collaborate.
Housed in a stunning old bank, The Last Bookstore is a famed literary labyrinth, that offers used books, graphic novels, vinyl, art installations, and even creative book clubs spanning topics like Afrofuturism and feminist dystopia.
Nova Community Arts is a queer owned, community focused center dedicated to inclusive arts education for all ages. This welcoming space nurtures collaborative creation with workshops, classes and open studio access.
AIGA Design Conference is the flagship gathering of AIGA, bringing together graphic designers, visual communicators, and creative professionals from around the world. It features inspiring talks, workshops, and community events that explore how design shapes culture, drives innovation, and creates real impact.
Flux Festival in Los Angeles brings together film, art, and emerging technology through curated screenings, immersive installations, and creative workshops.
LA Art Show is the largest and most comprehensive contemporary art fair on the West Coast, showcasing galleries, installations, and global exhibitions each January–February.
Los Angeles Artists and Creatives is a Meetup group where painters, writers, musicians, and all kinds of creatives connect, share ideas, and inspire each other. From book club picnics to writing circles, it’s a welcoming space to create and meet like-minded people in L.A.
The best way to meet other creatives in
Los Angeles
is to show up consistently somewhere rather than hoping a one-off networking event leads somewhere.
Creative Lunch Clubis a good starting point and a great way to meet other creatives: you get matched with a small group of creatives for lunch, which is a much more natural way to actually get to know people.
Los Angeles
has a growing number of communities for creatives, from global networks like
Creative Lunch Clubto local meetup groups and coworking communities. The best place to start is joining a community that meets regularly, so you build real relationships over time rather than just collecting contacts at one-off events.
Los Angeles
has a range of events throughout the year where creatives meet, from industry conferences to informal gatherings. That said, traditional networking events can feel forced. Many creatives prefer more relaxed formats like
Creative Lunch Club, where you meet people over lunch rather than awkward small talk with a name badge.
A good starting point is
Creative Lunch Club, which runs regular meetups for designers and other creatives in
Los Angeles
. Beyond that, keep an eye on local design communities, Instagram, and event platforms for one-off gatherings tied to conferences or design weeks.
Designers tend to gravitate toward independent cafés, creative coworking spaces, and community events. Online, local design groups and communities like
Creative Lunch Club, are where a lot of the conversation happens and where lunches and meetups get organized.
Show up consistently. The creative scene in
Los Angeles
is more accessible than it looks, most people are open to meeting others, especially in a low-pressure setting. Joining a community like
Creative Lunch Clubis one of the easiest ways in, since you're introduced to a small group of people rather than thrown into a room of strangers.
Freelancers make up a big part of Creative Lunch Club's members in
Los Angeles
. It's a natural fit since freelancing can be isolating and lunch is an easy, low-commitment way to meet people. Coworking spaces are another good bet.
There are plenty of events for creatives in
Los Angeles
, ranging from design conferences and film festivals to photography exhibitions and music events. For regular, ongoing connection rather than one-off events, Creative Lunch Club runs monthly meetups in
Los Angeles
year round.
Thanks for running such a great community! I'm so glad I took a chance and tried this for the first time, and I can't wait for the next month to roll around. Excited to see this network grow!
I stumbled upon Creative Lunch Club and had my first lunch and loved it. If you are a creative looking to be less lonely in this sprawling city and have interesting conversations in Los Angeles, I recommend it.
My first lunch was with Lea & Caroline, NYC designers like me and it was great to meet them outside of work in a casual setting. Creative Lunch Club does the hard part of linking me up with others when otherwise, I’d be so focused on work that I wouldn’t have the energy to find like-minded people. And you make new friends.
