Martin Cox, artist and co-founder of Latitude For Art, attended an artists residency in Iceland in 2016. He came across an uninhabited farmhouse in a snowy fjord while exploring with artists and locals. The magical house ignited something in him. He made a proposal to its owner to turn it into an art residency. Within a year they had formed a team and worked to transform the farmhouse to a livable work/live space and studio. In summer 2018 it opened to the first artists. Deep in a fjord in north west Iceland with stunning views of cliffs, mountains and the fjord itself.  The farmhouse had a rare silence offered by its dramatic isolation. The residency was a great success and ran for four years. Then it was time to tackle something in Los Angeles, and Latitude For Art was born.

Latitude For Art was the concept of Martin Cox and Thomas DeBoe.  We developed an alternative funding model, such that we could offer residency to artists without a fee to encourage artists, and not burden them with more costs. Latitude For Art is a non-profit which focuses on artist residency and senior housing to grow local community and encourage creativity. We were founded in the winter of 2019 and made plans for expansion and fundraisers in the spring of 2020. However, Covid significantly delayed our projects. By 2022, the Iceland project was over and we began a test project using a leased apartment in Los Angeles and invited artists to come and stay in a building that was filled with creative long term tenants. Latitude For Art was generously gifted the building by long time Echo Park community presence Isa-Kae Meksin, who believed strongly in affordable housing. We committed to keep the current creative residents housed despite the whirl of issues from running a hillside building over a 100-years old. Since then, we have opened up more opportunities for artist and events, using the lush garden at the property.  Two weeks residencies are offered to a variety of artists including writers, photographers, drawers, thinkers.