Fine artist Alex Blas’s work is inspired by a range of subjects, but it was one of his recent commissioned works that made an impact on him.

“He was about 65 years old,” he says of the man commissioning a painting. “He bought china in Paris with his lover, who died 15 years ago. He approached me to do a commissioned piece of his china to remember his lover by. It was something they had bought together, and really quite touching.”

This week Blas and hundreds of other artists will display works that symbolize that same respect for love and equality at the Manifest Equality gallery in Los Angeles. The four-day event intends to be an intersection of activism and art, where artists can share their work and activists can mobilize to make changes on local and national levels.

“When you hear 'equal rights,' it's something everyone can agree on," says Blas, 33, who is in a committed relationship.