Grand Ave. Arts: All Access, a free, live, in-person community event for arts and culture returns for its sixth year on Saturday, October 22, from 11 a.m. – 4 p.m.
It will be a family-friendly day of arts experiences featuring tours, children activities, sidewalk sales, pop-up performances and more, put on by world class downtown LA cultural organizations. This promises to be wonderful day for fun and learning about what is offered on Grand Avenue, as well as a grand time indeed for Buzz readers to visit Grand Avenue.
Participating organizations include: The Broad, Center Theater Group, Los Angeles Public Library, Colburn School, LA Opera, LA Philharmonic, MOCA, Los Angeles Master Choral, The Music Center, Grand Park, REDCAT and more.
This free community event invites participants to choose their own adventure. Enjoy a performance, take a tour, make art, sing, explore exhibitions and art installations and even try your hand at conducting. How great is that! There will be a broad range of family friendly activities and experiences. I know how very much hard work went into producing this event so enjoy!
“One of the many takeaways from the pandemic pause is that we need the arts now more than ever,” said Rachel S. Moore, president and CEO of The Music Center. “The return of the in-person Grand Ave Arts: All Access is an invitation for all to experience the special ability of the arts to connect and inspire us in a way like no other. People of all ages can enjoy free access to the many fun and enriching programs being offered by L.A.’s unrivaled cultural institutions. At the heart of Grand Ave Arts: All Access is building community – not just on Grand Ave, but with each other.”
On Saturday, October 22 Grand Avenue will be adorned with colorful signage to help guide visitors. Experiences include really exciting events: “read all about it!”
THE BROAD. 221 S Grand Ave.
Family Weekend Workshops: Re-use, Recycle, Dance, Drum! 11 a.m. – 5 p.m.
Join in a recycled art making activity inspired by artist El Anatsui, enjoy West African dance / percussion workshops on the plaza with Haniyyah Tahirah and M’Baye Campbell-Kante, and participate in an art scavenger hunt! Plus, experience Takashi Murakami’s iconic flower and Mr. DOB characters in augmented reality, unlocked with the Instagram app. For kids ages 3+ and their families.
CENTER THEATRE GROUP. The Music Center’s Mark Taper Forum. 135 N Grand Ave.
Join Center Theatre Group (CTG), L.A.’s leading nonprofit theatre company, at our information table in front of The Music Center’s Mark Taper Forum to learn more about the upcoming 2022-23 seasons at both the Ahmanson Theatre and Mark Taper Forum. Come and sign up for CTG’s mailing list to enter to win tickets to one of their productions!
COLBURN SCHOOL. 200 S Grand Ave.
Instrument Petting Zoo. All day.
Always wanted to play the trumpet, try a flute, or learn the saxophone? Stop by the instrument petting zoo to try an instrument of your choice and get expert advice on getting started in music.
Open Sing. 11am – Noon.
Attention all shower singers: take your skills to the next level! Colburn’s choir director Adrian Dunn leads an open sing workshop for vocalists of all ages.
Conduct Us. 1pm – 2pm.
Become the maestro for a chamber orchestra with no tuxedo required. Learn what it’s like to lead a group. No experience necessary and Colburn will provide the baton.
Pop-up Performances
Throughout the day. Enjoy outdoor pop-up performances by Colburn students throughout the campus.
GRAND PARK. 200 N Grand Ave.
Grand Park’s Downtown Día de los Muertos: Altars + Art. All day.
Visitors to Grand Park can celebrate the traditions of Día de los Muertos, contribute to the community altar and view more than 50 altars created by local artists and community groups.
HALO AT WELLS FARGO CENTER, Outdoor Plaza (Presented by Brookfield Properties). 330 S. Hope Street (Halo extends from Hope Street to Grand Avenue). All day.
Experience “Hugman,” a series of brightly colored LEGO® brick sculptures created by Nathan Sawaya, the first contemporary artist to bring LEGO® into the art world as a medium. “Hugman” likes to hug. It hugs table legs, signposts, bicycle racks, trees, fence posts, anything it can get its arms around! As you wander the space, enjoy DJ sets by community-generated radio station dublab.
LOS ANGELES MASTER CHORALE. LOCATION TBD. 135 N Grand Ave. Throughout the day.
The Los Angeles Master Chorale invites you to join your fellow music lovers on Grand Avenue for a day of singing. There’s nothing like the sound of people coming together to sing as one, and this is your chance to experience that special feeling. Whether you’re a beginner or a seasoned pro, child or adult, everyone is welcome.
LA OPERA. The Music Center’s Dorothy Chandler Pavilion. 135 N Grand Ave.
Artmaking. Throughout the day
Discover the magic of opera with fun arts and crafts for the whole family, like an opera hat, a conducting puppet and more.
Recitals. 12:30pm and 1:30pm.
Enjoy a live recital of some of the best known songs from opera, plus highlights from the West Coast premiere of Omar, the musical memoir of lost freedom and enduring faith profiled on CBS Sunday Morning, from Grammy Award-winner Rhiannon Giddens and co-composer Michael Abels (Get Out, Nope)
CENTRAL LIBRARY. 630 W 5th St Special Exhibitions. All day.
Explore our exhibitions, including Something in Common, Shades of L.A. Los Angeles Family Album, and It Really is a River: Documenting an Iconic Urban Waterway.
Tours. Throughout the day. Learn more with free docent-led art and architecture tours of the beautiful and historical Central Library.
Mapmaking Workshop. 11am – 1pm. Examine pictorial maps while creating a map of your own in this all-ages workshop.
Sugar Skull Decorating. 2pm – 3pm. Kids! Join us to decorate sugar skulls.
LA PHIL. The Music Center’s Walt Disney Concert Hall. 111 S. Grand Ave. Throughout the day.
Spend some time with the LA Phil by taking a composition workshop led by Composer Fellowship Program alumni Anderson Alden, enhancing your music appreciation at Music 101 led by KUSC’s Alan Chapman, or by grabbing some merchandise at the LA Phil Store’s sidewalk sale. Fun for all ages!
MOCA. The Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles. 250 S Grand Ave. All day.
Enjoy an interactive workshop with concepts of color, mood and perspective inspired by Cromosaturación (1965/2012) by artist Carlos Cruz-Diez. Events of the day include a screening of Remote, a film by Mika Rottenberg and Mahyad Tousi; a panel discussion around carbon conservation within the art world; and DJ sets from Sylmar Soundsystem, Sanam, and Maral, with a live performance by Soltera. MOCA Store’s annual sidewalk sale takes over the plaza with great finds at discounted prices.
The Music Center. Jerry Moss Plaza at The Music Center. 135 N Grand Ave. Family Fun. All Day.
Join The Music Center and LA Commons for a day of dreaming, exploration, artistic expression and celebration with Creating Our Next LA as Jerry Moss Plaza transforms into an art installation built upon the community’s dreams for the future of Los Angeles. A celebration of our collective visions for a brighter tomorrow, Creating Our Next LA features an interactive art installation, a participatory procession, poetry and artmaking workshops, a drum circle and community/voter resources.
Music Center Tours. Walt Disney Concert Hall. Throughout the day. Take a tour of The Music Center’s architecturally stunning Walt Disney Concert Hall designed by famed architect Frank Gehry and home to the world-renowned Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra.
REDCAT – Roy and Edna Disney/CalArts Theater at the Walt Disney Concert Hall complex. 631 W 2nd St. Throughout the day. Join REDCAT as it celebrates the opening of its new exhibition, “Carl Cheng: Material Behavior.” Throughout his nearly six-decade career Cheng’s artistic practice has explored the capabilities of natural and manufactured substances: from his early use of emerging plastic technology for 3D photographs to his daily application of resin in his Liquid/Solid Series to his self-sustaining environments.
All events are free and first-come, first-served. For event schedule and programming information, including details on available food options, please visit: grandavearts.org or (213) 972-7211. Events and schedule subject to change. #GRANDAVEARTS
Backstage with the Buzz is written by Sheila Tepper, Producer Cultural Programming. Sheila has lived in the Larchmont area for fifty years, among her passions have been passing legislation for children with disabilities and interviewing outstanding artists appearing in the Los Angeles area.
