Lots of art on tap in the area this weekend…and it starts early on Saturday, with an 8:30 a.m. talk at LACMA on “Rembrandt and the Dutch Baroque.” According to the museum, “This class will look closely at one of the greatest European artists, Rembrandt van Rijn, as well as his contemporaries, tracing how social shifts impacted artistic taste. Calvinist Dutch teachings frowned on religious imagery, but the artists usually were able to include hints of it in their canvases.” The introductory lecture will be followed by a tour in the permanent collection galleries before the museum opens to the public. Tickets are $30 for LACMA members and $35 for the general public.
While the above event is for adults only, LACMA also has something for the the whole family (ages 5 and up) on Saturday morning — a one-day workshop called “Let’s Make Books!” From 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., participants will learn bookmaking techniques, as well as how to use color, texture, pattern, design, and composition. Families can create books together, work on individual projects, or both. Led by artist Debra Disman. Tickets to this one are $35 for members of LACMA’s NexGen program (the price also admits one adult guest), or $40, for general guests plus one adult.
Shifting from creative into community mode, and just a few blocks east along Wilshire, the Miracle Mile Residential Association will hold its 35th Annual Miracle Mile Community Meeting from 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Saturday at the Korean Cultural Center, 5505 Wilshire Blvd. (at Dunsmuir). All Miracle Mile Residents are welcome and refreshments will be served. City Council Member David Ryu will be the keynote speaker, and the meeting will also feature the official launch of the Association’s new Neighborhood Watch. The newly formed Miracle Mile Neighborhood Watch Committee will share tips and tricks on how to detect, deter, report and prevent crime, as well as how to secure your home, get involved with the Neighborhood Watch/Block Captain program, and how to engage with private security companies for an extra layer of protection. The meeting will also feature a discussion of State Senate Bill (SB) 827, which would eliminate many local zoning controls to increase density and building height limits within half a mile of major transit lines. The intended result would be construction of many new 5-8 story apartment buildings in areas currently developed with single family homes and duplexes.
Continuing east, this time on Olympic Blvd., the Greater Wilshire Neighborhood Council will hold its first annual Neighborhood Council Green Fair from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., at Memorial Library Park, 4625 W. Olympic Blvd. The event is co-sponsored by Koreatown Youth + Community Center and the office of LA City Council Member David Ryu. Visitors will “learn how to adopt a more sustainable or “green” lifestyle, from solar panels to electric vehicles to reducing food waste.” There will also be giveaways (including free trees) and demonstrations from a variety of exhibitors, including Slow Food LA, EmpowerLA, Friends of Memorial Library, LA Department of Sanitation, and LA Solar Group.
Sticking with libraries for the moment, kids and teens looking for some homework help can find it from 12:30 to 2:30 p.m. at the John C. Fremont Library, 6121 Melrose Ave. Library volunteer Brian Koo will be back to provide free homework help for students from Kindergarten through Community College age…in both math and science. Sessions are half an hour long; first come, first served.
For another kind of education, Knowles Karate Academy will be conducting two Intro to Women’s Self Defense workshops this weekend, from 1-2:30 p.m. on Saturday, and from 10:30 a.m. to 12 p.m. on Sunday. The cost is $25. Register at the link above.
Saturday afternoon and evening, from 2-9 p.m., will also feature the bittersweet big closing event for Runway Boutique, which has been providing new, vintage and handmade women’s clothing and accessories at 807 S. La Brea for the last 13 years. Owner Fatima Dodson invites the community to join her in celebrating “13 years of art, fashion community and love” as she winds down her bricks-and-mortar store and shifts into more mobile modes of doing business. The Final Soirée will feature DJ Canyon Cody, some of Runway’s favorite vendors, an art show and more.
For those looking for more art (and architecture and history), you could also head back to LACMA on Saturday afternoon, for another talk, this time on “Teotihuacan: Archaeology Under the City of the Gods,” starting at 2 p.m. Archaeologists Sergio Gómez Chávez and Julie Gazzola will present first-hand accounts of the discovery of the Tlalocan tunnel offering in Teotihuacan, Mexico, and new findings about the city’s early history. (Tlalocan is the name given to a staggeringly rich offering found in 2003 in an ancient tunnel underneath the Feathered Serpent Pyramid.) The program also includes a screening of a preliminary cut of “Tlalocan, Bajo la Ciudad de los Dioses,” a 30-minute documentary produced by Eréndira Producciones of Mexico, which will be introduced by one of the filmmakers, Juan Mora Catlett. After the talks and screenings, there will be a panel and Q&A with the archaeologists and filmmaker. (Note: this program will be presented in Spanish, with simultaneous interpretation (limited number of headsets available. The documentary is also in Spanish with no subtitles.)
Sunday this week is also all about art, starting back at LACMA for “Art and Feminism 2018: Women and Film.” From noon to 5 p.m., join LACMA and East of Borneo for a Wikipedia edit-a-thon and panel discussion addressing gender inequality in the film industry. Art and Feminism is a global campaign to improve the coverage of women and the arts on Wikipedia, the world’s online encyclopedia. A 2011 survey by the Wikimedia Foundation found that fewer than 10% of Wikipedia’s editors identify as female, and its content is skewed by the lack of female participation. The goal is to change that…and beginners are welcome. The afternoon will kick off with the panel discussion, moderated by Dilcia Barrera, associate curator of film programs at LACMA at noon, followed by a Wikipedia training workshop at 2 pm to walk you step-by-step through the process of editing and creating new articles. Bring your own laptop and any books or other reference materials you’d like to work from or share. The event is free, though online registration is required at the link above.
Meanwhile, across the street at the Craft and Folk Art Museum, artist Wayne Perry, featured in the current exhibit Meltong Point: Movements in Contemporary Clay, will be on site with his pottery wheel from 1-4 p.m. on Sunday, throwing clay and sharing his unique approach to ceramics, community art making workshops, and public art.
Finally on Sunday, the arts shift from visual to theatrical, as the Ebell of Los Angeles presents a staged reading of the play “The Last Seder.” In this family drama, the four grown Price daughters return home for the final Passover in their childhood home. Lily, their overwhelmed mother, is planning to put her husband, Marvin, in a nursing home and sell the house. The four daughters arrive with their own set of issues. Marvin does not recognize any of them. When the last Seder arrives, however, Marvin has his first moments of clarity, giving his family the ability and courage to finally move forward. The reading starts promptly at 5:00 pm, with supper immediately following the reading. Tickets are $40 for Ebell members, and $45 for non-members, at the link above.
Have a great weekend!
