I never knew this artists' sanctuary even existed until last Sunday when I stopped by their 2nd…read moreannual fundraising event called BAM Fest. BAM = Beer, Art & Music, a perfect combination on a sunny afternoon. 18th Street was closed off to provide parking for food trucks & bicycles. I saw The Green Truck there, as well as Border Grille. 20 breweries donated beer from booths set up in a private courtyard flanked by galleries, where 4 bands provided live music. I only had time to stay for an hour, so I missed all the bands except Speedway (alone worth the trip from Redondo!). The event was packed but very well-organized. A bike valet was looking out for the crapload of parked bicycles. Maybe the reason I had no problem finding a spot for my car was because so many people rode their bikes. Beer and music were included in the price of admission ($35 advance, $40 at the door). All proceeds went toward funding spaces for artists to work & show their work.....a very good cause. The arts need support, especially in rough economic times. The festival attracted a great crowd. Despite all the free-flowing beer, people were upbeat without a hint of rowdiness. I love a good party on a Sunday afternoon and I'm guessing I'll be back next year when I will try to allow more time to hang out and enjoy the day.

Cutting-edge and timeless art by brilliant local and international minds. The curation of the 18th…read moreStreet Arts Center Events is absolutely world class! In a city so often known for it's monetary focus, the center refreshingly keeps it's focus on the art and artists themselves, refusing to become blinded by art world commerciality.

I finally got to visit our hidden local gem, the Wende Museum, which specializes in Cold War…read moreartifacts and history. What a fascinating place! The museum is housed in such beautiful architecture, and there are so many interesting artifacts and stories to explore. They also regularly host community events, which makes the museum feel like more than just a place to look at exhibits. We attended a big band concert there and had a blast. It was such a fun and unexpected way to experience the space. And what's even better? It's a free museum! You can learn more about Cold War history, explore fascinating artifacts, and attend community events without spending a dime. Definitely a hidden gem worth discovering, especially if you're looking for something educational, unique, and fun to do locally.

Wish it was possible to add 1/2 stars since I'd rate this museum 4 1/2 stars for the beauty of its…read morespace - especially the landscaped gardens-and the staff who are super friendly and helpful to visitors. On my first visit, the Culver City Book Fair was occupying the back garden space and it was a lot fun to walk through browsing through books and chatting to publishers. The museum itself was a hodge podge of Cold War artifacts (statues, Soviet books, assorted items like cameras and recording machines and mementoes) displayed along with art on the walls. Local California-artists are sometimes represented with their photographs and painting also taking up space during some of their special exhibits, as the curators try to align the theme of communism with left-wing ideas of social justice and racial discrimnation. Beyond the art on the walls, however, and far more interesting, are LOTS of special events and regular programs like (free) yoga, meditation, lectures/talks, amazing jazz music on certain evenings. The museum sends out a newsletter monthly listing all the upcoming events. All in all a fantastic (cost-free) resource for the Culver City community and for the Westside of LA in general.

Wonderful pop-up exhibition to showcase amazing pieces inspired by mental health…read more Put on by the LA County Department of Mental Health, it really highlighted key issues in regards to mental health in the community. It was culturally sensitive and welcoming of all demographics and all ages. It takes between and hour and two to get through the whole exhibition. Light snacks and beverages were provided. Street parking or public parking available. Too bad it had a limited run.

I am not sure how long this place will be open to (until mid-June I think). This place is no…read morecomparison to The Broad or LACMA, but at least it was free. We arrived around 8:30 P.M. (place close at 10) and there was no line (no online reservation is needed, a walk-in is good enough). There were a few IG worthy pieces, such as the Broken Road and the Dream Statue. Took us roughly 30 minutes to make our way thru the whole exhibit. All and All, I really love the message behind this exhibit and I would recommend this to those who are happening to be in the area. Parking was kind of an issue for us, however, we just ended up parking in some random spot behind the exhibit.

this is an incredible place and I almost always have a great time here…read more one time I went, and the staff were chatting really loudly for a long time, inside one of the galleries, and NOT about art , so that was an exception. And another time, I could hear walkie-talkie-radio traffic loudly inside the galleries, and that was also an exception. Other than the exceptions above, I really love this museum

If I went to a university that had an on campus museum, I'd never graduate…read more Fowler had been on my list of LA museums to visit for a while. While smaller than I thought (which is in part because a couple of the exhibits were closed), I enjoyed my time there. There was an extensive display of silver from different centuries from various parts of Europe and America, and it was interesting to see the differences between Irish, Russian, and American silver designs. My favorite exhibit was Intersections, because it shows comparatively how various cultures use art to memorialize and process life stages. It's beautiful to see how cultures meld the tangible (art and creative expression) with the intangible (prayers, grief, etc.) UCLA is already a beautiful campus, so it's no surprise that there is a lovely courtyard in the middle of Fowler. Parking structure 4 will be the closest lot to this museum.

*** You'll love Herb Ritts if you love ... ***…read more Fashion, style or the beauty of a physique. This photographic retrospective is a unique collection of the prints and videos that made Ritts a modern day American iconic persona. Ritts died 2002 due to complications w/ AIDS, yet he accomplished much in just (3) decades. Stylizing athletes, models and musicians was the focus of his work ... shooting on beaches and deserts near LA served as his backdrop. But it is his sensual eye that sets Ritts apart from many of his contemporaries. Polished. Some may say he is commercial, but in the end, I'd say that he's commercial b/c of the allure of his sensual eye. That is polished. *** Exhibit 03Apr thru 26Aug @ Getty. ***

This exhibition was definitely the high of my day !!!…read more I went to visit the Getty center. It happened to be the last day of the exhibition. I was very impressed by Herb Ritts work and I hadn't felt that amazed in a long long time. If you couldn't go there, buy the book, it's worth it !

Wow! We never knew this Museum existed, but are so happy to have enjoyed our recent first visit…read more Founded in 1977 & debuting in 1984 as the XXII Olympics in Los Angeles were also opening, the California African American Museum (CAAM) is rich with history. As the first state-funded African American Museum in the United States, the CAAM is a gem worth visiting. Nestled in the heart of Exposition Park proudly amongst the historic sunken Rose Garden, the California Science Center, the Museum of Natural History, & the newly opened Lucas Museum of Narrative Art, the CAAM displays rotating exhibitions & houses a permanent collection of 5,000 objects featuring thought-provoking sculptures, paintings, modern & contemporary art, & focuses on African American history, culture, music, & more. Luckily, we visited on a day when the Museum was practically empty. This enabled us to take our time at each exhibit & experience the Museum as if it were a private showing...what a treat! Visiting the CAAM was a wonderful learning experience, & the staff were very welcoming, helpful, & friendly. Can't wait to return! Know Before You Go: * Admission is totally 100% free, & reservations are NOT required. * Although not far from the Metro, there is very convenient close parking for $20.00 (flat rate) in the adjacent lot. * Interested in a particular exhibition or event? Check out the CAAM website before you visit as they do rotate regularly.

Such a gem! There are so many great galleries here, and I really appreciated how much range there…read morewas between the exhibits. The jazz music area was one of my favorites. The whole space had such a smooth, vibey atmosphere, and there were places to sit and just take it all in. Honestly, I could have stayed there for a while just listening and looking around. The history exhibits were especially powerful. They don't shy away from difficult or complicated parts of history, and I really appreciated that. There was also a thoughtful exhibit highlighting LGBTQ+ experiences within Black communities and POC communities, which I loved seeing represented. It felt like the museum wasn't just telling one broad version of history, but making space for the different identities, experiences, and stories that exist within it. You can really tell the exhibits were put together with care. There's a lot of context and depth, and it feels like the goal is genuinely to educate and preserve these stories rather than just put objects behind glass. I found myself stopping to read a lot more than I expected. The location is also fantastic, especially since it's so close to the other museums in the area. Easy to make this part of a whole museum day. The staff were wonderful too. They were super kind about explaining the exhibits and even suggested how we might want to walk through them, which was really helpful. Really lovely museum with a lot of substance. Definitely worth visiting, especially if you're already in the museum district.

While visiting LACMA for another exhibit, I noticed Metropolis II on the first floor of the BCAM…read more When I asked one of the museum personnel if it ever ran, he told me to come back at 1:30 and it would operate for an hour. This was a Friday. Precisely at 1:30, a woman entered the inner part of the sculpture and started the different areas to send the 1,100 cars along the 18 highways that make up Metropolis II. She also gets the small trains running that are closer to the floor. Make sure you walk up the steps and look down and watch the cars as they go up the ramp and then split to the individual highways. I was in awe of the precision needed to get this running the way it does and the planning needed to pull it off. After about 10 minutes, I had watched enough and the kid in me was satisfied. Besides, I had to get to DTLA to check in to my hotel.

The image of cars and trains zooming along elevated, crisscrossing roadways and tracks and hulking…read moreskyscrapers rising up out of a dense cityscape have been fixtures of the dystopian imagination ever since Fritz Lang, in his 1927 silent movie classic, Metropolis, combined grand scale and modern malaise in a way that has indelibly cast the worst of what's to come in urban terms. For this reason, it would be hard not to hark back to Lang's work; but, Chris Burden, additionally, has also deliberately referenced Lang's masterpiece by name. This might be a dubious (and even a failed) move by an artist out to score cheap points if Metropolis II, in its mass of fabricated steel, aluminum, wood, and plastic weren't, in actuality, such a dead-on reminder of Lang's cinematic original. Although Metropolis II is a sculpture, it is a kinetic one (complete with a flow of traffic and frenetic movements that dramatize its message very purposefully) and that, unquestionably, reveals its essence much more than a static presence ever could. When all of the switches have been turned on and its more than 1,000 miniature cars zip by on its 18 roadways that curl around an assortment of skyscrapers and buildings, Chris Burden's sculpture becomes a visual wonder to behold. Magnetically powered and traveling at 240 scale miles per hour (a ridiculous speed that makes it difficult for the eyes to follow), the cars, amazingly, do not crash into each other or sit helplessly in an immense traffic jam (as in some sort of future "carmageddon"). Instead, there is a gapless fluidity to the breakneck movements. The lone train, pulsing by at a much reduced speed, provides a calming baseline. Given its sheer size and intricate design, awe starts to inevitably creep in as one walks around the huge contraption. Who would not marvel at its inner workings? Who can avoid trying to discern how it is pieced together or not gawk at the various levels of roadways and tracks to admire their spellbinding juxtaposition, metallic hues, the dazzling colors of the model buildings, or at the beautiful multi-tiered components of the skyscrapers? On a mezzanine level, museum goers can even view Metropolis II from above (as if doing a traffic report). Metropolis II is, supposedly, Chris Burden's vision of what Los Angeles might look like in five to ten years (with a burst of infrastructure and a network of even more freeways elevated above street-level and with what Burden describes as driverless cars that only carry passengers). Driverless technology already exists; but, Burden sees this technology being exponentially exploited to create seamless, coordinated high speed travel that would end all gridlock. Unlike Lang's vision, Burden's vision of a future Metropolis is less dystopian if for no other reason than the fact that L.A.'s ongoing traffic headaches are seemingly solved. It is a hopeful vision that Fritz Lang, in all likelihood, would have understood...even if he never did frustratingly endure rush hour traffic on the 405.

I recently discovered this gem, a sanctuary of art, heart and inspiration. You can feel the love…read morethat Aziza, the owner, has put into her gallery! As soon as I walked in, I felt the vibrant energy and beautiful art inviting me in. Unique to the AzziArt Gallery, they just started doing an 'art cafe' called 'Food for the Soul.' You get an art menu to choose from, whether you want to paint in watercolor or acrylic. Even better, along with your art materials, you get a complimentary cup of coffee or tea! The gallery is a powerhouse of creation, offering art classes, face painting, art therapy, and studio space. In addition, they have other beautiful community events like, art shows, book signings, etc. Whether you're looking to create art or envelop yourself in the world of art, AzziArt Gallery is truly one of a kind place!

I had a truly special experience with Aziza on such a meaningful day as Christmas…read more Her kindness and patience make the creative process beautiful and relaxed from the very first moment. Aziza is not only an exceptional artist, but also an excellent painting teacher, capable of guiding with sensitivity, a deep love for art, and true dedication. The treatment was impeccable, and the final painting turned out magnificent--deep and very special--a piece that conveys emotion and care in every detail. Without a doubt, an experience I highly recommend. Thank you, Aziza, for creating art from the heart and for making this day unforgettable