Arts & Culture

Where's Our Grand Public Art?

By Eric Richardson — August 07, 2008
31 Comments

New York City's East River is home to a different view than usual this summer, thanks to the New York City Waterfalls. The four man-made structures are 90 to 120 feet high, and were constructed at a cost of $15.5 million. After spending the week in NYC and encountering the falls from different angles, I have to ask: where is Los Angeles' similarly grand temporary...

Pershing Square Framed with Art and Music

By Ed Fuentes — August 07, 2008

"Crossroads" is the successful inaugural show for Art Squared Gallery, now on display in Pershing Square under the direction of Mark Walsh and Debbie Cable (until August 20th). The group show almost saves the park's banal purple wall with six installations of vinyl panels reproducing works in photography, photo collage and paintings, carefully placed in 8 feet...

Performances Keeping Downtown Night Life Active in August

By Ed Fuentes — August 05, 2008

August doesn't slow down Downtowners wanting to hit the streets and have a surreal night out as the New LATC opens "Portrait of the Architect in Ruins" this weekend. "It's not your grandparents play . . it's edgy." says New LATC's Andrew Shafer, the young producer who wants to challenge what Downtown theater can become. Another goal of the New LATC is to offer...

Cornerstone Theater Company's New Play is Close to Home

By Ed Fuentes — August 03, 2008
3 Comments

Cornerstone Theater Company’s new play “atTraction” is using the Arts District street as a stage and the buildings between East 3rd and Hewitt as the set. Now, in the final week of rehearsals, the lines between reality and storytelling are getting blurry. A man riding a scooter darted through the closed-off street after a motorcyclist rehearsed riding past...

Mark Taper Forum Reopens After $30 Million Renovation

By Eric Richardson — July 30, 2008
1 Comment

On Tuesday morning, Music Center and Center Theatre Group officials proudly unveiled the new Mark Taper Forum, showing off the results of a year-long, $30 million renovation project. While those who had visited the space before will quickly notice the expanded lobby, new lounge and greatly expanded restroom facilities, the real highlight of the work is the...

Olive's the Spot for Wednesday Entertainment, Offering Shorts and Music

By Eric Richardson — July 29, 2008

Wednesday's the night for free things to do on Olive, as a pair of event series kick off on opposite sides of the street. The Downtown Film Festival's "Shorts & Sweets" lunchtime screening series opens at noon in the Biltmore Hotel, and then just a few hours later Pershing Square kicks off its Wednesday Evening Concert Series at 8pm.

FIDM Museum Highlights Costume Work for TV

By Eric Richardson — July 28, 2008
5 Comments

When "The Outstanding Art of Television Costume Design" opens tomorrow at the FIDM Museum, visitors will get the chance to take a peek at work that spans five decades of TV history. The show is co-presented with the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences, and includes an emphasis on work nominated for the 2008 Primetime Emmys. Nominated costumes are featured...

Central Ave Jazz Kickoff Recognizes Little Tokyo's Place in History

By Ed Fuentes — July 23, 2008
7 Comments

This weekend, jazz aficionados pay homage to the days when Central Avenue was a mandatory stop on the national jazz circuit. From 1900 to 1950, the Dunbar Hotel housed A-list musicians playing local spots like Club Alabam, the DownBeat, Ivie’s Chicken Shack, the Last Word, and the Memo Club. Only the more zealous historian will know Little Tokyo's place in jazz...

Downtown Film Festival Announces August Lineup

By Eric Richardson — July 22, 2008
2 Comments

The Downtown Film Festival, coming to Broadway and the Arts District in August, has announced its programming lineup. The festival claims to feature more than 200 films over its five days. It opens at the Orpheum on August 13th with IFC’s “In Search of a Midnight Kiss,” by director Alex Holdridge. It closes with the documentary "Flow," from director Irena...

GP Scenes: The Real Tuesday Weld, Lal Meri

By Eric Richardson — July 19, 2008

Friday night saw The Real Tuesday Weld and Lal Meri on the watercourt for Grand Performances, in a show that KCRW's Chris Douridas told you to come out and enjoy. A comfortably full crowd was on hand to enjoy a night of music, with fans of both bands mixing with those who simply stopped in to check out the scene.

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Neon Museum Casts Its Otherworldly Glow
The Wall Street Journal takes a look at the Museum of Neon Art. The institution moved into the Historic Core this spring, but needs a permanent home with more space.Sep 03
Know Your Markets
The Packer, the “business newspaper of the produce industry,” takes a look at Downtown’s markets and finds almost all of them booming.Sep 02
City of Angels is golden again
Columnist Ginny Prior was in town taking her daughter to USC and decided to get by without a car on their visit. She was impressed by how Downtown has developed.Aug 28
Public-Private Chain of Command at Staples Center
Government Technology looks at the relationship between Staples Center’s security personnel and local law enforcement. The piece talks about the facility’s $3 million security system, which includes a 24-hour command center. Aug 28
Twittering a Birth
Ginny-Marie Case is over at Good Samaritan giving birth to a baby girl. Her twitters made it to Silicon Valley tech gossip blog Valleywag.Aug 27
N.Y. Times Reviews Taper Redesign
The NYT looks at the redesigned Mark Taper Forum, which we covered in July. Favorite line: “Watching a show load into this building was like watching a snake swallow a rodent,” said Jonathan Lee, the Taper’s production manager for the last 20 years. Aug 26
Katsuya to Open Downtown Sushi School
Master sushi chef Katsuya Uechi and food importer Mutual Trading Co. are opening a sushi chef school next to one of Mutual’s facilities on 4th street.Aug 25
Margaret Cho on the Fashion District
Metromix does a Q&A with Margaret Cho about her love of shopping in the Fashion District.Aug 20