LA Art News February 2019

LA ART NEWS A R T S A N D C U LT U R E F O R A L L O F L O S A N G E L E S VOLUME 6 NO. 11

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FEBRUARY 2019

THE CREATIVE ECONOMY

ARTS AND CULTURE DRIVE LOS ANGELES AND CALIFORNIA It has long been known intuitively that arts are a backbone of the California and Los Angeles economies. But it takes hard statistics to make a case for funding for arts and culture and for programming that supports the place of the arts in education, business, new infrastructure, and neighborhood life.

That is were the Otis Report on the Creative Economy comes in. Now in its 11th year of publication, the 254-page document tells us that in California, the creative economy supports 2.6 million jobs.

“The tempo for the success of this moment isn’t based on simply what’s in one’s gut, and intuitive impulse, but it’s really data-driven,” said Los Angeles County Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas at the document’s release February 1. “And as a policy maker, I look to data to inform the course of decisions that I seek to make…Show me your budgets, and I’ll show you what you care about.

Show me your data, and I’ll tell you what you’re working on, what you invest your time in, where your energies are directed, and ultimately where our dollars from the public Share of Employment in L.A. County sector are spent.

by Creative Sector, 2017 Without that foundation, you can’t get the job done. For the job is important to do, and it’s not easy, but we’re committed.”

The annual report is commissioned by Otis College of Art and Design. It is now prepared by Beacon Economics. In addition to providing economic data to back the role of arts in the public sector, it provides interesting snapshots of how the arts function in the State and in its various regions, including Los Angeles County specifically.

“When I think about the seamstress in Burbank, the leather goods and textile manufacturer in the Inland Empire, and the workers at a digital media company in Culver City, the entrepreneur in Leimert Park,” said Supervisor Ridley-Thomas, “they all have a contribution that they make to the creative sector.”

Beacon Economics tracks 65 industries of the creative economy. These industries are grouped into five more general sectors: Entertainment and Digital Media (which includes almost half of the industries studied, including film, publishing, broadcasting, emerging digital media, sound production, and recording), Fashion (including apparel design, manufacturing, and wholesaling), Creative Goods (including manufacture, warehouse, import, and export; a diverse sector with goods ranging from furniture and toys to cars and user experiences),

The Otis Report on the Creative Economy

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VALLEY GIRL REDEFINED The Experience Versus the Myth

“Panorama City was just being developed and everything seemed new. We didn’t have the luxury or burden of a long history or tradition, so we made life up as it came to us.

What we lacked in big city sophistication, I believe we made up for in freedom and creativity.”

--Darlene Mellein, Van Nuys The San Fernando Valley is a vast place, and its population is varied. Yet, somehow, its residents and its ways of life get relegated to marginal in most depictions of the broader region, with Valley Girls remembered as white, mall-dwelling, and maybe not all that bright. For most girls of the San Fernando Valley, the term “Valley Girl” did not refer to them.

But “Valley Girl Redefined,” at Glendale’s Brand Library and Art Center, puts the many experiences of coming of age female in the Valley front and center.

The large exhibit presents works by 23 contemporary artists, working in a wide variety of mediums including painting, photography, video, mixed media, assemblage, and zines. But, although the curators Karla Klarin, Poolroots, acrylic on 3D, 1981 have cast a large net in terms of materials and subject matter, all of the works are firmly rooted in terms of place.

The curators also include an exhibit of story-telling, highlighting experiences of Valley Girls.

“We made friends with children of rock stars, raised by housekeepers in the mansions on top of the hill. We also made friends with children of absent parents living in tiny apartments, raised by a single grandparent or guardian on a McDonald’s budget. We knew fortune had smiled upon us, having been gifted a pretty traditional family in the backyard of Tinseltown.” --Lizzie Brandt, North Hollywood A number of the women depicted became barrier-breakers and leaders in civic and cultural life-women such as Virginia Torres, the first woman hired at the Van Nuys General Motors plant (She was 19.)and Los Angeles City Councilmember Monica Rodriguez (who became a community activist while in high school).

“I think it’s a really unique opportunity for us to tell a different kind of story of the history of the San Fernando Valley,” said Councilmember Monica Rodriguez.

Valley Girl Redefined was conceived and curated by 11:11 A Creative Collective, which has become a major force for arts in the Valley through art walks, festivals, curated exhibits, public art, Kathi Flood, The End of Suburbia, etching collage, 2017 continued on page 2

continued from page 1

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and education workshops. The principals of the collective are Erin Stone and Addy Gonzalez Renteria.

Valley Girl Redefined will be at the Brand Library and Art Center in Glendale’s Brand Park through March 22. At a recent recognition of the curators at a Los Angeles City Council meeting, Council-member Rodriguez announced that the exhibit will then move to her district in the east San Fernando Valley. Councilmember Bob Blumenfield added that he would like to bring it to the west San Fernando Valley as well.

“In all of L.A.’s neighborhoods,” said Department of Cultural Affairs General Manager Danielle Brazell (who is also included in the show), “there is no absence of creativity, but there is oftentimes an absence of structures or spaces...systems of acknowledgement where people can connect.”

Exhibits like Valley Girl Redefined and organizations like 11:11 A Creative Collective are changing that reality, and in the process depicting Los Angeles in its totality.

“This exhibit is about how to show the San Fernando Valley in a new light, in a different light,” said co-curator Erin Stone.

VALLEY GIRL REDEFINED curated by 11:11 A Creative Collective Brand Library & Art Center 1601 West Mountain Street, Glendale through March 22 www.glendaleca.gov

Vivian Shih, Elysian Park, acrylic ink on paper, 2017 Vivian Shih, Street Elemental, acrylic ink on paper, 2017 Vivian Shih, CactiLand / Traffic Jam Diptych, acrylic ink on paper, 2017

Featuring: Rachel Apthorp, Judy Baca, Hilary Baker, Lynn Coleman, Gioj DeMarco, Kathi Flood, Ashley Hagen, Janna Ireland, Casey Kauffmann, Water Kerner, Karla Klarin, Constance Mallinson, Rain Lucien Matheke, Ashley Mistriel, Robin Mitchell, Michelle Nunes, Erika Ostrander, Sarah Ponce, Christina Ramos, Monica Sandoval, Vivian Shih, Erin Stone, Emily Sudd, and San Fernando Valley Zine Fest

Karla Klarin, Los Angeles 2012 oil on canvas, 2012

Janna Ireland, The Orange Grove Janna Ireland, Orange Trees special edition digital c-prints, 2012

Judith F. Baca, Judith F. Baca as La Pachuca, 1976, From the Tres Marias performance by Judy Baca, circa 1975

Michelle Nunes, Parallax video on loop, dried flowers, lotion, blush, colored light, fan, ladder, broom, 2017

Ashley Hagen, Home is wood, mirror, house paint and mixed media, 2017-2018

Christina Ramos, Girl with Chicken, acrylic on canvas, 2018

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Casey Kauffman, IRL, 300 iPhone collages and GIFs printed on PVC and displayed on iPad mini, 20142018 (detail)

3 continued from page 1 Architectural Services (including architecture, interior design, landscape design, and drafting services), Fine Arts and Performing Arts (including theater and dance companies, art galleries, musical groups, performing arts companies, and museums).

But the issue of what constitutes the creative economy is complicated. Dr. Robert Kleinhenz, chief author of the report for Beacon Economics, pointed out at the document release that creative industries require people of non-creative occupations, such as accounting, and non-creative industries have to have good people of creative occupations, such as graphic designers.

The five primary sectors of the creative economy as defined The creative economy is, therefore, understood to encompass: (1) workers with creative by the Otis Report occupations working in creative industries; (2) workers with creative occupations working in all other industries or in “non-creative” industries; and (3) workers with noncreative occupations working in the creative industries.

In Los Angeles and Orange Counties, 414,945 people are directly employed in the creative professions. But with the ripple effect of this employment through indirect and induced employment, a more realistic estimate is that 864,958 people owe their jobs to the creative economy, and creative industries account for a very significant portion of county and state economies.

According to the Otis Report, “Creative industries directly account for around 11% of Los Angeles County’s total employment and are a source of high-paying jobs for the County’s economy.”

Most sectors of the creative economy have experienced job increases since the State began to emerge from the economic recession in 2010. This is especially true of architecture and fine arts. The exception has been the field of fashion; while the design aspect has remained strong, the industry has lost many local jobs in manufacturing, a trend of many years running.

The creative economy stretches across all of California, and just about every community has some aspect of it located within. However, 51% of the State’s creative economy is located in Los Angeles and Orange Counties.

In Los Angeles and Orange Counties, 65% of the creative industry jobs are in the fields grouped under entertainment and digital media (about 280,000 jobs), followed by fashion (19%), creative goods and products (9%), fine and performing arts (4%), and architecture and related services (3%).

The big growth in job numbers in Los Angeles/Orange Counties is in the field of emerging digital media.

“We have to remind ourselves,” says Dr. Kleinhenz, “that there are so many industries that have gone global with this digital media revolution, and we are ground zero for the creative aspect of that.”

Architecture jobs also benefit from this global reach and from L.A.’s position on the Pacific Rim, in addition to a local building boom.

“When we look at how these respective components of the creative economy are doing,” said Dr. Kleinhenz, “…we also need to look at what’s happening with wages.”

In Los Angeles and Orange Counties, the average wage in 2017 was about $61,000. Architecture, entertainment and digital media, and fine arts surpass that average, and for employment in creative sectors, the average wage hit $109,000.

For the State of California, the average wage is about $65,000, but with less tendency for the creative professions to surpass the median. These are wage and salary jobs, exclusive of the independent contractor component. Of course, the creative sectors are also populated with independent contractors—actors supporting themselves by waiting tables, freelance designers, etc., who are not the beneficiaries of these high-wage jobs.

From 2010 to 2017, job growth in creative fields in the Los Angeles area was 9.5%, compared to 14.4% in non-creative employment. However, wage growth in creative fields was 26%, compared with 17.2% in non-creative employment. High wage creative sector jobs tend to require educational background (51% of employees in creative industries in L.A. have bachelor’s degrees, one-third in non-creative industries), tying the creative economy to issues of public education, college access, and training programs.

This year’s Otis Report zooms in on Los Angeles more closely than it has previously, offering images of just where the various creative sectors are functioning. It’s no surprise that the entertainment industry extends heavily from the Westside in a swath through Downtown and to the San Fernando Valley. But not everyone knows that there is a furniture district in South Los Angeles. Such information is potentially valuable in terms of arts education, training programs, neighborhood economic development, and cultural tourism—as well as of interest to anyone curious about the history of Los Angeles or its present day diversity.

“Contained within these millions of jobs and billions of dollars is the statement that we have been making the right investments, the smart investments, good investments, wholesome investments, and they are showing results,” said Supervisor Ridley-Thomas.

“Los Angeles County continues to be the premiere global hub for creative talent, which underpins its strong creative economy,” says the report, “but, this advantage should not be taken for granted or assumed to be unshakable. The creative industries are thriving in part because of the region’s reputation for openness and diversity and its ability to adapt to an evolving set of economic and social inputs for thriving urban life.”

“But we can’t stop,” said the Supervisor. “…this is the story of how we will continue to chart a course for the future, while leaving something for ourselves but also for generations to come.”

The Otis Report is sponsored by the California Arts Council, Supervisor Ridley-Thomas, Metro, City of Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs, City National Bank, Endeavor, Arthur J. Gallagher, and Moss Adams.

The entire Otis Report on the Creative Economy may be viewed at www.otis.edu.

THRIFT SHOP FINDS

First in a Series by Artist Ted Meyer www.tedmeyer.com

ART ON THE WALL

SHOP ART +

FUN GIFTS IN

EAGLE ROCK

& ONLINE! 5024 EAGLE ROCK BLVD, LOS ANGELES, CA 90041

LeannaLinsWonderland.com

MON - THUR: 12 -7PM FRI - SUN: 11AM -6PM

LA ART NEWS

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A WALK IN THE CLOUDS CINDY PARRA AT GALLERY 30 SOUTH

Cindy Parra is an Art Center graduate with a BFA in Fine Art. She’s taken her lifelong obsession with horses and unicorns into a rarely imagined and often hyper-sexualized, post-ironic performance art. A sort of Dame Darcy by way of Mickalene Thomas, Cindy’s pubescent renderstyle is pure, faux naïve profanity dressed-up in princess drag. Her exhibitions use installation and absenteeism to make a statement about privilege, vanity, consumerism, identity, gender bias, the gaze and fetishism. Her fun, fabulous, thought- provoking, and often explicit drawings and paintings are ludicrously inexpensive, which is part of her art activism.

Ms. Parra’s horses, unicorns, pegasi, and their glittering domains, are on view this month at Gallery 30 South in Pasadena.

CINDY PARRA aka @HORSEANDUNICORNDRAWINGS A WALK IN THE CLOUDS FEBRUARY 3 – 24 Gallery 30 South 30 South Wilson Avenue, Pasadena www.gallery30south.com Artist Reception: Sunday, February 10, 3-6 p.m.

Cindy Parra, A Walk in the Clouds

Cindy Parra, Post Frolic

Cindy Parra at Gallery 30 South

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FEELS LIKE A NEW DAY!

STAFF

Changes are in the air...I’m working on a new look for the paper and will be bringing that out to share for the April issue, which will mark the beginning of our 7th year.

What? Time flies when you’re covering the greatest creative economy in the world.

Did I say that out loud? Yup, just read the cover article about the Otis Report.

Publisher/ Creative Director Cathi Milligan Managing Editor Margaret Arnold Contributors: Margaret Arnold, Cornelius Peter, Brian Mallman, Amy Inouye, Stuart Rapeport, Cathi Milligan, Jennifer Hitchcock, Jeremy Kaplan, Harvey Slater, Madame X, Larisa Code, Tomas Benitez, Matt Kennedy, Ted Meyer, Margaret Rozga LA Art News is published monthly at the beginning of each month.

LA Art News is available free of charge. No person may, without prior written permission from LA Art News, take more than one copy of each monthly issue.

Additional copies of the current issue are available for $1, payable in advance, at LA Art News office. Only authorized LA Art News distributors may distribute the LA Art News.

Copyright No news stories, illustrations, editorial matter or advertisements herein can be reproduced without written consent of copyright owner.

What else is exciting? The Democrats investigating Trump...makes me giddy just thinking about it. The teachers are back to work. We have plenty of pictures of all the demonstrations that helped drive it home, the teachers need change. Smaller class size, nurses, librarians, and better pay. We have a view of the LA Art Show, in case you missed it. Lots of great art and a fabulous time. Can’t wait for next year. Put it in your calendar.

So enjoy this short month...spring is right around the corner. Now go make something!!

Thanks, Cathi Milligan Publisher LA Art News

How to reach us LA Art News 5668 York Blvd.

Los Angeles, CA 90042 323-387-9705 Contributions cathi@laartnews.com Calendar information margaretnelaart@gmail.com Sales - cathi@laartnews.com sign up for our newsletter at laartnews.com Where’s Monica?

INDUSTRIOUS: FOLKE Paintings, sketches, inkings, sculpture, and illustrations spanning four generations of one Glendale/Eagle Rock family of artists Center for the Arts Eagle Rock

Miss Mindy, Back on Your Horse Custom Art Toy created on her grandfather Ralph Johnstone’s wooden horse Sophie Metzger, Cecilia

CJ Metzger, Secret Lives of Dolls and Muses (left) CJ Metzger and Miss Mindy, Idolette (right)

Through February Center for the Arts Eagle Rock 2225 Colorado Boulevard www.cfaer.org

RUMBLE - THE INDIANS WHO ROCKED THE WORLD PJ Vegas and his father, Pat Vegas of the legendary Native rock group Redbone, perform at a celebration of “Rumble, The Indians Who Rocked the World,” January 15 at The Theatre at the Ace Hotel. Sponsored by Independent Lens, PBS SoCal, and the Autry Museum.

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GOVERNMENT NOTES

CITY COUNCIL REVAMPS ARTS COMMITTEE The Los Angeles City Council has a revamped committee structure, impacting how arts-related issues will move through the Council.

A new Council Committee with a lot of responsibilities has been formed—the “Health, Education, Neighborhoods, Parks, Arts, and River Committee.” The new committee basically represents a merger of two previous committees.

The new committee is chaired by Councilmember David Ryu. Councilmember Mitch O’Farrell, who chaired the former Arts, Entertainment, Parks and River Committee, will now chair the Homelessness and Poverty Committee. He will, however, serve as vice chair of Health, Education, Neighborhoods, Parks, Arts, and River.

Councilmember Curren Price will serve as the third member of the committee.

The committee will oversee such arts issues as developer

Los Angeles City Councilmember Mitch O’Farrell

Los Angeles City Councilmember Curren Price

Los Angeles City Councilmember David Ryu

fees that provide funds for public art projects and ordinances regarding public murals.

KEEPING ARTS IN SCHOOLS As tax preparation season gets underway, the California Arts Council reminds the public that taxpayers can support arts education programs through the Keep Arts in Schools Voluntary Contribution Fund. Individuals may make tax-deductible contributions in amounts of $1 or more through the Voluntary Contribution portion of 2018 state tax returns.

FEDERAL FUNDING FOR ARTS Americans for the Arts and the Arts Action Fund have been honored by the Public Affairs Council for their effective advocacy efforts in saving the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA). The NEA had been targeted by the White House for elimination, but after public pressure, Congress decided not only to keep the NEA, but to increase funding in the pending federal budget. The Arts Action Fund is currently working to increase funding for the arts in the coming years and looking ahead to a role in the 2020 election.

CALIFORNIA ARTS COUNCIL Just before completing his term of office, California Governor Jerry Brown made two appointments to the California Arts Council.

Jodie Evans of Los Angeles is a new appointmee. Ms. Evans has been a peace, environmental, women’s rights and social justice activist for over forty-five years.

She is the co-founder of CODEPINK that works to stop US Military interventions overseas, promotes diplomatic solutions and Peace. She served in the administration of Governor Jerry Brown and ran his presidential campaigns. She published two books, “Stop the Next War Now” and “Twilight of Empire,” and produced several documentary films, including the Oscar and Emmy-nominated “The Most Dangerous Man in America,” And “The Square.” and Naomi Klein’s; “This Changes Everything”.

She sits on many boards, including 826LA, Rainforest Action Network, Institute for Policy Studies, People’s Support Foundation, Center for A New Economy and Drug Policy Alliance. This position requires Senate confirmation.

Louise McGuinness of Oakland is a reappointment. Ms. McGuinness has been a working artist since 1970, and presently serves on the Women’s Board of the Oakland Museum of California. She has been a member of the Board since 2010 and previously served on its Acquisitions and Grants Committees. As a jewelry artist/craftswoman whose business is established under the name “These Hands,” McGuinness was part of the burgeoning American Crafts Movement and participated in the groundbreaking first City of Omaha Crafts show in 1971. Her award-winning work has been exhibited at shows on both coasts, in galleries across the United States, and at the World’s Fair in Spain. In the 1980s she established a studio to teach young artists her techniques and in 2001 began a solo practice, emphasizing one-of-a-kind and limited edition work. This position requires Senate confirmation.

Council Members Phoebe Beasley, Christopher Coppola, Steven Oliver, and Rosalind Wyman have completed their appointed terms as of January 1, 2019.

MAKING PUBLIC SPACES SAFER FOR WOMEN AND GIRLS A newly announced initiative seeks to make public spaces safer for women and girls. The initiative, “Safe Cities LA,” conducted in coordination with the UN Safe Cities Day, was presented at the January 18 Los Angeles City Council meeting by Councilmember Nury Martinez, Department of Transportation (DOT) General Manager Seleta Reynolds, and the Commission on the Status of Women.

“The initiative’s main goal is to make public spaces safer for women and girls,” said Councilmember Martinez, “This includes spaces such as plazas, markets, but also includes public transit busses and trains. The lack of gender-sensitive transit services has a negative impact on the lives of women. This is occurring world-wide. Women of all religions and cultures are impacted, but especially those living in poverty. When women do not feel safe taking public busses or trains, they are held back from pursuing their goals. This includes education, jobs, everyday activities like grocery shopping.”

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“If a woman can’t take the train or a bus to work or to school because she’s afraid of being groped or harassed, then we’re failing her,” said Councilmember Martinez.

“Right now in Los Angeles, nearly a third of female Metro riders report having experienced a sexual harassment incident while riding Metro. As a city, we have the responsibility to make women feel safe and secure in Los Angeles.”

Ms. Reynolds, who rides the bus or bikes to work herself. reported that DOT is putting together a needs assessment to see what women in our city are not able to do because our transportation fails them.

“Our transportation system was designed for you if you are a white collar nine-tofive worker, mostly male,” said Ms. Reynolds. “But if you are a woman, or if you’re a child, or if you’re an older adult or a person with disabilities, it fails you, and when it fails you, it fails our city, because it keeps us from opportunity, it keeps us from doing things to make lives better for our family, for our children, for our neighborhoods, and for all of us.”

CITY COUNCIL AFFIRMS SUPPORT FOR ARTS The Los Angeles City Council went on record in January in support of any legislation that protects the current funding level, and increases in future budgets, support for the National Endowment for the Arts, the National Endowment for the Humanities, and the Institute of Museum and Library Services.

The Council also affirmed its support at the state level for the California Arts Council and the Department of Education Arts and Educational Programming.

TOURISM IN LA REACHES 50 MILLION VISITORS Los Angeles reached a historic milestone in 2018, welcoming 50 million visitors for the first time ever and accomplishing the destination’s ambitious tourism goal two years early. The new record is 1.5 million visitors higher than 2017’s total—a 3.1% increase, marking the eighth-consecutive year of tourism growth for Los Angeles.

The statistics include both domestic and international visitors.

The strongest international gain was in visitors from China with 1.2 million visitors, a 6.9% increase. Los Angeles is the most popular U.S. destination for Chinese travelers. Other nations with strong upticks in visitors to Los Angeles include the U.K, Japan, Scandinavian Los Angeles Tourism and Convention Board countries, and India.

President and CEO Ernest Wooden Jr., Mayor “Los Angeles is a place Eric Garcetti, City Council President Herb where everyone is welcome, Wesson, and Councilmember Joe Buscaino and tourism strengthens our announce that the City has passed its goal diversity, grows our economy, of 50,000,000 tourists two years ahead of and supports good-paying schedule jobs for families across our city,” said Mayor Eric Garcetti. “Surpassing 50 million annual visitors two years ahead of schedule is the latest milestone in our ongoing work to bring Los Angeles to the world, and the world to Los Angeles.”

Tourism supports arts and culture in Los Angeles in more than one way. Certainly the lure of L.A. venues and direct spending by tourists on arts and culture are important. But also, hotel tax dollars are used locally to fund the City’s Cultural Affairs Department spending on local level arts programming.

The Los Angeles Tourism and Convention Board serves as the official destination marketing and sales organization for the City, promoting vacation and convention travel and the advancement of the tourism economy.

CREATING OPPORTUNITIES IN THE ENTERTAINMENT INDUSTRY Mayor Eric Garcetti’s Evolve Entertainment Fund (EEF), a public-private partnership that creates new career opportunities for communities that have been historically excluded from the entertainment industry, is moving forward.

The Mayor has announced the appointments of Theresa Kang An example of a community way-finding installation, installed by LA Más in and Amir Shahkhalili, Partners at Cypress Park WME, and Kevin Iwashina, Senior Associate at Endeavor Content, to aid in enlisting some of L.A. business leaders in the effort. Launched last year with filmmaker Ava Duvernay and more than 60 companies, the EEF is dedicated to building career pathways into film, television, and music for women, people of color, and low-income Angelenos through paid internships, focused mentoring, and an ongoing series of workshops and panels. The program aims to serve 1,000 Angelenos by the end of 2020. The Annenberg Inclusion Initiative has also joined the effort, embarking on a comprehensive study of diversity in L.A.’s entertainment industry, with a focus on below-the-line career opportunities.

MAKING LOCAL PROJECTS POSSIBLE When a community group or a nonprofit comes forward with a proposal to create an artwork or a way-finding installation unique to a neighborhood, the artists and activists often find themselves encountering red tape, blockages, and expenses. The

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City Council, under a motion introduced by Councilmembers Joe Buscaino and Bob Blumenfield, is looking to remedy that situation.

The Council passed a motion in January to create a plan for a straightforward process for creation and maintenance of local projects—either by including such projects in an expanded version of the City’s well-established Adopt-a-Median program, or by creating another, similar program.

The program will apply only to projects costing under $100,000 and not displacing any city workers.

BIG CHANGES IN HOW WE VOTE Arts for LA partnered with the Los Angeles County Registrar Recorder/County Clerk’s Office in January to host a meeting at the Los Angeles Music Center to explain new voting procedures coming to Los Angeles in 2020. Beginning that year, voters will be able to cast their votes at any vote center regardless of location. Voting

GOVERNOR PROPOSES SUBSTANTIAL INCREASE IN ARTS FUNDING California Governor Gavin Newsom’s proposed state budget, issued in January, includes a substantial increase in funding for the arts. The Budget includes $10 million to expand grant programs that offer support for public access to the arts, arts education, and the state’s cultural infrastructure. The funds would be allocated through the California Arts Council.The increase brings the proposed general fund allocation for the California Arts Council to $26,083,000 for FY 2019-20.California Arts Council Chair Nashormeh Lindo and Executive Director Anne Bown-Crawford issued a joint statement in response

will take place across a span of 11 days, rather than one. Participants in the meeting were asked for input on appropriate sites for vote centers.

Arts for LA partnered with the Los Angeles County Registrar Recorder/County Clerk’s Office to take input on new voting procedures coming in 2020. to Governor Newsom’s proposed budget saying, “The California Arts Council is a leader in furthering key California values of innovation, creative expression, and community well-being. We are deeply grateful to Governor Newsom for immediately recognizing the critical role of the arts in creating opportunity, resilience, and a sense of belonging for all Californians, addressing the challenges facing Californians today. The ability to practice and demonstrate support of the arts, of culture and creativity speaks to our common humanity at a time when our national civic conversation is so often focused on division.

We look forward to working with the Administration and the Legislature throughout this year’s budget process in support of Governor Newsom’s vision of making the California Dream available to all.”

LA ART NEWS

SALES, RETURNS, NOTIFICATIONS, STORAGE: A GALLERY HAS YOUR ART; WHO’S RESPONSIBLE?

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by Matt Kennedy ARTIST FRIENDS: I have some important info that affects all of you about who is responsible for sales and returns of your art, and even notification about those things.

I recently saw a post by an artist who had heard through the grapevine that a gallery in possession of his work was closing and he had no way of contacting them in order to get paid or get his work returned.

In this artist’s case, he had their email, and their business line but hadn’t heard that they were closing until after they had closed their doors, shut down their website, and apparently disconnected their business line. He was able to get a personal cel phone number for one of the gallery’s (former) owners and work out a way to get his pieces returned. Disaster Averted!

As I read the comments in that thread, it became clear that a lot of artists are making the same mistakes that this artist had made, and which I am going to address right here: The burden of knowing is ALWAYS legally on the consignor (the person who sends their goods), not the consignee (the person who receives the goods).

I’ve been a gallery director for a very long time, and before that, a manager of consigned goods for decades. And even I was under the impression that as the consignee I had more legal responsibility than I actually do. It turns out that the legal definition of “abandoned,” varies state-to-state, but in California, it is defined as property left unclaimed after 30 days.

30 DAYS And to be clear: once abandoned, the possessor is the new owner, and there is no legal expectation that they need to return it even one day after the 30 day expiration date. They can keep, gift, sell, or destroy it as they see fit and no compensation is due to the party that abandoned it.

You’ve all seen Storage Wars, right?

Now before you all panic, a contract that outlines a specific term of business will supersede that 30 days. So, if you have signed a contract with a gallery for your solo exhibition, and it stipulates that they may opt to hold onto the work beyond the show dates, be sure to circle that date on your calendar (or program an alarm on your phone or computer), and contact them the day before to either arrange the return of that work based on the terms of your signed agreement, or extend the consignment with a new signed deal.

In most cases, you’ll have a signed contract that outlines who is responsible for shipping the work and who pays to ship it back, but often that second part isn’t articulated. There is an assumption that was once more common than it is now, that an artist pays to ship the work to the gallery and the gallery pays to ship it back. But if that isn’t specified, it is the artist who is responsible for both sending and receiving—regardless of any oral agreements.

Quite often, there are deadlines that articulate when an artist needs to retrieve their work.

This is especially common in group shows. Some group shows are one-night pop-ups, and so curators need artists to pick up their work because they only have the use of the space for a singe day, and may not have an ability to transport large pieces or large quantities of artworks, or even a place to store them. Still, many artists DON’T retrieve their work on time. So who is responsible for that artwork on the day after the Pop-up?

Generally, it is the Artist.

Some curators will opt to store the work for them, and some curators will leave the artwork in the space they rented, hoping that the person who owns the space they rented will hold onto it long enough for the artist to retrieve it. But if the curator has a signed agreement with the artist in which the artist has promised to pick up their work at the end of the night or the next day, it is the artist’s responsibility to do so. And if that artwork is left on a rented premises, and the owner of that rented space decides to throw it away or take it home, the artist is shit out of luck.

Many Pop-Up group shows are organized by non-professionals, though, and so there are rarely any contracts. That makes it harder to assign responsibility, but the burden of proof is on the consignor. If you don’t have a receipt for dropping off your artwork, you have no guarantees of its safety.

Galleries or other retail businesses have a slightly different obligation, and in the age of email, it is easier to track the acceptance and receipt of an artwork. It’s not as good as a signed contract, but many galleries do not offer contracts for group shows because of the sheer volume of paperwork that produces. A set of back-and-forth emails should suffice.

And if you are shipping your work to a gallery (rather than personally delivering it) you have the delivery confirmation as evidence that it was delivered. But you still need to be aware of the pick-up dates, and you need to fulfill the obligation of pick-up or arrange shipping. And, again, it is important to remember that 30 Day Abandonment rule.

Some galleries don’t manage their own shipping and that makes it more expensive to ship. In my group show contracts I articulate the costs and methods of shipping in the agreement itself. I still have over 100 coasters that have not been picked-up and are apparently legally abandoned. I can’t calculate the man-hours that have gone into emails and phone calls, and google searches and Facebook Messenger to try to reach people that dropped off unsigned artworks with no contact info on them. And when I finally do reach them three years later, instead of being happy that I contacted them with an offer to return their abandoned work, they’re pissed that I won’t personally drive their artwork back to San Diego or wherever. Seriously.

I had always been under the impression that (in lieu of a signed agreement or digital verification) a work was not considered abandoned for three years. It turns out that no such law has ever been in effect in California. Some states have laws about how long a business can hold onto down payments in transactions that have no articulated penalty for non-payment, and some of those states have a three year abandonment definition in regard to partial payments. That has led to speculation about whether the goods partially paid for in those transactions are also bound by a three year hold. But in cases that do not involve a sales transaction, the longest term I could locate was 60 days. And as I pointed out earlier, that isn’t California.

Some galleries are more communicative than others. Some galleries have staff, but many are mom and pop, or just single owner businesses. And I honestly believe that most people’s intentions are good, but just in case those people don’t have your best interests at heart, it is your responsibility to follow-up and inquire about sales and returns. And it is also your responsibility to provide updated info about your mailing address and PayPal account.

I can’t tell you how many times over the years I issued payment to an artist and they never got it because they didn’t update their payment info. After every Laluzapalooza at La Luz de Jesus I would get back no less than three checks, and four or five incomplete PayPal transactions. I would send dozens of emails each year to accounts that the artists were no longer using, but had not updated me about. I can only imagine that they were grumbling online about not getting paid, and yet they had never contacted me about it. So whenever I hear stories about galleries and non-payment I call the artist making the claim and try to get the full story.

I’ve personally intervened on behalf of at least a dozen artists to get them paid by galleries that seemed to have no intention of paying them, but what was more surprising to me was that artists would continue to do new commissions for galleries that weren’t paying them for previously sold works. I could write an even longer post about how to manage commissions.

Certainly, there are galleries and artists who have hand-shake agreements—some of which go back decades and both parties have been holding up their end and feel fine about continuing to do things that way. I’ll just say that hand-shakes don’t hold up in court. And honestly, most exhibition contracts are a single page and don’t really address penalties for either party in the event that agreements aren’t honored. I can’t tell you how many artists (you all know who you are) have signed agreements with stipulated exclusivities whose work popped up in a group show in the same city within a week of their solo shows. Repeatedly.

But I digress...

I wanted to share this so that neither my artist friends nor my gallerist friends were under the impression that their responsibilities were being incorrectly assumed.

Matt Kennedy is the owner of Gallery 30 South 30 South Wilson Avenue, Pasadena www.gallery30south.com

RIP, LYN KIENHOLZ Tireless promoter and chronicler of Los Angeles art and artists Art by Highland Park artist Stuart Rapeport

FEBRUARY 2019

SENTRY

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Kate Kelton at Cactus Gallery The images in Kate Kelton’s solo show “Sentry” at Cactus Gallery are immediately familiar. The large show is made up of portraits of major actresses—Gywneth, Angelina, Salma, and more. But this show reaches far deeper than any social media-style celebration of celebrity.

The women depicted are the Harvey Weinstein whistle-blowers. They are the women who came forward to reveal to the world the depth and breadth of violence against women in the Hollywood studio system.

Each of the women depicted is wearing a headdress, which serves at once as crown of honor and helmet for battle. The garb is the work of Ladislav Šaloun. Šaloun sculpted the images as ornamental features on the Prague Central Train Station and Ministry of Industry buildings, which Ms. Kelton’s great-grandfather Josef Fanta designed in 1901-1934.

Kate Kelton, TASHA Kate Kelton, HEATHER Kate Kelton, UMA Kate Kelton, ANGELINA Kate Kelton, SEAN

Ms. Kelton has used Photoshop to combine the faces of the women with black and white photos of the statues. She has then used graphite, inks, and acrylics to create final works on wood, paper, or canvas.

The results are striking in many ways. They are not plasticized images of idealized celebrities, but images of real women. But the women are not portrayed passively as victims, but rather as sturdy and intelligent. These are portraits of warrior goddesses.

SENTRY Solo Show by artist Kate Kelton Through February Cactus Gallery 3001 North Coolidge Avenue www.cactusgalleryla.com Part of the proceeds from the show will go toward helping survivors become trauma informed via the non-profit, Echo (www.echotraining.org). A selection of prints of Sentry’s images is available via Cactus Gallery.

Kate Kelton, TASHA Kate Kelton, HEATHER Kate Kelton, UMA

Kate Kelton, LENA Kate Kelton, ASHLEY

LA ART NEWS

LA ART SHOW

January, 2019 Los Angeles Convention Center 70K visitors 120 galleries 18 countries

Camille Rose Garcia accepts the Lifetime Achievement Award at Littletopia

Andrés Paredes, Argentina Presented by CCK, Buenos Aires

María Eugenia Trujillo, Dechado Mujer, Columbia Arte Al Límite collection, White Lies, Chile

Dan McCleary Robert Holmes Dan McCleary, The Blue Guide Robert E. Holmes Collection

MC Marquis Red Truck Gallery, New Orleans

Dosshaus, Entry arch to Littletopia

Han Young Took, Face Galerie Bhak, Seoul

Chuni Park, Black Landscape Back Art, Los Angeles/Seoul

FEBRUARY 2019

Anthony James, Melissa Morgan Fine Art

2019 KINGDOM DAY PARADE AND FREEDOM FESTIVAL Martin Luther King Boulevard and Leimert Park

Metro Hooper Cougars Antioch University

Centennial High School, Compton Kim Eung Hwa Korean Dance Company AIDS Healthcare Foundation

Live art with Enkone

Enkone

City Councilmember Mike Bonin and Council President Herb Wesson

Klymaxx on the Power 106 stage

LA ART NEWS

NELAart

14

On the Secon Elysian Valley, art and eateri the updated l

Northeast Los Angeles Arts Organization, Inc.

February 9, 2019 - 7pm - 10pm

(Individual Gallery Hours May Vary. CHECK Gallery web sites for individual information. Just because a gallery is listed does not mean it’s open this month)

39. Kindness and Mischief 5537 N. Figueroa St. www.kandmcoffee.com

1. Avenue 50 Studio 131 No. Avenue 50 323. 258.1435 avenue50studio.org

20. Toros Pottery 4962 Eagle Rock Blvd 323.344.8330 torospottery.com

2. Bike Oven 3706 No Figueroa

21. Kinship Yoga/Wonder Inc. 5612 Figueroa St.

3. Namaste Highland Park 5118 York Blvd. www.namastehighlandpark.com

22. Tierra de la Culebra 240 S. Ave 57

4. Offbeat 6316 York Blvd www.offbeatbar.com 5.Twinkle Toes 5917 N Figueroa St (818) 395-3454 6. Future Studio 5558 N Figueroa St. 323 254-4565 futurestudiogallery.com 7. Bookshow 5503 Figueroa St. www.bookshow.com 8. The Art Form Studio 5611 N Figueroa St. Suite 2 www.theartformstudio.com 9. Vapegoat 5054 York Blvd.

323.963.VAPE 10. ETA 5630 N. Figueroa St. 11. Adjunct Positions 5041 Coringa Dr. 12. Matters of Space 5005 York Blvd www.mattersifspace.com 323.743.3267 13. Mi Vida 5159 York Blvd.

14. Vintage Tattoo Art Parlor 5115 York Blvd.

15. Antigua Coffee House 3400 N. Figueroa St. www.antiguacoffeehouse.com

23. Cactus Gallery @ Treeline Woodworks 3001 N. Coolidge Ave 24. Huron Substation 2640 Huron Street Los Angeles, CA 90065 25.Oneg Shabbat Collaborative Gallery 5711 Monte Vista Street, 90042 (inside Temple Beth Israel) 26. MAN Insurance Ave 50 Satellite 1270 N. Ave 50 323.256.3151 27. TAJ • ART 1492 Colorado Blvd. www.tajartinc.com 28. The Greyhound 570 N. Figueroa St. 29. Urchin 5006 1/2 York Blvd.

30. Arroyo Arts Collective @ Ave 50 Studio 131 North Avenue 50 arroyoartscollective.org 31. Living Room 5807 York Blvd. livingroomhome.com 32. Vapeology 3714 N. Figueroa St. 323.222.0744 33. Pop-Hop 5002 York Blvd. www.thepophop.com 34. Social Studies 5028.5 York Blvd.

16. Align Gallery 5045 York Blvd. www.aligngallery.com

35. Occidental College 6100 Campus oxy.edu

17. Leanna Lin’s Wonderland 5204 Eagle Rock Blvd. www.leannalinswonderland.com

36. The Glass Studio 5668 York Blvd. www.theglassstudio.net

18. The Rental Girl 4760 York Blvd. http://therentalgirl.com

37. Curve Line Space 3348 N. Figueroa St. Los Angeles, CA 90065

19. Mindfulnest 5050 York Blvd.

323.999-7969

38. Highland Cafe 5010 York Blvd.

323.259.1000

FEBRUARY 2019

40. Civil Coffee 5639 N. Figueroa St. 41. Possession Vintage 5119 York Blvd. www.possessionvintage.com 42. The Situation Room 2313 Norwalk Ave. 43. Sunday Girl 5662 York Blvd. www.sundaygirlstudio.com 44. Vroom Vroom Bitsy Boo 5031 B York Blvd.

45. Portico Collection 5019 York Blvd.

46. The “O” Mind Gallery 200 N. Ave 55 theomind.com 47. Apiary Gallery at The Hive Highland Park 5670 York Blvd. www.thehive.la 48. Rock Rose Gallery 4108 N. Figueroa St. 323.635.9125 rockrosegallery.com 49. Leader of the Pack 5110 York Blvd. www.leaderofthepackvintage.com 50. Fahrenheit Ceramics 4102 North Figueroa St. fahrenheitceramics.com 51. Checker Hall 104 N. Ave 56 checkerhall.com 52. Green Design Studios 1260 N. Ave 50 53. L34 Group 5622 N. Figueroa St. www.L34group.com

Next Art Walk March 9, 2019

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nd Saturday of every month galleries, businesses, and artists in Highland Park, Eagle Rock, Glassell Park, Cypress Park, , and Lincoln Heights open their doors a little later in the evening and welcome visitors. Use this map for locations of ies, grab someone you love, get some dinner, and enjoy some art. Friend NELA Art Gallery Night on Facebook for last minute list.

27 17 20 42 11 35 18

45 12 44 16

41 48 14 31 13

31 43 36 47 25

4 29 34 9 9 3 4 26 33 19 52 38

1

40

5

8 51 10 46 39 2853 7 6 21 2 2

30

48 50 23

32 2 15 37 24

Visit us at NELAart.org LA ART NEWS

NELAART SECOND SATURDAY JANUARY 2019

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Life Drawing Session with Lonnie Lenyea, Artform Studio Katy Abramson at L34 Group

New Works by Pinche Kid at Mi Vida

FEBRUARY 2019

Dinyl Schmidt, Impoorer Which Way the Wind Blows Cal State San Bernardino MFA Exhibition Eastside International / ESXLA

Mariah Armstrong Conner, Artifacts of the Anthropocene Which Way the Wind Blows Cal State San Bernardino MFA Exhibition Eastside International / ESXLA

1.3 MILE LONG MUSEUM PLANNED

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DESTINATION CRENSHAW TO CELEBRATE BLACK ART AND CULTURE IN L.A. When a new transit route comes through a neighborhood, it can have a devastating impact on a community, tearing up streets, hurting small businesses, and creating barriers through communities.

But one Los Angeles neighborhood is looking to transform negatives into positives. When the new Crenshaw/LAX line was slated to come through the Crenshaw District, and Metro officials refused to underground the line for cost reasons, area residents decided to create a major outdoor museum.

“Destination Crenshaw,” an outdoor art and culture experience celebrating Black Los Angeles, will run for 1.3 miles along Crenshaw Boulevard, from Liemert Boulevard to 60th Street. The project will feature more than 100 permanent and rotating works of new art housed among a dozen pocket parks, as well as restored existing public art, performance space, streetscape upgrades, viewing areas, and landscaping. All of this will be accessible to local residents and visible to tourists arriving from the airport.

The predominantly Black neighborhood is rich in artists and has a long history of social justice activism.

Destination Crenshaw will celebrate Black Los Angeles’ accomplishments in music, athletics, faith traditions, creativity, and visual art—local sources of pride that have had a global impact.

“Destination Crenshaw is a historic project for Los Angeles and the world,” said Los Angeles City View from the East of Sankofa Park, located where Crenshaw Councilmember Marqueece Harris-Dawson, who represents the area. “The stamp we will make on Blvd. and Leimert Boulevard split, courtesy of Perkins+Will Crenshaw Boulevard with more than 100 unique art installations, a dozen African American-themed pocket parks, and culturally-minded street and landscaping improvements will be a living reflection of Black L.A. and the creativity that pours out of our community.”

“Destination Crenshaw will be the backdrop for Black LA to tell its story on its own terms and directly benefit the community it commemorates,” say project organizers. “Now, the cultural, political, and historical importance of Black LA will be formally recognized, celebrated and memorialized for all to see.”

Councilmember HarrisProposed makeover of the iconic Crenshaw Wall, including art Dawson has brought restoration, wall stabilization, and the installation of a parklet, including together a large team signage, shade structures, and landscaping, courtesy of Perkins+Will of South A design for Destination Crenshaw on display at Los Angeles the annual Freedom Festival in Liemert Park Village community (Destination Crenshaw image by Perkins+Will) leaders, arts advocates, and elected officials to bring the Destination Crenshaw project to fruition.

The realization is planned for before the 2020 opening of the Crenshaw/LAX line.

Project team members include Larry Earl, owner of 1619 Exhibits and former executive director at the Mayme A. Clayton Library and Museum and the Houston Museum of African American Culture; actress, writer, director, and producer Issa Rae; renowned artist, gardener, and community activist Ron Finley; deputy director and chief curator of the California African Community members study plans for Destination Crenshaw during the annual American Museum, Naima Keith; and Freedom Festival in Liemert Park Village hip-hop entrepreneur Nipsey Hussle.

Destination Crenshaw is being created by and for the community, and a number of women and minority owned firms are involved in the planning and execution.

Initial renderings for the project are by the noted architectural firm of Perkins + Will.

Views to the East from the upper level of the viewing deck at Sankofa Park, located where Crenshaw Blvd. and Leimert Boulevard split, courtesy of Perkins+Will

Los Angeles City Councilmember and Destination Crenshaw spearhead Marqueece Harris-Dawson

LA ART NEWS

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Portobello Mushroom Stuffed with Miso-Ginger Butternut Squash I’ve always suspected that butternut squash and miso would love hanging out together… and I was totally right! This combination, along with the marinated Portobello mushroom, packs a lot of flavor. And it’s a super easy way to warm up your winter weeknight dinner table.

For the Mushrooms: 2 Portobello mushroom caps, without the stems 2 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil 2 tbsp. organic tamari (can substitute liquid aminos) 1 tbsp. fresh lime juice For the Butternut Squash: ¼ cup light miso ¼ cup original kombucha ¼ cup vegetable broth 1 tsp. fresh ginger, grated 1 clove garlic, grated 12 ounces of butternut squash flesh, cut into cubes (peeled and seeded) ¼ cup nutritional yeast Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. To marinate the mushrooms, mix the olive oil, tamari and lime juice in a small mixing bowl. Smother the mushrooms in the marinade, and place in a baking dish, with the stem side up. Pour the remainder of the marinade over the mushrooms, and bake in the oven for about 15 minutes. Remove from the oven and set aside.

Next, steam your butternut squash. Place the squash in a steamer basket and steam over high heat for about 15 minutes, or until it is cooked through.

While the mushrooms and squash are cooking, make your miso dressing. Mix the miso, kombucha, vegetable broth, ginger, and garlic in another small mixing bowl.

When the squash is cooked through, remove from the steamer and place in a medium mixing bowl. Pour enough of the miso dressing over the squash so that it dresses the squash without drowning it. You’ll use about half of the dressing. Gently mix the dressing into the squash, breaking it up a little while still keeping it chunky with good texture. Stir in the nutritional yeast. Save the extra dressing for another use. It is great as a marinade for fish or vegetables!

Spoon the squash into each mushroom cap so that it is evenly divided. Return the stuffed mushrooms to the oven and bake for an additional 20 minutes, or until the mushroom is cooked through and the squash mixture is slightly browned.

Serve immediately or cool down and refrigerate for a quick hot or cold meal later.

Harvey Slater is a Chef & Holistic Nutritionist practicing in Pasadena. You can get more healthy recipes like this one on his blog: thewholedishblog.com

ON THE GALLERY WALL Kelly Thompson, Let’s Go Boots Cactus Gallery

FEBRUARY 2019

CHICKEN BOY SHOWS HIS SUPPORT FOR PUBLIC SCHOOL TEACHERS

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CLASSES IN NELA

Besides being a haven for artists and creative types, Northeast Los Angeles is the home of a fine array of arts classes, especially the industrial arts, but not limited to them. Below is a list of some of the businesses in the area that have classes. Do check with the facility to verify times and prices of their classes. As we find more places we will bring that information to all of you.

Adam’s Forge 2640 N. San Fernando Rd. Los Angeles, CA 90065 Adamsforge.org You may email Nancy with questions at blacksmithclasses@gmail.com Please check their web site for a listing of all of their classes and special events.

Check out a Discovery class.

The Glass Studio 5668 York Blvd.

Los Angeles, CA 90042 323.387.9705 info@theglassstudio.net Check www.theglassstudio.com for a list of glasses ranging from glass blowing and torchwork to fusing and slumping and jewelry making.

Molten Metal Works 3617 San Fernando Rd Glendale, CA 91204 moltenmetalworks.net Please check their web site for a listing of all of their classes and special events. They’re in a new location next to Community Woodshop.

Cool new space!

Rock Rose Gallery 4108 N. Figueroa Street Highland Park, CA 90065 (323) 635-9125 www.rockrosegallery.com Visit: Rock Rose Gallery News, Instagram & Twitter Intermediate Ceramics Pottery Class 6 class sessions $240 Check web site for start date

Toros Pottery 4962 Eagle Rock Blvd.

Los Angeles, CA 90041 323.344.8330

A Place to Bead 2566 Mission St San Marino, CA 91108 626.219.6633 aplace2bead.com

Blue Rooster Art Supply Company blueroosterartsupplies.com blue@blueroosterartsupplies.com 4661 Hollywood Blvd LA, CA 90027 (323) 302-5613

Find a variety of jewelry making classes, including stringing and wirework.

They offer a variety of art classes. Check their web site for more information about their classes and events.

Ave 50 Studio 131 No. Avenue 50 323. 258.1435 avenue50studio.org Guitar Lessons. Salsa Lessons too! Check their web site for more information for this and other classes.

Center for the Arts Eagle Rock 2225 Colorado Blvd.

Eagle Rock, CA 90041 info@cfaer.org (323) 561-3044 www.cfaer.org Check out their web site for a wide variety of fun classes for all ages.

Community Woodshop 3617 San Fernando Rd Glendale, CA 91204 626.808.3725 www.community woodshopla.com These guys offer a wonderful selection of classes from beginner to advanced, membership, and private lessons. Please check their web site for more information and a list of classes.

Stained Glass Supplies 19 Backus Street Pasadena, CA 91107 626-219-6055 Classes are ongoing Barndall Art Park 4800 Hollywood Blvd.

Los Angeles, CA 90027 323.644.6295 http://www.barnsdall.org Check they’re web site for upcoming classes.

Bullseye Glass 143 Pasadena Ave. South Pasadena, CA bullseyeglass.com

Los Angeles County Store 4333 W Sunset Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90039 / 323-928-2781 Please check their web site for a listing of all of their classes and special events.

They offer a full range of kiln forming glass classes as well as regular free artist talks.

Leanna Lin’s Wonderland 5024 Eagle Rock Blvd.

Los Angeles, CA 90041 323.550.1332 leannalinswonderland.com Check Leanna’s web site for a current list of workshops and events.

Fahrenheit Ceramics 4200 N. Figueroa St. Los Angeles, CA 90042 323.576.2052 fahrenheitceramics.com

Sugar Mynt Gallery 810 Meridian Ave. South Pasadena, CA 626.222.7257 sugarmynt.com Paint and Pinot Twice a month. Check their web site for more detail.

Holy Grounds Coffee & tea 5371 Alhambra Ave. Los Angeles, CA 90032 323.222.8884 Check out their workshops!

Welcome to the neighborhood!

WINE OF THE MONTH Larisa Code

Note: Create joy, one sip at a time.

Featured Wine: la Cabotte Colline Blanc Vintage: 2017 Color: White Varietal: Viognier, Grenache Blanc, Clairette Price: Under $15 Region: Cotes du Rhone, France Friends come and go, and in my case, go and go; all my friends have moved away.

Well, that is an exaggeration, a few are still here, but most are busy with kids and spouses…why didn’t anyone give me a heads up that our gang was gonna go the ‘normal route’ and grow up? What the fk?

I feel so foolish, I wouldn’t of continued dating ‘maybes’ and would’ve focused more on settling down. I almost feel like I was tricked…

Tricked is also how I felt when I learned the price of the French, bio-dynamic wine, la Cabotte…what, under $15? Amazing! You get your money’s worth and then some.

Domaine la Cabotte practices biologic and bio-dynamic cultivation—respecting the cycles of the earth, treating the soil like the powerful eco-system it is, allowing it to renew and regenerate. That is beautiful. The grapes were harvested in early morning and pressed, the juice is then recovered for a 72 hour cold setting. Finally the wine is fermented in thermo-regulated stainless steel tanks for several weeks.

The wine was bottled on February 21, 2018. That is super romantic, all of it, but especially their love and respect for the earth.

Each of these varietals easily stand strong on their own and when combined as perfectly as this, create a fantastic medium bodied, dry, white wine. The nose is light and will remind you of fruit blossoms, white peach and pear. Each sip is rich and filled with a subtle bit of said fruit, along with some beautiful minerality and a bold, lingering finish. There is some acid, medium acidity at most.

Weather had just started to warm up, I was finally thawed out from my mountain getaway, when I reached for this white wine. But, alas, as I write this, it is grey and stormy. So, I suggest creating a summer/winter fest to enjoy this incredible white—seasonally appropriate, obviously. Just turn up the heat.

My arugula is prolific, and a salad with a light dressing of lemon juice, walnut oil, and some Parmesan and/or Romano cheese was just right. Home State potato tacos was another nice pairing; taking that perfect, sour cream, cheesy bite and rinsing it down with this dry white was a very nice experience. Even tucking into a white bean and kale soup would be perfect, especially if it is raining. But, with French whites, my go-to is always roasted chicken or pork and potatoes, roasting the potatoes with the meat for that extra deliciousness.

Put on KUSC, keep the volume kind of low, so conversation is the main soundtrack.

Forget about flowers and add lots of finger foods: dips, veggies, a baguette and some candles for your centerpiece. And while you are all eating, drinking, and swaying to some background Bach, be sure to check in with your friends and ask things like, “Are you planning on growing up?” “Will you dump me for ‘mommy and me’ play-dates?” “Are we doing that?” Because you don’t want to find out too late, believe me!

FYI: this is also a great date wine for you romantics as well as you romantically impaired. As you know, we are coming up on the most stressful day of the year for the newly dating as well as for long-term couples that haven’t moved to ‘the next stage.’ Here’s an idea, grab two bottles, and perhaps you can avoid the awkward expectations of your hopeful partner and tipsily kiss the day away.

Happy Valentine’s Day! Bisou bisou xx

LA ART NEWS

UNWANTED: DEAD OR ALIVE

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by Tomas J. Benitez

Here we are, at that time of year, when Hollywood applauds itself. I see a lot of films in an effort to make an educated opinion about the foolish task of handicapping the award season. I’ve already felt a modicum of satisfaction at seeing ROMA clean up at the Golden Globes. It seems that Mexico has had a hold on the big movie awards the last few years, thanks to Cuaron, Inarritiu and del Torro. I was also pleased to see Black Panther and Crazy Rich Asians get their due at the SAG AFTRA awards. Diversity in Hollywood is a long way coming, but there has been some progress made.

Yet the real world is never far from tinseltown. Hollywood has responded well to fighting sexual abuse, although there is no doubt we are far from satisfied that all women are treated with full dignity. It has been heartening to see more women getting more opportunities nowadays. Although the quip directed to Emma Stone that her career was over once she turned 30 drew big laughs but also stung with truth. Ageism starts early with actresses. The political climate is always topical at the big events, and either direct or indirect shots at the current administration have been rampart to date. Good. He doesn’t like the arts anyway. Won’t go to the Kennedy Center Honors, would rather do away with the NEA, and he just quit UNESCO, the foremost cultural ambassador of American creativity to the world. He doesn’t like to read. What was it John Waters said about non-readers?

Anyway, the usual left leaning Hollywood megaphone has been full blast.

But I need to make some noise. I have spent my life being a writer, not a Chicano writer writing only about Chicano things, but a writer. Even got on screen once, and I’ve sold a lot of scripts that are now shelf dwellers. I tried to become an actor in my youth but I told my agent NO gang members, NO wetbacks. So, NO work for a year, until I went back to college! Still, the bug has bit and I have continued to write even into my old age. The new pariah; old people with scripts in their hands, just not done in Hollywood these days, no. Yet I am very happy every time a Latino makes an inroad, and I am ecstatic when the Latino is a Chicano or Latinx if you prefer. But we seem to be disappearing once again,

CITY COUNCIL HONORS BLACK CINEMA The Los Angeles City Council opened its celebration of Black History Month on February 5 with a declaration of Blacks in Cinema Day in Los Angeles.

The presentation featured a great many professionals who have made Hollywood what it is today—impacting not just Black cinema, but the film industry as a whole.

According to City Council President Herb Wesson, in the late 1960s, the studios were struggling. MGM realized that a substantial portion of its audience was Black and, in 1971, released “Shaft.” The film made $13 million (1970s money).

“It saved the industry,” said Council President Wesson.

But “Shaft” was only the beginning. And a large gathering of notables from that period in film and television history joined Councilmembers Wesson, Curren Price, and Marqueece Harris Dawson at the council celebration.

“The people that are here with us today saved Hollywood in the 6os and the 70s,” said Council President Wesson.

The reach of change extended beyond the presence of Black actors on theater and television screens. It included changes in who got jobs behind the scenes. It extended to the previously white and male profession of stunt doubles. It extended to commercials, and thereby, away from bleaching cream and hair straighteners, toward products that met the needs of people of color.

Councilmember Price introduced the Black Stuntmen’s Association. The association was founded in 1967 to combat policies that kept the stunt profession all white, with camera angles and paint used to make white performers appear black. It ended mistreatment on the set, the denial of training to people of color, and use of inadequate safety equipment.

Councilmember Price and actor Councilmember Harris-Dawson presented the Fred “The Hammer” Williamson Pan African Film Festival and Arts Festival.

(Photo: Councilmember Price’s Established in 1992, the festival showcases office) a broad spectrum of Black creative works, particularly those that reinforce positive images.

Council President Wesson then brought to the podium a gathering of stars of the

FEBRUARY 2019

as if we were really ever in the picture. Sure, the Mexicanos are killing lately, but there is no trickle down to Chicanos. I am so thrilled that an indigenous looking actress, Yalitza Aparicio is being lauded, although being shut out of the SAG awards, what is that? Not in the union? And the real world bites again; one of ROMA cast members has been denied a damn VISA three times! All he wants to do is come to the OSCARS! Anyway, I cheer the achievement of every Latino, just like anybody else cheering for a familiar hometown hero, and if you try to deny this, you are lying. Do women usually cheer on other women just a little bit more? Well of course, yes! So sure, I want to see Latinos take their place in the diverse landscape of Hollywood. Do we lack talent? No, we lack access. We have generations of excellence that is still not valued. Perhaps Hollywood still can’t figure us out. Are they here, there? English/Spanish? REAL American, not? Inside secret for some of you: We get freakin’ tired of living on the edge of somebody else’s hyphen! Do we want it all, both sides of the hyphen? Yes, as a matter of fact, we do.

It is who we are.

But so far, we can’t even get a heads up, even when we’re dead! How DARE SAG AFTRA overlook our beloved ones, now gone? Not ONE was recognized In Memorium!

Shame, shame! I recognize them now: Vanessa Marquez (Stand and Deliver), Patrice Martinez (Three Amigos), Paul Vasquez (Sons of Anarchy), Mata Dubois (Boulevard Nights), Mina Vasquez (Centennial), Marrissa O’Leary (MGM/New World), and Paco Galvez (Pacorro/VO). Descance en Paz, Amigos.

(Tomas Benitez was born and raised in front of a TV set in East L.A. His film SALSA: The Movie was produced in 1988. He has also written for Fred Roos, Starz Encore Films, CBS, and several other producers. In recent years he has written extensively about East Los Angeles including an ongoing, online saga about his home life, titled “The Gully”. Several of his stories about East L.A. and The Gully have been published by Blue Heron in an anthology of new American fiction, and he is editing two addition collections to be published in 2018. Tomas is the former Executive Director of Self Help Graphics & Art.)

60s, 70s, and 80s, among them such recognizable figures as Marla Gibbs, Judy Pace, and Fred “The Hammer” Williamson.

“When you don’t see yourself, you begin to wonder, well where do I fit in?”, said actress Dawnn Lewis. “…everyone thought they could tell our story better Councilmembers Harris-Dawson, Wesson, and Price than us…slowly honor Black film and television stars of the 70s. but surely we began (Photo: Council President Wesson’s office) to write our own stories, direct our own stories, produce our own stories.”

Madam X

HOROSCOPES BY MADAM CRAB

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Wait. Is there something in the air that Madam Crab is feeling? Is February a special month with a very special day that has everyone going a bit gaga and googly-eyed? Why yes… yes it is. And Madam Crab will not leave you all out in the lurch this month, without some good advice steeped in the wisdom of the stars. Now listen. Madam Crab does not give you any palo santo scented feel-goody bullshit predictions handed to you on a “ooh can you feel the earth’s vibration” crystal-y gem-stone platter. Be prepared for real life talk.

Here are your horoscopes for this very special month with a very special day. Happy Presidents Day good people!

ARIES: You can’t always pick up the slack of your co-workers Aries, just because you were blessed with obnoxiously unwavering energy. Pull a Thomas Jefferson (Aries) and jet off to France for some wine and “ambassadorship.” Let someone else piss off the Human Resources Dept for once.

TAURUS We all know you have a very intimate relationship with your fellow Taurian president, Ulysses Grant. He is on one of your favorite bills… the fifty! This month, instead of spending so much time counting your Grants, roll some coins and see where that will take you. Back down to earth with the rest of us.

GEMINI Sending you Thoughts and Prayers, Gemini. You share your sign with The Donald. Sad. CANCER The enduring legacy of Cancer president Gerald Ford is the endless footage of him tripping and stumbling and bumbling around into things like a dumbass. With this in mind, it is best to stick to your comfort zone this month Crab. Fight the urge to leave the house only to make a fool of yourself. Again.

LEO Take a lesson from Leo Herbert Hoover, who had large “housing communities” named after him in his day. He never tired of all that attention, because after all, no publicity is bad publicity, right? This month, don’t stop. You be you!

VIRGO William Taft was a very large man, who being a Virgo thought ahead and had the White house fitted with a larger bathtub. Madam Crab suggests you pay close attention this month to making sure you have looked at things from all angles before stepping into something naked and getting stuck. Again.

LIBRA As a president, Dwight Eisenhower struck the perfect balance between golfing, and more golfing. You deserve more leisure this month Libra, as you work hard to not work. The only choice you should make this month is nine holes or eighteen.

SCORPIO Totally Scorpio prez Theodore Roosevelt murdered big game animals, and also was the inspiration for the Teddy Bear. Goodness gracious. This month try and find some emotional middle ground, Scorpio. Meditate. Yoga. Do something. For the love of Goddess, do something.

SAGITTARIUS We have had two Sagittarius presidents, Martin Van Buren, Franklin Pierce. Don’t worry.

You are already on the road to being more memorable.

CAPRICORN This is the month you should work on distinguishing between what constitutes a fierce drive for success and what is outright criminal activity. Pssst. Richard Nixon was a Capricorn.

AQUARIUS Abe Lincoln is the epitome of Aquarius. This month focus on blazing a new trail and meeting your oppositional forces head on. Also, you should definitely grow a chin curtain beard.

PISCES George Washington crossed the Delaware probably imagining himself afloat on a cloud, muscled, rolling thunder and throwing lightening bolts into the sea. Try and use your main attribute, your dreamy and extreme disconnection with reality, as a bridge to successful outcomes this month, Pisces.

BOOK SHOW EVENTS Friday February 1st HOUSE Open Mic Words & Poetry 8pm sign up 8:30 start Saturday February 2nd 8pm Writers Resist Reading Wednesday February 6th 8pm-9:30pm Just Write for an Hour Writing group Friday February 8th 8pm-10pm Zine & Meet A gathering for zine makers!

Saturday February 9th 8pm E is for Erotica reading Thursday February 14th 8pm Project Nongenue Valentine’s Day! Come hear recitals of poems written by Sappho!!!

Friday February 15th 8pm Friday Night Poetry: They’re Just Words Hosted by Ingrid Calderon Poetry open mic & featured poets Saturday February 16th 8pm LMNOP Lesbian Movie Night For lesbians & their allies.

Wednesday February 20th 7pm doors Historia Storytelling Night Suggested donation Saturday February 23rd 8pm Plastic Girl: Evolution Release Party Science Fiction Reading Join author Jessica Maison

Marc Paley and Michael McMillen talk public art.

Tuesday February 26th 8pm-10pm Tete-a-tete Queer reading series & Open mic

LA ART NEWS

MUSEUM LISTINGS

A Roundup of Arts and Culture Exhibits at L.A. Area Museums A + D Museum www.aplusd.org Disgusting Food Museum through February 17 Dark Mode by P810, new design collection through February 17 Persistent: Evolving Architecture in a Changing World through February 17 Volume by Rios Clementi Hale through February 17 American Museum of Ceramic Art www.amoca.org Building a Collection: AMOCA’s 15th Anniversary Exhibition through March 31 The Artists of Mettlach through July 2020 John Toki: Fault Lines through March 24 Lasting Impressions: Selections from the Scripps College Permanent Collection through April 7 The Incongruous Body through February 17 Annenberg Space for Photography www.annenbergphotospace.org Autry Museum of the American West www.theautry.org Masters of the American West February 9-March 14 Investigating Griffith Park ongoing On Fire: Transcendent Landscapes by Michael Scott through July 28 LA RAZA through February 10 Out of the Ashes: Snapshots of the 1906 San Francisco Earthquake through June 9 The Banning Museum www.thebanningmuseum.org Fashioning the Fan: Innovations & Materials Within the 19th Century ongoing The Broad www.thebroad.org A Journey That Wasn’t, featuring video installation The Visitors

by Ragnar Kjartansson and 20 artists through February 10 Yayoi Kusama’s Infinity Mirror Rooms ongoing California African American Museum www.caamuseum.org Robert Pruitt: Devotion through February 17 California Bound: Slavery on the New Frontier, 1848-1865 through April 28 Los Angeles Freedom Rally, 1963 through March 3 The Notion of Family through March 3 Gary Simmons: Fade to Black through 2019 Adia Millett: Breaking Patterns February 5-August 25 California Heritage Museum www.californiaheritagemuseum.org Chris Fraticelli: Once Loved, Twice Broken through March 17 Gilena Simons: Fortuna-Tarot: Oracle’s Guide to the Future through March 17 California Science Center www.californiasciencecenter.org Chinese American Museum www.camla.org Lightscapes: Re-envisioning the Shanshuihua opens February 7 Claremont Museum of Art www.claremontmuseum.org Living with Clay: The Julie and David Armstrong Collection through April 20 Craft and Folk Art Museum www.cafam.org Beatriz Cortez: Trinidad / Joy Station through May 12 Beatriz Cortez and Rafa Esparza: Nomad 13 through May 12 Focus Iran 3: Contemporary Photography and Video

FEBRUARY 2019

22 through May 12 El Segundo Museum of Art www.esmoa.org Eat: inspiration about what a diverse and creative power food can develop February 28-May 18 Forest Lawn Museum www.forestlawn.com Women of Vision, 11 award-winning female photojournalists from National Geographic through April 7 Fowler Museum at UCLA www.fowler.ucla.edu World on the Horizon: Swahili Arts Across the Indian Ocean through February 10 New Orleans Second Line Parades: Photographs by Pableaux Johnson through April 28 Summoning the Ancestors: Southern Nigerian Bronzes through March 10 Intersections: World Arts, Local Lives ongoing Frederick R. Weisman Museum of Art www.arts.pepperdine.edu Richard Diebenkorn: Beginnings, 1942-1955 through March 13 The Grammy Museum www.grammymuseum.org Chasing Trane: John Coltrane’s Musical Journey Transcended through March 3 The Prison Concerts: Folsom and San Quentin ( Jim Marshall’s Photographs of Johnny Cash) through February 24 Diamond in a Rhinestone World: The Costumes of Dolly Parton February 5-March 17 Hammer www.hammer.ucla.edu Hammer Projects: Math Bass site-specific mural through March 17 Dirty Protest: Selections from the Hammer Contemporary Collection through May 19 Un chemin escarpé / A steep path, an immersive, five-channel video installation by Jamilah Sabur through May 5 Heritage Square Museum www.heritagesquare.org The Huntington www.huntington.org Celia Paul February 9-July 8 NASA’s Orbit Pavillion Sound Experience through September 2 Project Blue Boy through September 30 Rituals of Labor: Carolina Caycedo and Mario Ybarra Jr. through February 25 Venice: Real and Imagined through February 25 Institute of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles www.theicala.org B. Wurtz: This Has No Name through February 17 Italian American Museum of Los Angeles www.iamla.org Leo Politi’s Los Angeles, Works of Love and Protest February 12-May 19 J. Paul Getty Museum www.getty.edu The Getty Center: Marks of Collaboration: Drawings in Context February 5-April 14 Pontormo: Miraculous Encounters February 5-April 28 Artful Words, Calligraphy in Illustrated Manuscripts through April 7 Spectacular Mysteries: Renaissance Drawings Revealed through April 28 MONUMENTality through April 21 Sally Mann: A Thousand Crossings through February 10 Eighteenth-Century Pastel Portraits through October 13 Art of Three Faiths: a Torah, a Bible, and a Qur’an through February 3 J. Paul Getty Life and Legacy ongoing Greek and Roman Sculpture from the Santa Barbara Museum of Art ongoing The Getty Villa

Underworld: Imagining the Afterlife through March 18 Palmyra: Loss and Remembrance through May 27 Japanese American National Museum www.janm.org Kaiju vs Heroes: Mark Nagata’s Journey through the World of Japanese Toys Through March 24 Gambatte! Legacy of an Enduring Spirit Through April 28 Kidspace Children’s Museum www.kidspacemuseum.org LA Plaza de Cultura Y Artes www.lapca.org Landscapes and Land Dwellers: Photography of Place by Rafael Cardenas through March 25 ¡Ya Basta! The East L.A. Walkouts and the Power of Protest through February 25 La Brea Tar Pits & Museum www.tarpits.org Mammoths & Mastadons through 2019 Lancaster Museum of Art and History www.lancastermoah.org Peace on Earth through April 21 Los Angeles County Museum of Art www.lacma.org The Jeweled Isle: Art from Sri Lanka through June 23 Outliers and American Vanguard Art through March 17 Merce Cunningham, Clouds and Screens through March 31 Rauschenberg: The 1/4 Mile through June 9 West of Modernism: California Graphic Design, 1975-1995 through April 21 Fantasies and Fairy Tales through February 3 Rauschenberg: In and About L.A. through February 10 3D: Double Vision through March 31 To Rome and Back: Individualism and Authority in Art, 15001800 through March 17 Miracle Mile ongoing Teresa Hubbard / Alexander Birchler: Flora through April 7 Los Angeles Museum of the Holocaust www.lamoth.org Dora: Discovery and Despair through March 29 MAK Center for Art and Architecture at the Schindler House www.makcenter.org Marciano Art Foundation www.marcianoartfoundation.org Ai Weiwei: Life Cycle through March 3 Museum of Contemporary Art www.moca.org MOCA Grand Selections from the Permanent Collection ongoing MOCA Mural: Njideka Akunyili Crosby ongoing One Day at a Time: Manny Farber and Termite Art through March 11 Cameron Rowland, D37 through March 11 The Geffen Contemporary at MOCA Zoe Leonard: Survey through March 25 Laura Owens through March 25 Barbara Kruger, Untitled (Questions) (1990/2018) through November, 2020 MOCA Pacific Design Center One Day at a Time: Kahlil Joseph’s Fly Paper through February 24 Museum of Latin American Art www.molaa.org Ink: Stories on Skin through February 6 Judithe Hernández: A Dream is the Shadow of Something Real through February 17 Palpable Objects through February 10 La Huella Múliple, established and emerging Cuban print

continued on page 23

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ART NEWS COLUMNIST NAMED POET LAUREATE OF WISCONSIN LA Art News columnist Margaret Rozga has been named the Poet Laureate of the State of Wisconsin.

Ms. Rozga’s poems draw on her experiences and interests as an educator, avid reader and researcher, parent, and advocate for social and racial justice. Her first book, 200 Nights and One Day (Benu Press 2009), was awarded a bronze medal in poetry in the 2009 Independent Publishers Book Awards and named an outstanding achievement in poetry for 2009 by the Wisconsin Library Association.

Rozga has published three additional collections of poems: • Though I Haven’t Been to Baghdad (Benu Press 2012), named an outstanding achievement in poetry for 2012 by the Wisconsin Library Association; • Justice Freedom Herbs (Word Tech Press 2015); • Pestiferous Questions: A Life in Poems (Lit Fest Press 2017). Research for Pestiferous Questions was supported by a creative writer’s fellowship at the American Antiquarian Society.

“Poets who write from a deeply felt sense of what enriches our lives make those qualities palpable for all of us,” says Ms. Rozga.

Margaret Rozga (photo: TJ Lambert, Stages Photography)

THE MOBILE MUSEUM FAIR Los Angeles Central Library January 13, 2019

Western Science Center

Connecting Cultures Mobile Museum

continued from page 22 artists through May 12 Museum of Neon Art www.neonmona.org Kinetic Energy: Art That Won’t Sit Still ongoing Museum of Tolerance www.museumoftolerance.com Aliyah: The Rebirth of Israel, 25 Lithographs of Original Gouaches by Salvador Dali ongoing Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County www.nhm.org Art of the Jewel: The Crevoshay Collection through May 12 Barbara Carrasco, Sin Censura, Un Mural Recuerda L.A., A Mural Remembers L.A. ongoing Norton Simon Museum www.nortonsimon.org Once Upon a Tapestry: Woven Tales of Helen and Dido through May 27 Titian’s ‘Portrait of a Lady in White,” c. 1561, on loan from the Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister, Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden through March 25 Matisse/Odalisque through June 17

Pasadena Museum of History www.pasadenahistory.org Something Revealed; California Artists Emerge, 1860-1960 Phase II: through March 31 Pomona College Museum of Art www.pomona.edu Stories: Selections from the Permanent Collection through May 19 Courtney M. Leonard: Intermodal through May 19 Skirball Cultural Center www.skirball.org Notorious RBG: The Life and Times of Ruth Bader Ginsburg through March 10 Sara Berman’s Closet through March 10 Southwest Museum www.theautry.org/visit/mt-washington-campus Torrance Art Museum torranceartmuseum.com Protest, Noun: five Los Angeles-based artists whose works engage urgent political themes through March 9 White Noise: Kerry Skarbakka, photography through March 9 Place Where, Before, In a In: Solo exhibition by Kim Zumpfe in collaboration with Bacabaya

through March 9 University Art Museum, California State University Long Beach www.csulb.edu/university-art-museum Call and Response, When We Say…You Say through April 14 USC Fisher Museum of Art www.fisher.usc.edu Staged Meaning/Meaning Staged: Landscapes from Fisher’s Permanent Collection through April 13 USC Pacific Asia Museum www.pacificasiamuseum.usc.edu Tsuruya Kōkei: Modern Kabuki Prints Revised & Revisited February 8 through July 14 Vincent Price Art Museum www.vincentpriceartmuseum.org Wang Xu: Garden of Seasons through March 9 Regeneración: Three Generations of Revolutionary Ideology through February 16

LA ART NEWS

Free Slurpee Day: Part II

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Jeremy Kaplan of READ Books

It was now Winter Break. Rather than drive to Brooklyn as was their custom, the Leiners were hosting Hershel and Celia Iglarz, Zayde and Bubbe, who had flown from Brooklyn to O’Hare the previous day. Zayde sat in the open garage, wearing a fur-lined winter coat and newsboy cap, The Daily Forward folded on his lap, watching his grandsons shovel the driveway.

“I wanted to go to New York,” Saul told Sam. “We couldn’t,” lectured unsympathetic Sam. “They had to come here.”

“Why?” Sam made his you’re such an idiot face, gestured with an almost indecipherable shift of the eyes toward Zayde, and then pushed his shovel away from the garage to the area where the sidewalk intersected the driveway. Saul followed. This time he whispered.

“Why?” “Bubbe is going senile,” hissed Sam through clenched ventriloquist teeth. “Because of Alzheimer’s. Zayde needs a break from taking care of her. Because he needs to relax more.”

“Why couldn’t we help him relax more in Brooklyn?” whispered Saul.

“Jesus, you are stupid,” said the ventriloquist to the dummy. “Their apartment is small and it’s in the city. Our house is big and practically in the country. It’s more relaxing. Think, dummy.”

Although his tone was authoritative, Sam was merely repeating what he’d overheard his father tell their mother, and his father’s spiel about the restorative comforts of practically country living was merely a rationalization he’d invented to talk his wife out of making him drive across the continent for a second time that year. For all practical purposes, Professor Leiner was trying to find the best place for Professor Leiner to relax. And for the record, all the whispering and ventriloquizing was a gratuitous exercise, since the boys’ grandfather had chosen, in his therapeutic effort to relax, to turn off his hearing aid that day.

“I’m not stupid and/or dumb,” sniffled Saul. “You’re stupid. And/or dumb.”

“Okay smart guy. Then who’s going to take you with him to 7-11 today?”

“You?” “Oh I don’t think so. I’m too stupid and/or dumb to take his genius brother to 7-11.”

“Okay. You’re not stupid. Can I still go to 7-11 with you guys?”

“First you got to admit that you’re stupid. Admit it. Now! Before it’s too late. Tick tock!”

Once the mandatory mud-crawl was behind them, the brothers trudged across the slushy street to fetch Sam’s best friend and partner in larceny, Patrick McGuigan. It was while gazing out the McGuigan back window, waiting for Pat to tug on his winter boots, that Saul saw his school chum and number one pick, Bryant Brisker. He stood in the snowy field that separated the McGuigan yard from the elementary school, wearing a winter jacket with a furry hood that looked like a lion’s mane resting on his shoulders. Bryant lived in the etiolated brick apartment building halfway up the block from the school, which seemed to specialize in sheltering single-parent families and college students. He was presently tossing snowballs in a vertical direction, and then semi-successfully catching them before they touched ground. All of the plummeting snowballs met his ungloved hands before they met earth, but invariably detonated into white powder upon metacarpal contact.

“Hey, can I invite my friend Bryant to go with us?”

“Who?” “Bryant. Just like Patrick’s brother, but spelled funny and with a ‘T’ on the end.”

“We don’t want any of your stupid little friends tagging along. It’s bad enough…”

“He’s not stupid. He’s the fastest kid in my class. I bet he’s faster than you two buttwhams put together.”

Patrick stood up and hopped to his window. “That kid there?” Nod. “Doesn’t he live in that building?” Nod. Patrick turned to Sam. “Let him come. It’s the right thing to do.”

“You think some stupid second grader can beat us in a race?” grumbled Sam as he moved to the window to look. “Oh. That kid. He’s cool. Yeah, he can come.” *

Sam demanded two provisions for participation: (1) Saul had to ask mom if they could go; And (2) Saul had to lie to mom and say that they were going to the park, because even if mom proved amenable to allowing her children to cross busy Fourth Street (she would not), she would definitely want to know how they had enough money to buy Slurpees and candy (they did not). Saul was simultaneously a terrible/wonderful liar.

Terrible, because the lying ate him up inside, hammered on his conscience for days. Wonderful, because his big, brown, earnest eyes and cherubic, chunky-cheeked face provided surefire believability. His was a face and conscience that could not lie; except that it did.

As the four boys crossed the newly shoveled driveway, two ideas occurred to Saul: (1) He did not want to lie to his mother (though in a few years, 90% of his rapport with her would consist of willful, enthusiastic, effective lies); (2) He did not want to tell his mother that Bryant was within hugging range, as that would surely unleash Round 2 of her embarrassing fawning over and feeding the Black friend frenzy. He had a third idea.

“I’ll just ask Zayde if we can go.” Sam grabbed Saul by the arm and gave him the skeptical look. “That way mom can’t say no,” Saul elaborated, “and when Zayde says yes, she can’t get mad.” He started toward the garage with the three boys on his heels. Zayde set his newspaper on the ground beside his chair and smiled broadly at the quartet standing in front of him. Saul silently congratulated himself for being a genius, while Sam silently admitted to himself that this was some pretty fancy tactical thinking for an idiot. Whatever Zayde says, goes.

Well, except for that time last summer when Zayde said that racist thing…

“What’s a zay-nee?” asked Bryant.

Simultaneously, the brothers looked from their grandfather to Bryant and then at each other, and for once there was mutual understanding, or fear, or something mutual.

“Uhhh…” mumbled Saul. “Zayde’s our grandfather.”

Zayde just sat there smiling, no apparent change in demeanor, no signs of impending racism emanating from his squat, sedentary body. Then Bryant did something that neither brother expected; neither had ever seen such an act by any kid they knew. He stepped forward and thrust a hand at Zayde. “Pleased to meet you Grampa Zany.

I’m Bryant Brisker. I live by that school. Over there.” Old man and boy stood there wagging each other’s hands for what felt like five slow-motion minutes to Sam and Saul.

“Hello, hello,” beamed Zayde, head nodding up-n-down in unison with hand. “Howvah you?”

In the instant that the hand clasp ceased, Patrick rushed forward and thrust his paw into Zayde’s. “Hello Mister Iglarz. Nice to see you again, sir.”

“Yeh, yeh,” he smiled, nodding his head up and down. “Zeh Irish kinderlekh. Hello hello.”

Sam and Saul looked at each other, half-relieved that nothing bad had happened (Zayde hadn’t, y’know, leapt from his chair, pointing like Donald Sutherland at the end of Invasion of the Body Snatchers and screeched: “Schwartzer! Schwartzer!”), half-afraid that maybe he still would. Sam gestured his head sideways toward Zayde, his eyes imploring Saul to act while the acting was good.

“Zayde,” blurted Saul. “Is it all right if we go with our friends to 7-11?”

Zayde beamed at Saul and continued to nod approvingly.

“Thanks! Make sure to tell mom and dad. Love you, Zayde!” Saul pecked Zayde on the cheek.

As the quartet scampered away from the house, Sam growled under his breath: “Why’d you say 7-11, you idiot?”

“You idiot! I can’t lie to Zayde!” Saul protested. “He’s Zayde!”

In their wake, Zayde sat beaming, admitting to himself what he probably never would to his daughter: She was a good girl, and maybe she was right about the schwartzers. A real mensch, that one! Not that he’d had any idea what the boychik was saying. Zayde turned on his hearing aid so that he might briefly hear the sundry sounds of the future as it scampered and maundered up the cold, bleached street.

FEBRUARY 2019

UTLA

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Striking teachers and their supporters outside Luther Burbank Middle School in Highland Park showed no shortage of energy despite cold, damp weather. January 18, 2019.

TEACHERS’ STRIKE, DAY 2 Public school teachers and supporters rallied in front of the California Charter School Association offices in Little Tokyo on day two of the United Teachers Los Angeles (UTLA) strike, January 15, 2019. In the aftermath of the strike, the School Board has passed a resolution calling for a state study and an 8- to 10-month moratorium on new charters in the district until the study is complete.

UTLA contends that charter schools divert funding from public schools and that mandatory co-location of charters on public school campuses deprives schools of such resources as band rooms and parent resource centers.

LA ART NEWS

UTLA

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UTLA Alex Caputo Pearl announced that the union and the school district had reached a deal, and thousands of teachers reacted. Los Angeles City Hall, January 22, 2019.

—Reduction in testing that crowds out music, art, and ethnic studies —Funding for community schools offering rich curriculum, parent engagement, and wraparound services —Push back on co-location of charters, which crowd out band rooms, resource centers, and more —Ethnic Studies resources —More green space on campuses —The beginnings of class size reduction —Nurses, counselors, librarians, school safety.

FEBRUARY 2019

MORE UTLA

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LA ART NEWS