It's under our feet and under our fingernails, but what is it? And how did it get there? Inspired by William Bryant Logan's acclaimed book Dirt: The Ecstatic Skin of the Earth, the film digs into how industrial farming, minim and urban development have led us toward cataclysmic droughts, starvation, floods and climate change. Dirt is part of everything we eat, drink and breathe. Which is why we should stop treating it like, well... dirt.
Free with reservation
Click here to RVSP
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How do you see yourself, when you can't see at all? At the Texas School for the Blind, students juggle all the usual pressures of high school along with the added struggles of growing up blind. Spend a dynamic year with four blind teens learning how to fit in and live independently. Forced to confront the world without sight, they share their inner visions of the outer world. Ultimately, you cannot understand their perceptions without challenging your own.
FREE
To RSVP, click here.
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Remember when the Cold War motivated young Americans to enter into the sciences? Or, when it wasn't the Russians, how NASA somehow made numbers cool again? Not sure anything could have quite that impact today. The next best thing, however, might be all the beautiful films that are giving our young ones a look into many newly discovered microworlds. And no, we're not talking about Avatar. Check out this Hammer screening on insects. It'll have grandpa leaving the theater excited as well.
Says The Hammer Museum:
Years of research and planning went into this phenomenal documentary that peers into the hidden world of insects, but this film is no mere technical triumph. Directors Claude Nuridsany and Marie Pérennou also bring a touch of poetry to their stunningly close-up images of arthropods and gastropods at work and, well, play in the meadows and grasslands of France. As science meets the sublime, children of all ages will delight in the film's infectious sense of discovery.
FREE
Click here for more information
This image was taken by flickr user mickeymox. It was used under the Creative Commons License.
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We rarely examine the small components of major social movements. But taking stock of all the little steps that go into these movements makes change, not only less daunting, but something that anyone can take part in (even if a pen and some cardboard is all they have). This Sunday, the Skirball invites families for special tours of their current exhibit on signage from the Civil Rights Movement. Then stick around for a poster-making workshop that encourages young people to become freedom fighters in their own right.
Skirball Cultural Center says:
Join a family-friendly tour of the exhibition Images for Human Rights and discover how twenty young art students have addressed the human rights they are most passionate about in a series of powerful, eye-catching posters. Then join a local graphic artist to create your own vivid poster focusing on the causes of your choice.
$15 General; $12 Seniors and Full-Time Students; $10 Children 2-12; $10 Skirball Member Adult; $8 Skirball Member Child
For more information, click here.
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In celebrating over one hundred years of tradition, the Chinese Chamber of Commerce of Los Angeles presents the 111th Annual Golden Dragon Parade. With over 110,000 individuals lining the parade route and thousands viewing the telecast each year, this colorful celebration along North Broadway in Chinatown has become the premiere cultural event in the Southern California Asian-American Community.
Since the mid-1980's, the Golden Dragon Parade has expanded to include almost two dozen floats, multiple marching bands, government officials, various dignitaries, entertainers, local business leaders and cultural groups. The parade's theme emphasizes ethnic diversity, Chinese Culture and exposure to Chinese-American businesses. The parade continues to be a rich and diverse experience for Angelenos of all ages and ethnicities.
The day of the Lunar New Year is the most celebrated holiday of the year for nearly 1.5 million persons of Chinese, Korean, and Vietnamese decent in Southern California. It is celebrated with colorful festivals, parades, and most importantly, large family gatherings. It is also a time when ancestors are fondly remembered and families give thanks for their blessings. Red packets of money ("Lai See" or "Hung Bao") and firecrackers add fun and excitement to the Chinese New Year celebration.
We invite you to be a part of this important annual celebration - as a spectator, participant or sponsor.
The Festival runs from 10 - 5pm Saturday and Sunday. The parade is only on Saturday.
Learn more about the history of the parade.
Map of Chinatown]]>
Here's a little secret: Brazilians have more fun than you. And as the saying goes, although you can take the Brazilians out of Brazil, you can't the Brazil out of Brazilians. This party is set to prove why the South American country is so deserving of its Olympic nomination. And if you don't think it'll be a party, you need to wake up and come release some energy. This one's not for the faint of heart.
Says The Club Nokia:
The authentic, annual LA tradition of Brazilian Carnaval erupts, transforming the massive dance floor into a true Brazilian party, for the first time in Downtown LA. LA is the official Sister City of Salvador Bahia where Carnaval this year will be celebrated as â60 years of Trio Eletrico.â Los Angeles and Salvador have been engaged in cultural, medical, commercial and educational exchange programs since the relationship was established in 1962. The Los Angeles-Salvador Sister Cities Committee launched the Annual Brazilian Day Celebration at the African Marketplace in 1997 to highlight Salvador Artists and performers.
All Ages
$38-$75
For more information or to purchase tickets, click here.
This image was taken by flickr user han Soete. It was used under the Creative Commons License.
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UCR's documentary series continues this week with Ellsworth Kelly: Fragments, a profile of abstract artist whose use of color and attention to the spatial continues to inspire the modern art world The film follows Kelly from start to finish as he creates two wall sculptures commissioned for the new U.S. Embassy in Beijing.
FREE
For more information, click here.
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Can you even imagine what it's like to be someone like Kobe Bryant? Here we have a man who stands as one of the few unifying figures in this city. Gripping, intriguing, controversial. And you love him. That is, unless you hate him. Thank the Upright Citizens Brigade for creating a hilarious bit about this Laker, or, rather, about the fans that define themselves through him. You can only imagine how emotional these kids can get.
$5
For more information or to make reservations, click here.
This image was taken by flickr user lubright. It was used under the Creative Commons License.
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You ladies out there want some pointers on how to become a "new breed" of young woman? Cinefamily offers help with its February film series, The Flappers. Learn how to listen to jazz, bob your hair, take a stiff drink, dance the Charleston, and drive an automobile, all while being wildly entertained by that nifty silver screen.
Cinefamily says:
Tonight's double feature takes a look at one of the Silent era's most prolific and adorable flappers: cutie-pie Marie Prevost, who starred in over 120 silents and talkies after being discovered by Mack Sennett (who dubbed her his "exotic French girl"), and whose dark curls, full lips and beaming eyes set a nation of suitors' hearts aflutter. We start the night with the frothy comedy Getting Gertie's Garter, where attorney Ken Walrick must reclaim a sexually suggestive gift (the garter given to Gertie, natch) before his other girl (ahem, his wife) finds out. Up next is Up In Mabel's Room, featuring another undergarment-related turn of events. Mabel must fight for her husband back after divorcing him for purchasing lingerie for some hot tart (who turned out to be Mabel herself! Yowzah!). So, straighten your stockings, adjust your bra straps, and don't get your panties in a bunch because definitive flapper girl Marie Prevost is a real pistol.
$10 (Half-price if you flapper up!)
For more information, click here.
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A chance for laymen to create videos alongside professional film makers? On issues that matter to them? With the chance to have their finished product incorporated into a feature film at SMMOA? Sounds like an incredible time is getting put on by the museum. It's not often you can pick up a new skill. We say seize it.
Says SMMOA:
Join SMMoA for this season's Cause for Creativity workshop - the highly acclaimed educational series in which the museum encourages the public to 'make art and make a difference.' Drawing Attention channels your creativity toward advocating for a cause that is close to your heart.
A team of artists and filmmakers will work with participants to create original video clips and drawings. Each clip records the act of drawing meaningful images with messages about such important topics as arts advocacy, social causes, and Find Your Angel in the City of Angels*. All of the video clips will be edited together by SMMoA to make three collaborative films. Enjoy the opportunity to work with professional filmmakers and artists while learning production techniques with a portable Flip video camera. Take your finished drawing home and stay tuned for three final cuts on SMMoA's website.
Supplies, refreshments, snacks, and inspiring ambience provided.
Non-members: $10 per participant; register here
SMMoA members: Free Admission
Click here for more information.
This image was taken by flickr user fensterbme. It was used under the Creative Commons License.
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It's time to take about public art! What impact has it had? How does it effect communities? The Hammer has put together an expert panel that includes artist Edgar Arceneaux, founder and director of Watts House Project; Judy Baca, artist and founder of SPARC (Social and Public Art Resoucre Center): interdisciplinary artist Sandra de la Loza, founder of Arts and Action; and Christine Y. Kim, associate curator at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) and co-founder of the public art organization Los Angeles Nomadic Division (LAND). The event will be moderated by Chon Noriega, director of the UCLA Chicano Studies Center,
From the Hammer:
Public art has long been a site for negotiating community and contesting urban territories. Using the mural as a jumping off point, panelists will engage in a discussion about public art, community identity, art and activism, and new models for socially-engaged art practice.
This program is one of the events commemorating the 40th Anniversary of the UCLA Chicano Studies Research Center and other ethnic studies center at UCLA.
FREE
Image by Flickr user Lisa Newton using a Creative Commons License.
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Hands down, there is no better place for Classical theater than the Getty Villa in Malibu. With its Roman architecture and Greek inspired gardens, the Getty Villa is the perfect backdrop for any play. This weekend, the Big Dance Theater presents Euripide's Alkestis.
The Getty:
Two acclaimed creative forces--renowned translator Anne Carson and the daring, experimental Big Dance Theater--meet in the creation of a new movement-theater version of Alkestis. Euripides' genre-defying play, in which Herakles wrestles Death for the soul of an ideal woman, is one of the playwright's strangest and most beautiful works.
Make sure to catch a show! For times, check the Getty website.
Image provided by Flickr user █ Slices of Light █▀ ▀ ▀ using a Creative Commons License.
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The Living Desert in Palm Desert takes its desert conservation seriously, aiming to promote desert conservation through preservation, education and appreciation. A lot of people do not know about the wonderful plants and animals that are part of the desert ecosystem, or how they are in danger of becoming nonexistent.
To raise awareness the Living Desert holds its 1st Annual Brew at the Zoo!
Visit desert animals and enjoy the blues, the brew, and the barbecue! From the Zoo:
Enjoy a wild selection of craft beer, cocktails, wine, barbecue and other delectable dishes. Tickets include deluxe beverage samples, appetizers, desserts, visits from desert animals, Rockin' Raffle, and the smooth sounds of the Barry Baughn Blues Band.
For a list of participating breweries, restaurants, and wineries visit this site.
Tickets prices are:
Over 21
$35 Non-Member
$25 Member
Under 21
$15 Non-Member
$10 Member
Proceeds from Brew at the Zoo support The Living Desert's education programs and efforts to save endangered species. Do not miss out on such a fun event!
Image by Flickr user Fritz Liess using a Creative Commons License.
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In honor of Black History Month, CSU Long Beach presents Darryl Taylor, countertenor. He will be singing a selection of under-appreciated African-American composers. The event is free, so go enjoy a nice evening of music.
For more info visit the site.
Image by Flickr user jrossol using a Creative Commons License.
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