Serving Larchmont Village, Hancock Park, and the Greater Wilshire neighborhoods of Los Angeles since 2011.

Weekend Buzz – Events for July 16-17, 2016

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The art of Chinese panoramas, under discussion Sunday at the Velaslavasay Panorama.

Just in case you’re not playing the ubiquitious Pokémon Go this weekend, we’ve got a lot of other ways to get you out and about in the real world.

estatesaleFor weekend treasure-hunting, there are two big multi-day estate sales in the general area.  The first is a a three-day (Friday-Sunday) sale at 449 N. Detroit St.  This one promises mid-century modern furniture and lamps, antique mirrors, china cabinets, old trunks, some Art Deco items, rugs, a Kirkman London piano, Judaica, Oakland Royal Doulton china, Murano glass, Depression glass, Waterford Crystal, and “TONS and TONS of clothing, lots of it sexy!” There’s also costume jewelry, fur pelts, plants, vintage plants stands, antique tools, and “many additional pieces from a respected and well known store that closed – brand new items at discounted prices!”  Hours are 9-2 Saturday and Sunday.

The second notable estate sale, also a three-day event that started on Friday and continues Saturday and Sunday,  is a bit further south, at 2105 Crenshaw Blvd.  This one is billed as a five bedroom Craftsman home “filled with mostly women’s vintage clothing, much of it dead stock (as in never worn)!”  Also, vintage glassware, lamps, ceramics, furniture, books, kitchen items, china, tables, chairs, bedroom sets, mirrors, rugs, linens, vintage textiles and bedding, towels, silver plate, serving dishes, tools, a “very good” ceramic kiln (along with of slip molds and a ceramic slurry stirrer), electronics, display cabinets, vintage cash registers, a Kimball baby grand piano, “tons of records,” and more.  Please note that this one is CASH ONLY. Hours are 9-4 Saturday and 8-3 on Sunday.

carcartoonsLater, for one of several art-related opportunities this weekend, LACMA’s new CARtoons: Art of America’s Car Culture Car exhibit opens today and runs through January 2. The exhibit focuses on the art of Los Angeles’ own CARtoons magazine, the “most popular and longest-running publication dedicated to automotive cartooning,” which proclaimed itself “the only humor magazine in the world for the lovers and owners of cars.” Produced between 1959 and 1991, the magazine “featured rollicking stories about hot-rods, drag-racing, muscle cars, makes and models from Chevys and Mustangs to Corvettes, and even imaginary and fantastic vehicles.” The exhibit presents original art by several regular CARtoons contributors, who used hand lettering, dry transfer typefaces, screentone, photography, and “above all a lively line” to bring to life an array of recurring characters, inside jokes, and crazy cars. 

wizardsmarketcraftfaireAs long as you’re in the Miracle Mile area, you could also check out the annual Wizards Market Craft Faire at Whimsic Alley, 5464 Wilshire Blvd. Free and open to all ages, the event features a wide variety of local artisan vendors selling their wares in the Great Hall.  It runs both Saturday and Sunday, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., and each purchase enters you in a raffle for hourly prize drawings.  For more information, see the link above.

yarnbombingFor more Miracle Mile craftiness, head over to the Craft and Folk Art Museum, for the monthly meeting of the  Yarn Bombing Los Angeles Knit Graffiti Collective.  From 2 to 5 p.m., find out what your local guerrilla knitters are up to, share projects you’re working on, and enjoy good conversation. All skill levels are welcome and encouraged.

gronkSince you’re already at CAFAM, stay on for Tormenta Omia. In this event (associated with the museum’s current “Gronk’s Theater of Paint” exhibit, highlighting the legendary Los Angeles artist’s set design work), Gronk’s iconic muse La Tormenta comes to life in a bilingual staged theatrical performance written by Froylan Cabuto. The enigmatic female character will be performed by actresses Mariana Montes (Spanish) and Caroline Le Duc (English), danced by Beatriz Eugenia Vazquez, and directed and choreographed by Denise Blasor with original music by Otto Cifuentes.  The Spanish version will be performed at 5 p.m, and the English version at 6 p.m.  Free with museum admission.

chinatown2For some later Saturday evening dining and entertainment, try Chinatown Summer Nights, running for the second of its three dates this year, from 5 p.m. to midnight at 943-951 N. Brodway in downtown Los Angeles.  Billed as “part food event, part summer party,” you can taste the many culinary offerings of Chinatown and LA’s gourmet food trucks, sample the neighborhood’s wares, watch Chinese chefs perform cooking demonstrations,experience large-scale, outdoor video projections, take part in hands-on, Chinese cultural activities presented by local organizations and museums, and sip on craft brews while dancing in Central Plaza with DJ’s from KCRW radio.

streetfoodcinemaIf you’d like a film with your food trucks and live music, StreetFoodCinema has two events tonight – a screening of Fight Club at Exposition Park…and a screening of 10 Things I Hate About You at West Hollywood’s Poinsettia Rec Park.  Doors at both events open at 5:30 p.m., live music begins at 6:30, and the films begin at 8:30.  Tickets and more information at the link above.

nhmallnighterAnd finally on Saturday, for adult night owls who miss the pajama parties of their childhood, there’s the Natural History Museum’s Up Owl Night!: Owls and other All-Nighter Birds, an actual grownup sleepover at the museum.  These occasional events, billed as “the ultimate ‘nerd-chic’ experience,” offer workshops, museum scavenger hunts, ghost stories, dancing, a late-night munchie buffet with craft been and wine, and a midnight movie.  This month’s installment also features a birds-eye view of how specimens are prepared for the museum’s bird collection.  And you can enhance your evening by sleeping under the dinosaurs in the Dinosaur Hall, with a behind-the-scenes tour at night…or a breakfast buffet in the morning.  Ages 21 and over only.  (Note that space is limited and the event may sell out…but if it does, there are more sleepovers scheduled for August 12, August 26 and October 29.)

smorgasburgicecreamSunday is, of course, National Ice Cream Day…and if you weren’t one of the lucky winners of one of our Salt & Straw free scoop tokens (or even if you were), it looks like SmorgasburgLA’s Ice Cream Bonanza is going to be a great place to celebrate.  In addition to the the weekly downtown marketplace’s regular food and shopping, there will be a special ice cream section this week, featuring Sweet Rose Creamery, Salt & Straw, Jeni’s Splendid, Smitten, Peddler’s Creamery, Wanderlust, Sprinkles, Little Spoon Frozen Pudding, and Smile. Plus special creations from Smorgasburg’s permanent vendors, like Good Gravy Bakes and Donut Friend. Hours are 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.

barnsdalllogoOn your way home, stop off at Barnsdall Art Park, where artist Aaron Axelrod is taking over this weekend.  From July 15-17 Axelrod has been given free reign of the entire park (first time that’s ever been done) for a retrospective survey show, “Breaking Convention Dark Matter.” The artist’s brightly colored, psychedelia-inspired paintings, sculptures, videos and performances will fill all 12 galleries in the Los Angeles Municipal Art Gallery, as well as any other space on the park’s property he chooses to utilize. And this includes — for the first time ever — the park’s carefully preserved and protected Frank Lloyd Wright-designed Hollyhock House. Installations will include 40 pieces of art with eight distinct themes, including the inventive multi-media series “Melting Rainbows,” a performance piece which was depicted in a national commercial campaign on MTV; “Freedom of the Press,” a series of large-scale pastel paintings of scrambled news channels; “String Theory,” a series of neon-light mixed-media paintings and several abstract resin sculptures, along with the monumental Hollyhock House projection mapping and Swarovski collaboration.

velaslavasaychineseFinally on Sunday, you can visit one of the most unusual venues in mid-Los Angeles, the Velaslavasay Panorama,  1122 W. 24th St.,  which will host In China – 1989 to Now: Immersive 360-degree Panoramas, an illustrated lecture by Sara Velas, on Sunday at 6:30 p.m.  The history of the 360-degree painted panorama dates back to the late 1700s, but they faded from popularity after the invention of cinema. In China, however, the art form began again in 1989 and continues to flourish on a massive scale, incorporating and adopting modern technologies along the way. Velas, President of the International Panorama Council and founder of the Velaslavasay Panorama, will give an overview of 20th & 21st century panoramas in Asia, with a focus on the panoramas of China.  Tickets are $15 ($12 for members). And while you’re there, you can also enjoy the venue’s gardens and other exhibits, with live ambient folk and Chinese classical music by  Susien Cheng.

metroconstructionheaderAnd last but not least, we’ll leave you with our weekly reminder about subway construction at Wilshire and La Brea:  the intersection itself is fully closed this weekend, from 10 p.m. Friday night to 6 a.m. Monday.  See Wilshire-La Brea https://www.metro.net/projects/notices/notice_purpleline_2016-07-12a/ for full closure details.

Drive safely and have a great weekend!

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Elizabeth Fuller
Elizabeth Fuller
Elizabeth Fuller was born and raised in Minneapolis, MN but has lived in LA since 1991 - with deep roots in both the Sycamore Square and West Adams Heights-Sugar Hill neighborhoods. She spent 10 years with the Greater Wilshire Neighborhood Council, volunteers at Wilshire Crest Elementary School, and has been writing for the Buzz since 2015.

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