On the heels of last weekend's music festival starring Public Enemy, The Real McCoy and Kurupt, Skid Row will host the Festival for All Skid Row Artists, a two-day event that will highlight the creative work of residents of Skid Row and their neighbors. more ›

Way back in 1875, the Bergamot Station in Santa Monica was actually a train stop for the Red Line that ran through Los Angeles to the Santa Monica Pier. Now the city of Santa Monica is trying to decide what to do in 2015 when the gallery space again becomes a train stop — this time for the new Expo Line. more ›

The dance studios, theatres, and galleries of the NoHo Arts District will be opening their doors up Saturday for a free multi-arts festival. Experience NoHo is a combo art walk and festival, with the streets closed down to make way for a stage and booths featuring artists and other vendors. more ›

Save those pretty pennies to support local talent, L.A. Patchwork Indie Arts & Crafts Festival is returning to SoCal for its fall holiday event, offering unique handmade items for community-conscious shoppers. Be selfish and score goods for yourself and/or start crossing off friends and family members on your holiday shopping list. more ›

Recently CBS named their picks for five great small theatres in Los Angeles. Picking from the numerous 99-seat houses in town, their editors chose The Actor's Gang in Culver City, Circus Theatricals at The Hayworth, Elephant Theatre Company at the Elephant Stages, Sacred Fools Theatre in Hel-Mel, and Theatre 68 in East Hollywood for standing out among the bigger venues and for representing theatre in a movie-biz town. more ›

Is life in Glendale boring? While the existence of Porto's Bakery suggests NO, a citywide survey says YES, according to the Glendale News-Press. The article reports that despite culturally rich neighborhoods, busy businesses, mega shopping complexes and a positive reputation, The Big G's low profile has registered more like a no profile in a survey of 209 residents, 200 non-residents and 128 civic leaders. more ›

After two months of reorganization, the famed and historic Pasadena Playhouse has emerged triumphant from Chapter 11 bankruptcy, and has just announced plans for their new season, reports the Star-News. more ›

State budget troubles mean less support for programs in our schools, and of those programs, the arts is usually first to go. The Million Plates Campaign, backed by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, aims to support funding for the arts in California through the sale of specialty "arts" license plates. more ›

A rally was held today at the Music Center Plaza in Downtown for voters, teachers, students, and other supporters of Measure E. The goal of the gathering, which included performances by LAUSD students, whose arts programs and teachers may face further cuts or complete elimination, was "to bring attention to Measure E on the June 8th primary ballot and see what a 'Yes' vote can do to save the jobs of hundreds of music and arts teachers, more ›

After years of proposed budget cuts for the Department of Cultural Affairs, recommendations from the mayor to cut art grant money, and now the threat of charging non-profit art organizations rent, the art community has had one simple message: no. more ›

Over 20 stages make up Hollywood Theatre Row on Santa Monica Boulevard. From the Hudson to the Unknown, from Elephant to Asylum, the small area is alive with the performance spaces that attract audiences from across the city. more ›

With nine city-owned arts & cultural facilities slated to be closed--thanks to a dwindling Los Angeles budget--the City Council today approved a move to save the centers temporarily. Public art money from public projects will now be extended to keep the facilities open for an additional 24 months while officials work towards finding sustainable ways to keep them open. "Releasing the restriction on this funding so that the department can be strategic in ensuring every community has access to a quality arts experience is fantastic," said Danielle Brazell, who advocated saving the facilities as the Executive Director of Arts for LA. "I think, once again, arts advocacy worked." more ›

No, the insanely popular Sunset Junction Festival is not going away (dates for this year are slated for August 21st and 22nd), but Silver Lake will soon be home to two major festivals with the introduction of the Silver Lake Jubilee come this May. And by what's been announced so far, it's looking like a killer event. more ›

Yes, that's part ONE, because for the final segment of our thrilling account of Noise Pop Fest 2010, we've not one, but two exciting adventures to share with you, o dear readers. Saturday, February 27th found us first at Pop n' Shop, a Noise Pop sponsored boutique seller and craft fair, similar in spirit, if not in scope, to our own twice-yearly Unique La. Held at the very old school Verdi Club, SF based artists, clothiers, jewelers and toy/doll makers turned out in force to ply their goods. Later that night, we hit the Mezzanine, where we saw a concert of mind blowing brilliance. more ›

The controversial budget-saving move to cut $500,000 from the Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs grant program was saved this morning after a proposal to cut the Transient Occupancy Tax (hotel guests pay that), which funds the grants, was killed this morning during a City Council meeting. However, the department stands to lose nearly 50% of its staffing, currently at 63. 11 will leave due to the Early Retirement Incentive Program and another 16 could be axed if the proposed 1,000 citywide layoff plan passes. If that happens, Cultural Affairs will be left with 36 employees. more ›

This morning at REDCAT in downtown Los Angeles, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, Councilman Tom LaBonge and leaders from numerous arts organizations helped launch the start of LA Arts Month 2010. There are a number of lectures, events and exhibits planned throughout the city to help Angelenos realize that LACMA, MOCA and the Getty aren't the only art venues in town, and that it's ok to visit museums and other "artsy" places without out-of-town relatives in tow. more ›

Last Saturday, artist Bruce Nauman took the skies above Pasadena to make an environmental statement, of sorts. "Leave the Land Alone," a skywriting plane wrote. The piece, viewed from the city and surrounding San Gabriel Valley neighborhoods, launched the Armory Center for the Arts into their 20th Anniversary celebration. more ›

Before Barack Obama's campaign, Yosi Sergant was a local public relations guy and a constant presence in the Los Angeles arts and grassroots scenes. He represented Shepard Fairey among other organizations before he got the idea to have artists make posters for the campaign. One of those, Fairey's HOPE, became a huge hit and a driving force and symbol of the campaign. Sergant was then offered a job in the White House as the arts liaison and eventually was named the Communications Director at the National Endowment for the Arts. more ›

Apparently, the state's budget cuts has claimed UCLA's Arts Library, according to a petition that's getting some steam online. In fact, it was a tipster who works at the Museum of Modern Art who let LAist know. From the petition, which can be signed here: UCLA Library Management, behind closed doors and without consultation with the UCLA community has decided to close its Arts Library, potentially as soon as January 2010. more ›

Angeleno Opera enthusiasts have been anticipating the long-planned Ring Festival LA, which will span multiple venues between mid-April and late June of 2010 and boast numerous performances by different organizations, each "providing its own unique point of view on the influences of [composer Richard] Wagner's art and philosophy from the 19th century to the present day," explains the LA Opera. more ›

Now here's something you don't get a chance to see everyday: “Mild Light: An evening of Cantastoria from the Performance Department of the Museum of Everyday Life” comes to the Manual Archives tonight. "Cantastoria" involves the display of representational paintings accompanied by sung narration. Clare Dolan, Chief Operating Philosopher of the Museum of Everyday Life (Vermont), will demonstrate the "versatility and saucy immediacy of this performance form, with stories ranging from accounts of bloody crime in the 1930's written by Bertolt Brecht, to the dilemmas of a modern-day heroine trying to make a living and achieve total happiness." There are two shows tonight at 8 and 10 pm. Tickets are $12/$8. more ›

Our city's film festival continues today with a fourteen screenings with more than half of them happening at 7:30 p.m. or 9:45 p.m. LAist Film Editor Josh Tate recommended Bronson and Public Enemies in his preview of the whole festival. more ›

When MOCA found itself in financial trouble last year, Eli Broad was one of the first to offer up assistance. Now, the LA-based philanthropist has committed to contribute almost half a million dollars to help arts programs in public schools...in New York, according to the LA Times. more ›

The Sports Museum of Los Angeles opened with much fanfare on November 28th last year, but just three months later has already closed its doors to the general public, according to the Downtown News. more ›

"Months on End," playing at the Tre Stage on La Brea at Sunset this is a treat -- a great indie theater find with a strong script and a great cast. We attended the show last Friday where we watched 12 months of happiness and heartache unfold. more ›

A new youth arts center in Watts run by the city's Department of Cultural Affairs will have its grand opening later this month during a weekend when two festivals will be happening. Named after the famous jazz musician and past local resident, the Charles Mingus Youth Arts Center will expand space for youth arts programs. The new building, which is next to the Watts Towers Arts Center, will bring more classroom space expanding the department's educational classes that give children a safe and creative atmosphere for individual expression with guidance and direction from professional artists. more ›

That tiny notation at the bottom of your calendar tells you today is indeed Flag Day. And while many Angelenos are inadvertently and loosely interpreting that to mean "stick a Lakers flag on your car" it is actually (and obviously) a bigger deal on a national level. Besides waving your own Stars and Stripes or taking part in a parade, it's tough to commemorate the adoption of the flag. more ›

Since billionaire philanthropist Eli Broad has funded Los Angeles institutions such as LACMA's BCAM and UCLA's Stem Cell Institute, Curbed LA asked its readers what he should spend his money on next if it were to be a civic project. The "Subway to the Sea" won with overwhelming results. more ›

This is a purposefully backdated post for a National Arts Marketing Project (NAMP) workshop called "The New Frontier Part Two: Blogging, Social Networking and YouTube!" organized by the LA Stage Alliance with guest speakers D. Jean Hester and LAist Editor, Zach Behrens. The following are notes and reference links for workshop participants. more ›