Ukulele fans will take over First and Central tonight. The Bilgewater Brothers played at last year's uke showcase. / Photo by Christine N. Ziemba. UKULELE:*: The second annual Southern California Ukulele Showcase comes back to the Japanese American National Museum’s First and Central summer concert series. The event is a fun one—and best of all it’s free. This time the evening will feature “up-and-comers,” including Paula Fuga, Brittni Paiva, Abe Lagrimas, Moana, The Monnlighters......

It's that time of the month again... one of the best Los Angeles events is back here on the second Thursday of the month: the Downtown Art Walk (and Comedy Walk). Here's some of what happened last month through the eyes of Ed Fuentes at View from a Loft and Blogdowntown (he wrote tonight's Art Walk Preview). The Art Walk officially goes from noon to 9:00 p.m., but really, the parties and many shows go......

Photo of last year's Pasadena Chalk Festival by uselessdoug via the LAist Featured Photos pool on Flickr. ART Billy Shire Fine Arts opens it’s new exhibit, “New Work” by Detroit artist Glenn Barr tonight. Drop by the reception and take a look at his work and chat (& drink) with the artist! 7 p.m. // Billy Shire Fine Arts // 5790 Washington Blvd., Culver City // (323) 297-0600 // Free FOOD If you have......

Photo of local artist Eric Johnson's studio by Marshall Astor - Food Pornographer via Flickr "Mom, Dad...I want to be an artist." For Angelenos, this declaration may not need to be met with as much cliched approbation, in light of a National Endowment for the Arts report that lists greater Los Angeles "as the urban center with the most working artists and California is the top state by the same measure," according to today's LA......

Photos via Downtown Art Walk It's meant to expedite patrons' tour of the 30+ galleries in the monthly Thursday event, but there have been many times where the Downtown Art Walk DASH has been empty (once it was a true party: check this crazy video out). Starting tomorrow, things on the new shuttle are mixing it up and it will no longer just be a city bus: welcome to "The Hippodrome" (as in the......

Priscilla Ahn plays at her CD Release Show last night at the Hotel Cafe. Tonight she'll play on The Tonight Show With Jay Leno. | Photo by Koga/LAist In the comments section of yesterday's post on changes at The Viper Room, concert goers are hoping for Indie 103.1's Check One... Two moves eastward while saying such things as "the Sunset Strip is dead." To that, owner of The Roxy, Nic Adler commented back: "True......

SATURDAY Spend your Saturday afternoon soaking up the sun & art in Culver City for their 3rd annual ARTWALK. Neighborhood galleries & eateries near the intersection of Washington & La Cienega Boulevards will be open, along with live jazz. A listing of participating galleries is available here. Also in the afternoon, The Folk Tree in Pasadena is showcasing Anything Goes: A Small Works Show. This “mini” exhibit will present tiny works from dozens of participating......

A cool and rather large crowd of art lovers attended last night's fun Downtown Art Walk; enjoying an evening of great works, good music & yummy food. Next month's artwalk is scheduled for Thursday, June 12th. Check out www.downtownartwalk.com for more info and if you need more reason to go, here are seven.......

The Downtown Art Walk is every second Thursday of the month (that means tomorrow!) and is easily a staple of those things you have to do at least once. For us, however, we prefer it to be on the list of things to do at least once a month. More than 30 galleries participate along with events happening in conjunction such as the Comedy Walk, Town Square's cocktail and networking party and Possum Saloon at......

All kinds of art happens today and through the weekend / Photo by LaurenP! via LAist's flickr pool. TALK Zócalo’s lecture series continues tonight with Sen. Chuck Hagel and “America: Our Next Chapter.” The Republican from Nebraska will talk about the nation’s most pressing issues and his theories on how to get the country back on track. 7:30 pm // ArcLight Sherman Oaks // 15301 Ventura Blvd., Sherman Oaks // Free, but reservations recommended.......

Some of the most fun you can have downtown is at the Downtown Art Walk on the second Thursday of every month (also in the mix is the Downtown Comedy Walk). LAist Featured Photos contributor savemejebus submitted this photo from last Thursday at the new Museum of Neon Art space on 4th Street next to Rocket Pizza. MONA's official opening reception is next month on the 12th, but be sure to swing by on......

Sometimes, the most fun in life comes in surprises. Last night, that surprise came in the form of a random marching band appearing out of nowhere at the corner of 5th and Spring playing a hybrid of New Klezmer Afro-Brazilian Tango during last night's Downtown Art Walk. We followed the free-jazz, experimental, all-genres-equal Killsonic for about an hour throughout Gallery Row intruding upon art galleries and people's peace and quiet. At one point, we......

It ends tonight at 9 p.m., and really, an art walk is more fun at night anyway. Tonight lends itself well as a great chance to go see © Murakami Exhibit at the MOCA that we told you about back in October. If not that, from comedy to smaller art galleries, the Downtown Art Walk is worth a trek to LA's central core. And if you head towards The Edison first, happy hour runs......

Craby Joe's has been at the corner of 7th and Main in Downtown LA since 1933, and earned its place in local lore as a watering hole near and dear to the well-known downtrodden of the literary scene, like John Fante and Charles Bukowski. In honor of the bar's closing night, there will be a gathering of local historians and preservationists, and anyone else wishing to hoist a memorial last drink at Craby Joe's from......

ART: Downtown’s Art Walk happens the second Thursday of each month. The Art walk is a monthly, self-guided tour of the art exhibition venues in Downtown Los Angeles, which includes commercial art galleries, public museums, and nonprofit arts venues. Museum of Contemporary Art on Grand Ave (MOCA), Los Angeles Public Library Grey Goose, LA Artcore Center are just some of the places on the Walk. 12-9 pm // Downtown Art Walk // Downtown Los......

It's cold and rainy and dreary outside. LAist had the best intentions to get some R&R this weekend, but it's LA! There were too many amazing things going on and so after our weekend of an art walk, live music show, farmer's market, yoga, a friend's birthday party, a magazine party and a play opening, we woke up this morning to the grey-ness outside and just wanted to curl back under the covers and......

LAist had the opportunity to catch up with Jonny Coleman, curator of Art Crawl X and also founder of Found Gallery in Silverlake this week to ask him some questions about the art walk this weekend, what not to miss, and why this art walk is sure to kick ass. What is Art Crawl X? Art Crawl X is the tenth annual art walk on the Eastside [excluding downtown]. The Crawl includes both conventional......

Art walks, Food fairs, fashion, and film. It's fall in LA, and for another weekend we can forget about our lack of playoff-worthy baseball teams and professional football and take advantage of our final three weeks of Daylight Saving Time. The fun begins tonight, so you best start the weekend now. Downtown Art Walk Thursday, Noon - 9 p.m.: On the second Thursday of every month, Angelenos stroll up and down Spring and Main......

Your pets want the house to themselves today. Some of yesterday's festivals like Detour, NoHo Scene and the Eagle Rock Music Festival are over with. Yet Sunday, here in Los Angeles, is still a busy day. Events continuing from yesterday's Weekend Festival Guide: Brewery Art Walk and TarFest Jazz at Drew 10:30 a.m. - 10:00 p.m.: In it's 17th year, the Charles R. Drew University of Medicine & Science's popular music and charity event......

NOHO Scene Saturday 11 a.m. - 10 p.m.: Promising a new, improved take on the NoHo Arts Festival. Free theater, dance and music , art exhibits, film screenings and workshops, plus food and goods from NoHo merchants. Proudly sponsored by your CRA/LA. Free. MAP Brewery Art Walk Sat-Sun 11 a.m. - 6 p.m.: This twice-a-year event is all the reason you need to explore The Brewery, conveniently (though conspicuously) located north of Chinatown. Lots......

Today in major LA Fire Department events: an early morning structure fire in North Hills sending smoke into the flight path of Van Nuys Airport, a big rig with a trailer overturned on the Southbound Harbor freeway causing a Sig Alert, and a medical emergency in the Hilton Hotel at Universal City where staff mixed ammonia & bleach solutions creating hydrochloric acid (oops!). Is it the second Thursday of the month? Ah, it is!......

- In the name of the budget, Gov. Schwarzenegger seeks to end the Integrated Services for Homeless Adults With Serious Mental Illness program. The reason? The budget. The cut would save $55 million annually. - The Game was pimpin' while in custody and so a LAPD officer who decided to make a video and supposedly pimp it to TMZ. That doesn't make the bosses happy. - Even at the Downtown Art Walk, Daily News follows......

The Spring Art Walk in the Brewery downtown is upon us once again. This weekend is a time for touring this downtown neighborhood & not simply looking at the art in the quiet calm of a gallery, but looking at art in the artist's actual lofts. Cool, no? Yet every time we attend this event, or hear someone talk of attending this event, or listen to a friend tell another friend about it after......

If walking the “self-guided” tour of downtown’s art galleries during the Downtown LA Art Walk isn’t your idea of a good time, consider being guided by a poet who plies you with alcohol and whispers words of poetry in your ears at each stop. Sound better? We thought so. Poet Ed Rosenthal and Teka-Lark Lo lead the Poet’s Art Walk tomorrow night and you’d be crazy to miss it. Consider it guidance for those......

You have four more hours to get yourself downtown to take a peek at what some of LA's best art galleries are currently offering. On the second Thursday of every month from noon to 9pm, museums, galleries, and nonprofit art venues participate in the Downtown Art Walk, staying open late for those who might not get a chance to stop by during the weekdays. What better way to take the edge off the workweek......

Dane Davis won the Oscar for “Best Effects, Sound Effects Editing” for The Matrix. He’s also a photographer. Catch is his piece and other artists at LACDA on Gallery Row at the opening reception this Thursday from 7:00 to 9:00. The show will run until April 1. Also, Thursday on Gallery Row will be the monthly Downtown Art Walk that includes 20 art galleries. Take the self-guided tour, guided tour, or ride your bike......

THURSDAY • Tonight is the opening reception for "How It Happens" at Pharmaka Gallery. The party runs from 6–9 PM during the Downtown Art Walk. • Kristin Hersh performs the first of her two nights at Tangier. Lauren Shera opens the show at 8 PM; tickets are $17 advance, $20 day-of. • If you haven't seen it yet, check out the Golden Globe nominated Kung Fu Hustle at the Aero tonight at 7:30 PM.......

Ready to see how the other half lives? The creative lives in an industrial loft on the “other side” of downtown half? Then it’s time to hit up the bi-annual Brewery Art Walk this weekend. Free entrance and free parking are an added plus to seeing how the former PBR Brewery has turned into a colony enviable enough to make it into the LA Times real estate section. Over 100 artists will open their......

THURSDAY • Paul Ruscha will be signing books for his exhibit "Full Moon" tonight during the Second Thursday Downtown Art Walk from 6–9 PM at Pharmaka Gallery. • Also during the Art Walk, El Nopal Press hosts an opening reception for "The Russian Prints," recent works by Peter Liashkov, also from 6–9 PM. El Nopal Press is located at 109 West 5th Street, between Main and Spring. For more info, call (213) 239-0417. •......

The Downtown Art Walk has been growing by leaps and bounds since its inception last year, expanding from only 3 galleries to around 20 plus two museums taking part in the monthly urban art hike. We jumped in the shower (yes all of us together from LAist... we're crazy like that) and headed out to pound the pavement, asphalt and crack residue; take some photos and type some words into our communal publishing device.......