FESTIVAL*: The first ever Downtown Film Festival – Los Angeles began yesterday and continues through the weekend with 23 feature and 180 short films at venues throughout Downtown L.A., from the historic movie palaces on Broadway Avenue to Barker Block and SCI-Arc in Downtown’s Arts District. Featured tonight are A Beautiful Life at the Laemmle Grand and Audie & the Wolf at the Los Angeles Theatre. READING: Photographer Peter Sutherland talks about his book Muddy......

Thursday Enjoy another perfect evening in the heart of LA; and take in the gallery scene at tonight’s Downtown Art Walk. A few of the evenings highlights include the opening of Warren Keating’s Overviews at M.J Higgins. These “digital impressionistic” paintings examine unsuspecting subjects from the tops of bridges, buildings, roofs, etc. Also don’t miss the festivities at the Crewest Gallery. This cool graffiti art gallery always goes all out with demos, and fun activities......

Thursday Tonight’s weather should be fantastic for another great Downtown Art Walk! Art lovers are encouraged to utilize public transportation to take advantage of this monthly event. Creating a vibrant atmosphere, the walk is a great way to explore the areas galleries, and eclectic eateries. Maps are available at www.downtownartwalk.com. – 12-9pm Friday Thinkspace Gallery presents a new installation by Amy Sol entitled Karmic Magic. The fantastical wood surface paintings from this Las Vegas based......

The Mixed Roots Film & Literary Festival kicks off at the Japanese American National Museum tonight. / Photo by puck90 from LAist's flickr pool. PUPPETS* There's more to puppetry than Muppetry. Dr. John Bell, puppeteer, teacher and director of the Ballard Institute and Museum of Puppetry at the University of Connecticut, leads an exhibition talk at the Santa Monica Museum's "The Puppet Show" on the history of puppetry. The exhibit explores the work of......

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......

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......

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......

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......

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.......

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.......

If you're in the mood for a leisurely stroll, head downtown at 12:00 PM for the Downtown Art Walk. Hours run until 9:00 PM, but check the website as some venues close early. Also in art, the UCLA Hammer Museum features Art History Graduate Student Symposium speaker Allan Sekula at 7:00 PM. Lonely hearts rejoice: Morrissey will be wooing the Universal Amphitheater at 8:15 PM. Tickets are $40-$60 and doors open at 7:15 PM.......