A fun week ahead with art openings in the Culver City Arts District, Malibu and Hollywood to warm up. Sunday is Mother's Day, and we have flowers on our minds – not to mention tea parties! Plus, music, literature and dance as well as opportunities to walk on the beach, create with plants and flowers, and dream...

Gallery & Museum Exhibitions

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Frederick R. Weisman Museum of Art | Malibu
On Location in Malibu 2024 & Rediscovering Constance von Briesen
May 11—July 28, 2024
Opening Reception: Saturday, May 11, 2024
Light refreshments, self-guided tours of both shows and family-friendly art activities from 3 to 6pm. Roundtable conversation for, On Location in Malibu at 4pm.
On Location in Malibu: New paintings Inspired by the beauty and scenic diversity of Malibu by contemporary members of the historic California Art Club. Also opening, Rediscovering Constance von Briesen, the first solo museum exhibition of the artist and craftswoman (1915-2000), whose landscape paintings, watercolors and drawings offer a close-up view of the California terrain. Limited seating. Free with registration. Register here.

The Landing | Culver City (Adjacent)
Amanda Valdez: Wet Kiss
May 11—June 22, 2024
Opening Reception: Saturday, May 11 | 6–8pm
Recent works by the New York-based artist conjoin quilting, embroidery and oil stick – among other materials and processes. These meditative abstractions, with contrasting depths and textures, are an exploration of memory, emotion and the unseen forces that shape our inner worlds.

Walter Maciel Gallery | Culver City
Dean Monogenis: Mount Fiction
May 11—July 3, 2024
Opening Reception: Saturday, May 11 | 5–8pm
A series of new landscapes created in a hard-edge painterly style with acrylic paints on wood panels, depict mountains as serene subjects in their natural form and their relationship to architecture and temporal structures.

Billis Williams Gallery | Culver City
Suzan Woodruff: Back from the Edge
May 11—June 8, 2024
Opening Reception: Saturday, May 11 | 4–7pm
Luminous abstract paintings evoke nature, space, the micro and the macro, the wonder of light and the experience of joy. In them, colors shift, forms appear and recede and light morphs.

Tanya Bonakdar | Hollywood
Lisa Oppenheim: At the Lace Shop and Other Light Drawings
May 11—July 13, 2024
Opening Reception: Saturday, May 11 | 6–8pm
In this new series of Jacquard woven textiles, the artist alludes to artworks and objects stolen from Jewish collections by arms of the Nazi regime. Reworking photograhic images in her darkroom, the artist conjures the lost works, using documents of their presumed loss as the source of new artworks.

Film, Music, Theatre, Festivals & Dance

FILM: The Feeling That the Time for Doing Something Has Passed
Alamo Drafthouse | DTLA
Sunday, May 12, 2024 | 1pm
Joanna Arnow’s feature debut follows a 30-something New Yorker as she navigates everything from family and corporate America to BDSM relationships. 

FILM: Irma Vep
Vidiots | Eagle Rock
Monday, May 13, 2024 | 7:30pm
Blending silent cinema and martial-arts flicks into a swirl of postmodern cool, Olivier Assayas’s metafilm is a witty critique of the 90s French film industry. Tickets: $12

MUSIC: Summer of Salsa: Rumbankete featuring Super DJ Robby
La Plaza de Cultura y Artes | DTLA
Friday, May 10th, 2024 | 6pm
Each Friday, La Plaza de Cultura y Artes presents a dance party featuring a rotating line-up of live bands. 

MUSIC: (((folkYEAH!))) presents Rahill
Gold-Diggers | Hollywood
Tuesday, May 14, 2024 | 7pm
Singer/songwriter Rahill Jamalifard creates pop songs that gesture toward the eclectic sounds of her Iranian American upbringing. Tickets: $22.05

DANCE: Los Angeles Ballet: Firebird & Serenade
The Pasadena Civic | Pasadena
Saturday, May 11, 2024 | 2pm
The Los Angeles Ballet will perform two iconic pieces—Stravinsky’s Firebird and the George Balanchine original Serenade. Tickets: $41-134+

Mother’s Day Delights!

Looking for out-of-the ordinary flowers for the mamas or other significant femmes in your world? Here are a few suggestions off the beaten garden path. But hurry... some of these floral designers have early deadlines for Mother's Day orders!

Pigsty Studio | Venice
Venice-based boutique floral design studio with a focus on local, foraged and seasonal flowers combined into untraditional arrangements full of movement.

Empty Vase | West Hollywood
Originally inspired by the flower markets of Paris, WeHo-based Empty Vase is a luxury home décor boutique with specialities in floral sculpture and topiary.

The Original Los Angeles Flower Market | Flower Market, DTLA
Public Hours: Monday through Thursday 8am–12pm
Friday: 8am–2pm | Saturday: 6am–2pm
Started in 1919, this gathering of floral vendors offers a variety of wholesale flowers, greens and supplies all under one roof. Admission: Weekdays: $2 | Saturday $1

Eric Buterbaugh | DTLA
A top of line floral designer and creator of floral perfumes with prices for the extravagant.

The Million Roses | Vernon
Specializing in – you guessed it – roses! Impeccably arranged roses in pretty boxes for Mother’s Day and other days!

A.L. Basa | Glendale
Floral arrangements composed of seasonal offerings offered in hand-selected vases, and hand-tied bouquets presented in all recycled paper materials.

Literary, Readings & Book Launches

Wendy Chen with Alexandra Chang
Vroman’s Bookstore | Pasadena
Friday, May 10, 2024 | 7pm
Wendy Chen will discuss her new novel, Their Divine Fires. Writer Alexandra Chang will join the conversation.

The Ecopoetics of Deep Matter
Beyond Baroque | Venice
Saturday, May 11, 2024 | 11am-2pm
In this poetry workshop led by teacher and herbalist Amanda Akerman, participants will work with plants and flowers to create new languages around community, symbiosis and more. Tickets: $75-90

Things To Do & Workshops

Mother’s Day Tea | Museum of Art & History (MOAH)
Museum of Art & History (MOAH) | Lancaster
Sunday, May 11, 2024 | 11am
The 9th annual MOAH Mother's Day Tea includes a champagne reception, a preview of the upcoming exhibition, Imprints, lunch, tea and dessert. Proceeds will be used toward future programming at the City of Lancaster's museums and public art spaces. Seating limited. Advance tickets only: $45

Annenberg Beach House | Beach Walk & Sketch
Annenberg Beach House | Santa Monica
Saturday, May 11, 2024 | 9–11am
Join in this serene beach walk and sketch organized by Nature Nexus Institute. Newsprint, drawing boards, pencils and binoculars are supplied, or bring your own portable sketching supplies. Free with registration. Register here.

Dream Talk
18th Street Art Center (Airport Campus) | Santa Monica
Saturday, May 11, 2024 | 2–4pm
Artist Karla Diaz will chat with dream experts George Bermudez and Brook Sprowl about the connection between dreaming and art-making.

Otis College of Art & Design | O-Launch
Otis College of Art & Design | Los Angeles / South Bay
Friday, May 9—Sunday, May 11, 2024
See link for schedule of events
This annual free event includes a campus-wide exhibition, runway fashion show, ceramics and book sales and open studios. View a showcase of work by MFA and BFA students – the next generation of artists and designers! RSVP here.

Mercado MOCA
The Geffen Contemporary at MOCA | DTLA
Saturday, May 11, 2024 | 11am–6pm
Enjoy an afternoon of music, delicious food and local vendors from East Los Angeles.

USC Pacific Asia Museum | Ikebana Spring Workshop
USC Pacific Asia Museum | DTLA
Saturday, May 11, 2024 | 12–2pm
Create and take home an elegant floral arrangement inspired by the principles of line, angle, volume, shape, space and the union of nature and humans. All materials included ($120 value). Registration also includes admission to the museum galleries and free parking. Register by Thursday, May 9. Fee: $130 (Enter code Ikebana@PAM for 15 percent off)

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