The Evolution of L.A.’s Art Scene

There Is More Public Funding and Support Than Ever, but It Was Fun to Be the Underdog

A guy walking an elephant down Highland Avenue. That’s the first thing I saw when I exited the 101 Freeway by the Hollywood Bowl on the day I moved to L.A. Film shoot? Bowl performance? Who knows, but it made a lasting impression.

I moved here from Monterey, California, in 1985 in search of a more vibrant arts scene. I found one. Thirty years later, I’m in love with the L.A. arts community, often surprised by it, sometimes irritated by its youthful self-absorption, but always excited by its talent and energy.

I …

By Claire Peeps | October 15, 2015

I Love My Town, So I Want to Help My Neighbors Use Their Gifts

By Singing Together, Stockton, California Can Become Proud of Itself

By Joshua Washington | October 7, 2015

My hometown of Stockton, California, has a bad reputation, and not without reason. In 2008, we became the biggest U.S. city to declare bankruptcy (Detroit later surpassed us) and got …

Painting En Plein Air

A Group of Visual Artists Comes Together in the Wide-Open Expanses of Joshua Tree

By Krista Wargo | October 2, 2015

The High Desert Plein Air Artists is an informal group that meets the third Saturday of the month at various locations in and around Joshua Tree National Park.

We …

L.A.’s Rampart District Gave Me the Life I Wanted to Lead

Novelist Judith Freeman Reflects on Her Three-Decades-Long Relationship With Her Neighborhood

by Judith Freeman | September 21, 2015

When I first moved into the Rampart neighborhood of Los Angeles in 1986, the gunfire down the alley outside our bedroom often kept me awake at night—not just the pop-pop …

Understanding the Meaning of Shopping Carts

I Photograph Them Because They Illustrate My Feelings of Loneliness and Displacement

By Christopher Velasco | September 16, 2015

In 2006, I started taking pictures of shopping carts. At the time, I would shoot them as if they were wild animals on safari. Not paying attention to shape, form, …

Cyndi Lauper Is My Mascot

Muralist Judithe Hernández Also Promised a Friend She’d Read an Introduction to Wittgenstein

September 13, 2015

Muralist Judithe Hernández was a member of the East Los Angeles artist collective Los Four. Her newest public artwork, L.A. Sonata, will be unveiled at the opening of the new …

Why Do Coachella Valley Festivals Rock So Hard?

The Best Arts and Music Festivals Are Devoted to Quality, Diversity—and Their Communities

Arts Organizations Need to Teach Their Audiences Self-Defense

Government Arts Funding Is Vital, and Could Be Zeroed Out. The Threat Should Be Part of the Show.

Can Art Heal Our Minds—and Our Communities?

I Founded Modesto’s Peer Recovery Art Project to Keep Mental Health Consumers From Being Isolated. In the Process, I’m Helping Revitalize My City.

In Spain, a Path to Artistic Discovery (on Foot)

A "Grand Tour" Through the Pyrenees Connects Artists and Audiences on a Cultural Pilgrimage

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