Saturday, April 26, 2025 the arts offer an eclectic range of events including the LA Time Festival of Books kicks off today. It is also the first of a two part architectural series – the Venice Design Series starts today, with the second one taking place next week. Another art festival called Jackalope Indie Artisan Fair in Pasadena. Parallax Art Fair Los Angeles continues, and needless to say there are tons of art parties , events and theatre too.
Saturday, April 26, 2025 Arts
The 2025 L.A. Times Festival of Books kicks off today and through the weekend. Taking place on the USC campus, it is the country’s largest literary festival. Explore this year’s indoor and outdoor events including over 200 author and celebrity panels, book signings, exhibitor booths, food and cooking demos, bilingual programming and more. Special guest award-winning writer, activist and Book Prizes Innovator’s Award recipient Amanda Gorman is scheduled to be part of The L.A. Times Festival of Books. She will discuss her latest release, Girls on the Rise. As always admission is FREE. Visit the website for more info as well as a full schedule; Event: 10-6pm; USC Campus, 3551 Trousdale Parkway, LA, 90089; https://events.latimes.com/festivalofbooks
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Venice Architectural Tours
The 2025 Venice Design Series is here and takes place on two Saturdays – April 26 and May 3,2025. Today’s event features its own backyard – Venice. Thus continuing its survey of the architectural heritage of Venice the art inspired beach town. Attendees will visit Venice Beach House, a historic social hub. Then the tour will lead a walk on Park Avenue, past the home where Abbot Kinney himself once lived. Early-20th century residences will then be visited including the home of Arthur Reese. Reese was the designer of the Venice Boardwalk, commissioned by Abbot Kinney, and the first Black homeowner in Venice.
Finally, attendees will have access to the historic Venice Post Office. While it is no longer an active post office, it was recently restored and is now ready for its next chapter. Check the website for times and to purchase tickets; Tour addresses and additional info will be revealed once tickets are purchased. Admission starts at $500; https://vchcorp.org/events/venice-design-series/
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Pasadena
Jackalope Indie Artisan Fair takes place today and tomorrow. Featuring over 200 artists, enjoy a day in Central Park in Old Pasadena. Perfect for families, kids can partake in art classes, face-painting and more. Plus Jackalope fair highlight Ricky and Song, is back for an interactive kids music experience. This year the fair will also be hosting an open mic event from 4pm -5pm each day for any local musician interested in taking the stage. Moreover all types of food will be available for sale at the event.
Courtesy of Jackalope Indie Artisan Fair
Basket Raffle Supporting Fire Relief: Purchase a $5 raffle ticket online or onsite for a chance to take home an awesome gift basket full of artisan goodies. Proceeds will benefit Jackalope Gives, and specifically the artists from the Jackalope community who lost their homes in the devastating fire. Event: 10am-5pm; Pasadena Central Park, 275 S. Raymond Ave., Pasadena, 91105; https://www.jackalopeartfair.com
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Santa Monica
At Bergamot Station…An early art talk takes place at Lois Lambert Gallery. The conversation takes place in conjunction with its current exhibition Once in a Blue Moon. In addition to the talk, Daveed Shwartz will walk you through his magical wonderland of thought-provoking images and animated stories, right out of his paintings. Art Talk: 1:30pm; Lois Lambert Gallery, Bergamot Station, 2525 Michigan Ave., E3, Santa Monica, 90404; https://loislambertgallery.com
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Also at Bergamot Station (a bit later)…Von Lintel Gallery debuts Multispectral, an exhibition by Canadian-American photographer Osceola Refetoff, known for his experimental and innovative use of infrared and pinhole photography to document realities that exist just beyond human perception. Multispectral is the artist’s third solo show at Von Lintel Gallery. Art Party: 4-7pm; Von Lintel Gallery, Bergamot Station Unit A-7, 2525 Michigan Ave, Santa Monica, 90404; http://www.vonlintel.com/
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LA Theatre
In Hollywood…The School of Night presents the World Premiere of Hellas, written and directed by Christopher William Johnson at the Broadwater Mainstage. Tonight’s performance is 5 hours. It features parts 1 & II (with three intermissions). The story is split into two parts while encompassing the evolution of societal structures, revenge along with unlikely alliances, and an emerging system of justice.
Read more on the Hellas at the Broadwater Mainstage Feature. Tickets range from $25 – $30; $5 off for students with ID. Group discounts available. Visit the website for more info or see link to make reservations: https://www.ticketleap.events/tickets/school-of-night/hellas
Performance 2-7pm (Parts 1 & II along with three intermissions); The Broadwater Mainstage, 1076 Lillian Way, LA, 90038; https://www.thebroadwaterla.com
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Culver City
DON’T LOOK Projects hosts an art talk with Chenhung Chen and Javier Proenza as they discuss her oeuvre, inspiration, and her latest exhibition at the gallery. Art Talk: 3-5pm; RSVP on the website to attend this free event; DON’T LOOK Projects.2680 S La Cienega Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90034; https://www.dontlookprojects.com/
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The Getty Center hosts a meditation and art talk. Resonant Exchange invites participants into deep, sensate contact with a tree. Through a multi-speaker sound installation, a guided meditation syncs breath with sap flow, wind, and unseen energies, fostering shared perception and expanded communication. In attuning to the tree’s rhythms, we uncover new ways of knowing, reciprocity, and kinship beyond the human.
Alongside this immersive experience, artist Aroussiak Gabrielian will present her forthcoming book and design series, Near-Extinction Rituals, featuring prototypes that catalyze new rituals that force humans out of their exploitative relationship with the more than human world and obligate them to collaborate and thus coevolve toward more ethical models for living. Meditation: 12pm–3pm, Central Garden; Artist Talk: 4pm–5pm; The event is free but you must rsvp on the website; Museum Lecture Hall, 1200 Getty Center Drive, LA, 90049; https://www.getty.edu/calendar/
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The Venice Institute of Contemporary Art (ViCA) is proud to present the 12th Annual Fine Arts Film Festival (FAFF) at Beyond Baroque Literary Arts Center in Venice, Doors Open at 3:30pm. From May 16-30, Official Selections from this year’s FAFF will stream all over the world on Vimeo. FAFF presents over 50 films from across the globe with Awards to be announced then. Tickets are $10/sliding scale donation. Beyond Baroque, 681 Venice Blvd., Venice, CA 90291; https://www.veniceica.org/fineartsfilmfestival
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In Miracle Mile area…
Two events take place at TAG Gallery. At 3pm, the gallery hosts an art talk in conjunction with the solo exhibition currently on view at the gallery. Horizons Shared – A Solo Show by Ellen King spotlights ocean vistas, sea birds as well as the beauty of the horizon. Also Our Earth: What Artists Can Do, curated by Sunhee Joo opens at TAG Gallery. The group exhibition celebrates the 55th anniversary of Earth Day. While you are at the gallery enjoy the art of additional exhibitions featuring the art of Lee Cooper, Agop Gemdjian, Negin Haghighi-Mismas, Ellen King, and Bella Stoakes. Art Talk: 3-5pm; Art Party: 5-8pm; TAG Gallery, 5458 Wilshire Blvd. LA, 90036; https://www.taggallery.net
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Downtown…Parallax Art Fair Los Angeles continues today and runs through the weekend. Originating in London in 2010, it was established as a ‘radical’ fair. However it still maintains traditional approaches to thinking about objects.
Parallax is a conceptual work as a whole in addition to being an art fair. Attendees can purchase work directly from the artist. For example Linda Sue Price is an incredibly talented neon artist, and she is participating in this year’s event. Art Fair Entry Times: 12pm-6pm; Parallax Art Fair at Honeypot LA, 212 W 12th St, LA; https://www.hnyptla.com https://www.parallaxaf.com
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Glendale
Forest Lawn Museum hosts an artist reception for a group show titled Persona: Exploring Self-Portraiture. The exhibition features the work of more than 20 contemporary artists as well as historical self-portraits, spanning over 125 years. The exhibition probes the expanses of self-portraiture and examines the concept of visual representations of the self. Persona features paintings, sculptures, photographs, prints, fused glass, digital art, textile art, illustrations, and more. The opening art party will feature live music by the Pocket Quintet and complimentary drinks and hors d’oeuvres. The free, family-friendly event includes free parking, and is open to the public, ADA compliant, and wheelchair accessible. Guests are invited to RSVP at museum@forestlawn.com or 323-340-4782. Art Party: 5-7pm; Forest Lawn Museum, 1712 S. Glendale Blvd., Glendale, 91205; https://forestlawn.com/museum/
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More in Glendale
Brand Library & Art Center celebrates Opulent Mobility, curated by founder A. Laura Brody and Anthony Tusler. The exhibition is also presented in collaboration with students from Glendale Unified School District (GUSD). Founded in 2015, Opulent Mobility has been hosting annual open calls for artworks which tell stories that humanize, uplift and celebrate disabled artists and disability art.
The group show will feature Southern California-based artists with artworks in a variety of media including sculpture, painting, video, audio and fiber materials. Brody expresses that elevating disabled artists and disability art counters the far too common and dangerous perspective that dismisses the value of disabled lives. Artists from Opulent Mobility and Glendale Unified School District will be present at the opening reception.
The event will feature a live performance from artist and composer Tom Peters. ASL interpreters will be in attendance to assist hearing impaired and deaf attendees as well as detailed descriptions of artworks in large print and Braille booklets online via QR codes for blind and low vision attendees. Art Party: 6-9pm; Brand Library & Art Center, 1601 West Mountain Street, Glendale, 91201; https://www.brandlibrary.org
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Downtown
NICODIM hosts an opening art party to celebrate a group show titled Roots Unseen debuting at its Annex location. The exhibition curated by Yan Yu features the art of Ana Cláudia Almeida, June Canedo De Souza, Bita Fayyazi, Katherina Olschbaur. See below for another opening at NICODIM’s additional location. Art Party: 5-7pm; NICODIM, 1700 S Santa Fe Ave #431, LA, 90021; https://www.nicodimgallery.com
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At NICODIM’s main gallery, a solo exhibition titled God’s Eye View by Ian Davis opens. Born in Indianapolis, in 1972, the artist studied at Fine Arts at the Arizona State University as well as the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture. Davis has exhibited in established galleries throughout the world. Art Party: 5-7pm; NICODIM, 1700 S Santa Fe Ave #160, LA, 90021; https://www.nicodimgallery.com
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Bendix Building
Also Downtown, at the Bendix Building…My House Burned Down opens today at Track 16. Curated by Camilla Taylor, an artist who has experienced just that. Her beloved home was burnt to the ground by the heartbreaking January fires in LA. Steeped in sadness, she shares this sadness with the general public.
Wreckage of artist Camilla Taylor’s home and studio in Altadena, with her sculpture in the foreground; Photo courtesy of the artist.
She has asked other artists that have also gone through this tragedy as well to be a part the exhibition. Artists include: Christina Bothwell, Jacy Catlin, Jamison Carter, Margaret Griffith, John Knuth, linn meyers, and Catherine Ruane. Opening reception: 6-9pm; Track 16 Gallery, Bendix Building, 1206 Maple Ave, Suite 100, LA, 90015; https://www.track16.com/
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Another opening at the Bendix Building…515 Gallery presents FICTIONAL PRESS POETRY which features work by poet/ artist collaborators and poet artists. The group show is curated by Carolie Parker who re-conceptualizes the literary journal and affords some distance on the standard practice of publishing poetry in the small press. Artists include: John David O’Brien & Molly Bendall; Gail Wronsky & Gronk Nicandro; Mei Xian Qiu & Jeremy Ra; Lisa Bloomfield & Rod Moore; Nam Hoang Tran; Eve Wood; Martha Ronk; Ramón Garcia; Laura Parker; Carolie Parker; Eve Luckring; Diane Ward; Robert Kingston. Art Party: 7-9pm; 515, 1206 Maple Ave., #515, LA, 90015; https://www.515bendix.com
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Also in Bendix Building, just next door…Tiger Strikes Asteroid Los Angeles (TSA•LA) debuts Off Balance, a group exhibition featuring works by William Camargo, Eunice Choi, Joanna Cortez, Annette Heully, and Ignacio Perez Meruane. Art Party: 7-10pm; TSA-LA, 1206 Maple Ave., #523, LA, 90015; https://www.tigerstrikesasteroid.com/
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Boyle Heights
Very close, in Boyle Heights…parrasch heijnen hosts an opening art party to celebrate the art of Rosy Keyser. The artist earned her BFA at Cornell University in 1997 and her MFA from The School of the Art Institute of Chicago in 2003.
Keyser has shown extensively throughout the UnitedStates and Europe, including solo exhibitions at Maccarone (New York and Los Angeles), Peter Blum Gallery (New York), and Contemporary Fine Arts (Berlin, Germany). She has also exhibited her work in group shows throughout the world. Art Party: 5–7pm; parrasch heijnen, 1326 South Boyle Ave, LA, 90023; https://www.parraschheijnen.com/
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Later in Culver City…Taylor Fine Art presents a solo show titled The Island by Constance Brantley. In this new exhibition, the artists chooses to reveal a more personal look at her own identity, while focuses on her roots in two distinct islands. They include: Guimaras Island in the Philippines as well as the suburban American dream of Long Island, NY. Art Party: 7-10pm; Taylor Fine Art, 6039 Washington Blvd. Culver City, 90232; https://taylorfineart.art/
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LA Theatre
In Los Feliz…Skylight Theatre Company premieres Tracy Young’s modern verse translation of William Shakespeare’s The Winter’s Tale. The legendary play has been reimagined in an accessible, 90-minute modern English translation adapted by Young and Lisa Wolpe. Young directs as she retells her version of the iconic story about love, loss, and rebirth.
Performance: 8:30pm; Regular shows are priced between $20-$42 (students: $20; seniors: $35.) There are a limited number of Pay-What-You-Can tickets to any performance, using code ACCESS (advance sale only). Visit the website for more info. Skylight Theatre, 1816 ½ N. Vermont Ave, LA 90027; https://www.skylighttheatre.org
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For additional art exhibitions, and performances as well as culinary events, see LAArtParty’s Upcoming Events Page.
Read more about Arts and Entertainment throughout the world on our sister site EatTravelGo.com, an art inspired travel site.
Or enjoy artist / gallerist interviews on our Art Talk Page also on ETG.
