Start your day off early…in Santa Monica….

The City of Santa Monica presents its fourth annual Day of the Dead at Woodlawn Cemetery today from 1-4pm.

TSat-Nov1-SM-DiasDeLosMuertoshe family-friendly event focuses on the traditions that are part of this celebration of life and death and offers a variety of ways for participants to discover the meaning, philosophy and history of the day. Starting with an opening procession and ceremonial blessing led by Ketzaliztli dancers, the event features the son jarocho music of Veracruz, Mexico with Conjunto Jardin, the all-female stringed mariachi group Las Colibri, and Day of the Dead inspired folk tales, myths, legends, and personal stories, in both English and Spanish, with storyteller Antonio Sacre. Craft workshops include offerings for loved ones who have passed, calavera masks and adding stories of loved ones to the communal memory wall. There will also be a documentary screening on how families in Mexico prepare for this holiday and a special guest appearance by La Catrina, the satirical and elegant female skeleton. Independent radio journalist and DJ, Betto Arcos will be emceeing and sharing his own Day of the Dead stories and memories. Fresh tamales, tacos, pan de muerto and aquas frescas will be available for purchase.

Free Admission, Bike Valet & Parking

What: Day of the Dead
Where: Woodlawn Cemetery, 1847 14th Street,
When: 1:00 pm – 4:00 pm
Phone: 310-458-8688
Website: Santa Monica Gov

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In West Hollywood…

The City Hearts’ Annual Benefit Photography Auction takes place at the Leica Gallery.

SunNov1-Leica-FreshFocusThe auction will featuring fine art photographers, and emerging artists from its Fresh Focus: A New Shot at Life photography program.

Fresh Focus 2015 pays tribute to Mary Ellen Mark, with a 1/1 shot by Stefani Kong Uhler of Mark and Marlon Brando on the set of Apocalypse Now. Images of David Hockney, Frank Zappa, Janis Joplin, Michael Jackson, Bob Marley, Joni Mitchell and Marilyn Monroe, as well as a very special Duke Ellington, are among the donated works. In addition, photographers who have exhibited at The Getty, de Young, LACMA and The Leica Gallery, as well as high profile celebrity photographers, and several award-winning members of the American Society of Cinematographers have come out to support City Hearts.

For a full list of donating photographers and additional info about the event, CLICK HERE

To purchase tickets CLICK HERE 

What: City Hearts’ Annual Benefit Photography Auction
Where: Leica Gallery Los Angeles, 8783 Beverly Blvd. West Hollywood
When: 1:00pm – 4:00pm (with 12pm VIP Sponsor Champagne Viewing Party)
Phone: 424.777.0341
Website: http://www.leicagalleryla.com/

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L.A. Artcore is pleased to present a tandem-solo show with Southern-California sculptor Joyce Kohl and painter Peter Zaleski.

TSun-Nov1-LAartcore KOHL ZALESKIhrough this curatorial pairing, this exhibition offers a host of tangible visual encounters between the artist’s aesthetic investigations and their propensity in articulating concepts related to the passage of time. Inspired by California’s coasts, Zaleski’s oil and mixed-media paintings and monotypes engage built and natural environments with a theme of balance, conceiving a visual system through which the gaze of the viewer circulates between the mapped and traveled. 

Artist Joyce Kohl’s techniques of combining adobe with rugged found objects–typically rusted steel­–engage with the aesthetics of ruins and the formalism of mid-1950’s Post-Abstractionists. Kohl’s agglomerations of earth and found objects are imbued with power and tactility through stark juxtapositions of forms and raw materiality.

Conversation with the artist takes place at 2pm.

What: Opening reception
Where: LA Artcore Brewery Annex, 650A South Ave 21, LA 90031
When: 1:00pm – 3:00pm
Phone: 323-276-9320
Website: http://www.laartcore.org

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Also at LAArtcore‘s other Union Center location (120 Judge John Also St.), hosts a reception from 3-6pm, with a 4pm art talk. 

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Downtown LA…Enjoy an art talk with Maureen Selwood at Rosamund Felsen Gallery (1923 S. Santa Fe Ave. #100, LA 90021) at 3pm.

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In VeSunNov1-Sparcnice…

SPARC-UCLA presents its annual “Día de los Muertos / Day of the Dead” ceremony to honor the dearly departed with the annual ritual of The Calling of the Spirits.

The traditional ceremony will start at 6:00 P.M., guided by UCLA instructor and SPARC’s Artist in Residence, Martha Ramirez-Oropeza, and her UCLA’s César E. Chávez Chicana/o Studies Department students.

As in previous years, the ritual and altar setting invites community participation. Please bring a photo of a loved-one, and his or her personal memento to place on the altar.

What: Opening reception

Where: SPARC, 685 Venice Blvd., Venice, CA 90291
When: 5:30 pm – 8:30 pm
Website: http://sparcinla.org/

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