You See LA: January 2024
Things to see and do in L.A., handpicked by Assistant Professor Gelare Khoshgozaran
The arts are an essential part of UCLA. They inspire dialogue, encourage creativity, and drive real lasting change, across disciplines, borders, and backgrounds. They also create opportunities for increased engagement with our surrounding communities.
Gelare Khoshgozaran, assistant professor in the UCLA Department of Art, has curated a diverse selection of things to see and do in Los Angeles.
One of my favorite things about Los Angeles is when I have a friend or chosen family member visiting the city for the first time. I get excited by the opportunity to share a side of Los Angeles that is far from both the cliché representations of this city and its harsh realities between obscene wealth and abject poverty. Los Angeles offers most things a metropolitan city can provide. But there are as many versions of Los Angeles to experience and live as the different neighborhoods and communities in this city. Sometimes going from one neighborhood in L.A. to another might truly feel like going from one country to another.
Watts Towers
Bits and pieces of shells add to a collection of 17 interconnected sculptural towers, individual sculptural features, architectural structures, and mosaics. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)
It’s true that this is a driving city, but one of my best ways of experiencing Los Angeles is taking public transit along a long stretch north-south or east-west. The Metro A line (formerly Gold Line) takes you from the city of Azusa to Long Beach. Hop on in East Pasadena or Chinatown and take the train all the way south to downtown Long Beach. The trip takes a while, but you see so much of Los Angeles and from the perspective of an overground metro that trespasses a lot of the lines drawn for cars and buses. Hop on and off as you please, but don’t forget to visit the Watts Towers for some real Los Angeles history of uprisings, arts, and community.
Stories Books & Cafe
External view of Stories Books & Cafe in Echo Park.
Take the 2 bus line from Figueroa and Cesar Chavez to UCLA. Choose a nice window seat and let the $1.75 journey take you along Sunset Blvd. Don’t hide in your world of podcasts or music. Take the airpods or headphones out and listen to how the sounds of this city change every ten minutes or so. Break your trip by making a stop at Stories Books & Cafe. Pick a book and order a drink or snack to enjoy in their backyard.
Something to Eat
Chorizo kebab served with rice, Lebanese salad, and hummus at X’tiosu Kitchen in Boyle Heights. (Calvin B. Alagot / Los Angeles Times)
Street vendors are the lifeline of this city. They feed you the most amazing snacks from cut fruit with lime juice and Tajin to the most specifically regional taco styles. I live in Northeast L.A. so there is no shortage of delicious tacos and street food to feed my soul. But a few constant highlights are also small kitchens with takeout or dine-in options:
X’tiosu in East Los Angeles is a forever favorite of mine — a window out of which the best of Levantine food like falafel and shawarma take an exciting Oaxacan twist.
Anwar Jibawi and his mom, Amal, opened Anwar’s Kitchen in 2020, a brick-and-mortar restaurant in downtown. (Logan Kunde / Los Angeles Times)
In Downtown Los Angeles, family run Anwar's Kitchen serves Palestinian food with some Los Angeles influences. You do not want to miss the shawarma tacos!
Southern California Library
A wall of the library’s exterior features an Olmec statue mosiac. (Southern California Library)
Visit Southern California Library to learn about the histories of resistance over the past fifty years in Los Angeles. Make a donation and support them if you can. You’ll find some of the friendliest and most knowledgeable people working or volunteering there.
Human Resources
View of Don't Look Now at Human Resources. (Jackie Castillo)
And last but not least, my favorite art space in Los Angeles: Human Resources Los Angeles is an all volunteer run art space supporting performative and underexposed modes of expression.
Header image: External view of the Watts Towers. (Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times)
Stay engaged. Use #UCLAarts to stay connected.
