You See LA: Summer 2023
THINGS TO SEE AND DO IN LA, HANDPICKED BY UCLA’S CAMPUS ARTS COMMUNICATORS
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.
UCLA’s campus arts communicators have curated a diverse selection of things to do and see in Los Angeles and beyond. With this list, you’ll never run out of activities this summer.
Sean Arenas
Assistant Director, Strategic Communications, UCLA School of the Arts and Architecture
Gian Galang’s Form & Fury: The Art of Wushu exhibition at Nucleus
Nucleus
210 East Main Street, Alhambra, CA 91801
Nucleus is easily one of the most overlooked art galleries in Los Angeles County. They have been curating shows in the San Gabriel Valley since 2004, with an emphasis on Asian artists and animators. It’s unassuming and always welcoming. In recent years, I’ve had the privilege to see exhibitions from Gian Galang, Shintaro Kago, Akiko Stehrenberger, and Wayne Barlow, to name a few. Nucleus is also an excellent place to purchase original works from up-and-coming artists.
A view of downtown Los Angeles, at left, can be seen from the Boyle Hotel, which is now an affordable housing building. (Christina House / For The Los Angeles Times)
Boyle Heights
Boyle Heights is home to many of my favorite places to eat, shop, and hang out. Get a cup of coffee from Picaresca Barra de Cafe then walk over and grab lunch from Tacos y Birria la Unica. After you’ve eaten, check out Other Books. Their ever-growing collection of rare and obscure books, zines, and comics always astounds me. A first edition of Ryū Murakami’s Almost Transparent Blue? Don’t mind if I do. Once the sun sets, grab pupusas or tacos from a street vendor and drive over to First Street Pool & Billiard Parlor, where you can catch a concert put on by Nothing Less or SOS Booking. I must warn you, though — it’s going to be loud.
Photograph: Courtesy CC/Flickr/Wayne Hsieh
American Cinematheque
Look, I’m a movie nerd. I’ve been collecting original movie posters and reading about film history since I could remember, and the American Cinematheque’s daily screenings are a home away from home. What I really appreciate about their film curation is that there’s no such thing as high or low art: It’s all cinema. A Monday night at the Loz Feliz 3 might feature Cannibal Apocalypse followed by Fellini’s 8 ½. Nothing is off limits. They also program at the Aero Theatre in Santa Monica and the soon-to-be-reopened Egyptian Theatre in Hollywood. I would be remiss if I didn’t mention Beyond Fest, an American Cinematheque sponsored annual film festival and haven to all things cinematically weird and wonderful.
Anne Marie Burke
Executive Director, Strategic Communications, UCLA School of the Arts and Architecture
Ganna Walska Lotusland
Lotusland
If unusual and exotic plants are your thing and you're looking for a fun and interesting way to spend a summer day, take a drive up the coast and visit Lotusland, the extraordinary once private now public garden located in the lush enclave of Montecito in Santa Barbara County. Regarded as one of the world’s most iconic public gardens, a leisurely stroll through Lotusland’s 37-acres is a real treat. The breadth and depth of the collection will take you through nearly two dozen exquisitely designed discrete garden zones ranging from the aloe garden to the cactus garden to the dracaena circle (my personal fave), insectary garden, fern garden, water garden, olive allee, bromeliads, succulents, and so much more. You can be led through the gardens by a docent or go it on your own, but either way you need to make a reservation in advance. And make sure to leave enough time to learn about the creator and grand dame of Lotusland, Madame Ganna Walska, a Polish-born singer, theater maker, fashionista, and visionary who dedicated the last 43 years of her life to creating Lotusland.
If you head up early and are looking for a coffee and pastry before hitting the gardens, Renaud’s on Coast Village Road has an excellent pain au chocolat. For lunch or an afternoon snack, Field + Fort has great salads and sandwiches and while you may need to wait in line to put your order in, you can’t go wrong at La Super-Rica Taqueria, which was frequented and beloved by Julia Child when she retired to Santa Barbara in the last years of her life.
Erin Connors
Director of Communications, Fowler Museum at UCLA
The sign outside Merrihew’s nursery
Merrihew’s Sunset Gardens
I spend my free time with a three-year-old and never tire of these two westside outings: A visit to Merrihew’s Sunset Gardens, a gorgeous nursery that also offers inspired workshops, live music, adorable chickens, a neon chameleon, a family of chattery finches, and a kind, knowledgeable staff. We talk to the animals for five minutes, then walk down the block for a slice of pizza under the olive trees in Ghisallo’s transportive backyard patio. Our second-most popular ritual is shopping the clearance basket at Blick Art Materials on Santa Monica Blvd. followed by Mateo’s (next door) for paletas. Or coconut and mamey ice cream. Or the cactus/parsley/celery/pineapple/grapefruit aka “green diet” juice. The menu is vast and delicious.
Lisa Y. Garibay
Director of Strategic Communications and Marketing, The UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music
Exterior of El Mercadito
El Mercadito
3425 E 1st St Los Angeles, CA 90063, 9 a.m.–9 p.m., Monday–Sunday
I visit El Mercadito in Boyle Heights almost weekly to do legit grocery shopping. But it's also one of my default activities when I have out-of-town visitors or when I want to bewilder/impress a new date. More often than not, there's some form of live music as a soundtrack for the crazy array of stalls offering products from Mexican cheeses and juices to authentic ranchero garb to herbs, ointments, and other mysterious concoctions that will help remedy both your back pain and the curse your neighbor put on you in retribution for your barking dog.
Inside Nightmare Market LA
Nightmare Market LA
Nightmare Market LA is presenting semi-monthly queer dance nights targeting the goth/industrial fan in all of us. The goth scene — an arts and cultural phenomenon all its own — has always been a haven for queer folks, but the creation of safe, fun dance spaces specifically geared towards the queer community is (to be un-goth for a moment) an utterly joyful development. The Market's next events include Queer Techno Night and Lesbian Goth Night, both in July.
Marisa Soto
Marketing and Communications Officer, UCLA Film and Television Archive
Photograph: Courtesy of California.com
Little Tokyo
I go to Little Tokyo often. It’s where I was introduced to Shabu Shabu a lifetime ago. In addition to the five things to do in Little Tokyo from the first link, from there, my daughter likes to check out the latest Sonny Angel and other collectibles at Monkey Pants.
Peggy McInerny
Director of Communications, UCLA International Institute
Photograph: Courtesy Transiting Los Angeles
Park to Playa Trail
One of my favorite in-city hikes is the beginning of the Park to Playa route: You start in Culver Park, hike to Baldwin Hills overlook, and then on to Kenneth Hahn Park and its Japanese Park. This wonderful urban hike takes you into nature while giving you wonderful views of the LA Basin from the south. I typically hike on the other side of the basin, so you see familiar landmarks like Century City, the Hollywood sign, and the Masonic Temple from a completely different perspective. Not only do you get great views of the city, there also are good vistas of downtown. A big bonus is that the park is frequented by a very multiethnic population, in keeping with LA’s multicultural reality.
Jessica Wolf
Director of Arts Communications and Marketing, UCLA Strategic Communications
Biophilia Treehouse
Biophilia Treehouse
Sisters of Social Service Holy Spirit Retreat Center
4316 Lanai Rd, Encino, CA 91436
Nestled in the lush and serene backyard of the Sisters of Social Service in Encino is the latest intersection of art and the natural world from the imagination of Rebeca Méndez, chair of UCLA’s Department of Design Media Arts. The Biophilia Treehouse is essentially a giant birdhouse, engineered in collaboration with artists from Mendez’ Counterforce Lab working closely with researchers and designers from UCLA’s Sustainable L.A. Grand Challenge. The sturdy structure of bamboo and steel is planted elegantly in the earth and is designed to attract feathered friends as they migrate around the city. Mendez hopes humans sitting in repose near such a treehouse, whether it’s located in the middle of the verdant Sisters of Social Service property (like this prototype version) or eventually deployed pockets of the natural world into cityscapes, will inspire a respect and connection to the planet and the inhabitants with whom we share dwindling resources like water.
Take a drive to the property and check in with the office worker on the west side of the building. They will guide you through the buildings toward the garden courtyard — an oasis of trees and grass with a large duck pond — and up a small hill to the treehouse itself. Once there, sit a while and enjoy the peace and quiet wrought by a wealth of green and growing things. Bring a hat, water, and sunscreen and see if you can spend some quality time with the variety of bird species the team hopes will find the place cozy. Check out the markings on the bamboo beams around the treehouse to see who might fly by.
Ballona Creek Bike Path
The path begins at Syd Kronenthal Park in Culver City
3459 McManus Ave., Culver City, CA 90232
This is such a great feature of the Westside that essentially connects eastern Culver City to the ocean. This path is enjoyable on a regular bike or e-bike. You’re only constrained by as far as your legs can take you or the charge of your battery. There are long stretches where the path is concrete on both sides, with families, joggers, and cyclists dipping in and out through neighborhood entry points. But as you approach the wetlands, the horizon opens up and the water birds become more prevalent. There’s something very cathartic about meandering (or whizzing) past this protected natural space, watching the birds, and thinking about the tides as the smell of the sea begins to dominate the senses.
The path eventually merges with the Marina Del Rey walking path and serves as an entry point to beach businesses and parks, offering a chance to get sand in your toes. We like to ride to the long jetty at the end of the path and watch the boats go in and out, noting tiny crabs scrabbling through the rocks. And for the last year or so, the Ballona Wetlands have become home to an exciting invention called “The Interceptor,” a massive solar powered trapping system that has kept more than 55 tons of trash out of the Pacific to date. I think of it every time I ride the path.
Photograph: Courtesy of Berbere
Berbere
510 Santa Monica Blvd., Santa Monica, CA 90401
Berbere is an all-vegan Ethiopian restaurant in Santa Monica. Its small but mighty menu is a twist on the classic cuisine. The name literally refers to the blend of aromatic spices used in Ethiopian cooking. Chef T from T&T Lifestyle has created a menu that includes “Eat the Rainbow,” a dish that offers the traditional cache of stewed delectables best scooped up with soft injera bread. But other offerings take things further — those pungent and inviting spices dominate crunchy flatbread, tacos, potatoes, burritos, and sliders.
Don’t sleep on Sunday brunch; it’s the only day they serve their blueberry teff pancakes. (Teff is the high-protein grain that injera is made from). I’m not a sweets-for-breakfast person, but I tried these on a whim one day, and they were perfect. A bit flat, aerated, and crunchy on the corners, there was so much savory goodness going on with the juicy blueberries and a bit of syrup. Pair it with a cup of Turkish coffee with cardamom on top. This is the kind of spot where the chef might come out and make sure all is well. All the servers are lovely. Once your body is fed, tend to your soul a bit and stop by Thunderbolt Spiritual Books next door to peruse the crystals, curios, incense, and inspirational card sets.
Stay engaged. Use #UCLAarts to stay connected.
