Cisco Home's Floor Sample Sale is here!
2023-11-13 08:00 - 2023-11-14 17:00 (America/Los_Angeles) | Cisco Home, 8705 Washington Boulevard, Culver City, CA, 90232, United States
Anyone who has ever stepped into the Cisco Home showroom knows that their beautiful pieces are all custom-designed to perfectly fit your home’s decor. Cisco Home is located in a 5,000 square foot space along Washington Boulevard, featuring a large selection of sofas, sectionals, chairs and beds, as well as a unique handblown glass lighting collection made in Los Angeles.
But Cisco rarely has the luxury of inventory that is readily available to their clients. Fortunately for us, Cisco has a selection of items presented during High Point Furniture Market this year and is passing on the savings to you. Stop in the showroom to enjoy a rare floor model sale at 20 – 60% off regular prices!
In case you didn’t know: Noblessa shares the Cisco showroom. On your visit, enjoy exploring this high-end brand offering long-lasting kitchens, built with modern lines from the best German materials. The interior parking garage is located at 8711 Washington Boulevard, just a few short steps west of the Cisco showroom.
Book an Appointment Today!

Westside Urban Forum Breakfast Panel Discussion - Housing on the Fast Track: The Impact of Directive 1
2023-11-16 07:45 - 09:30 | Helms Design Center, 8745 Washington Boulevard, Culver City, CA, 90232
Thursday, November 16th, 2023
Helms Design Center
8745 Washington Boulevard, Culver City
7:45 am – 9:30 am
Doors open at 7:45 for registration, breakfast and networking.
Panel from 8:30 am – 9:30 am
RSVP Required!

Members Register Here

Nonmembers Register Here

During Mayor Karen Bass’s inaugural week as Los Angeles’ leader, she introduced Executive Directive 1 (ED 1), a groundbreaking policy aimed at expediting the construction of affordable housing and shelters in the city. The initiative, successful in reducing the approval time for such projects from over six months to a mere 37 days, has been hailed as a pivotal move in the city’s fight against its housing crisis. It has resulted in a surge in project applications, with over 4,000 units proposed in the first six months alone. The greater approval certainty and flexible incentives have made many more 100% deed-restricted affordable projects feasible, and they have unlocked the private market: many ED 1 proposals are from for-profit developers that do not require public financing.
The policy has not been without controversy. When first enacted, certain single family zoned parcels were eligible for streamlining affordable multifamily projects. Although the directive was amended to rescind this eligibility, project applications that were submitted before the change are in a state of limbo, hotly contested between developers, housing advocates, neighborhood groups, and the City.
Nevertheless, the City is now seeking to enshrine key tenets of ED 1 into law to ensure its longevity and continued positive effect on the housing landscape of Los Angeles. Many housing advocates would like to ensure that the permanent Affordable Housing Streamlining Ordinance continues to unlock the full potential of affordable housing development, while others have flagged the need to avoid unintended consequences such as the displacement of existing tenants.
Join the Westside Urban Forum as we delve deep into the aspirations and implications of ED 1, as well as its proposed codification into the Affordable Housing Streamlining Ordinance. With homelessness and housing affordability reaching critical levels, ED 1 aims to streamline the development process, but what challenges lie ahead? Join us to understand, debate, and envision the future of Los Angeles housing.
Speakers
Scott Epstein, Policy and Research Director, Abundant Housing LA
Ben Lee, Broker, Marcus & Millichap
Kevin J. Keller, AICP, Senior Advisor, Office of Mayor Karen Bass
Moderator
Nancy Barba, Planning Commissioner, City of Culver City
Registration Fees
$50 Members
$65 Non-Members
$10 Student Members & Retired Members
$15 Student Non-Members & Retired Non-Members
Pre-registration closes on Wednesday, July 19th, at 4:00 PM. After Wednesday, July 19th, onsite registration will be available at the cost of an additional $10. No refunds or credits will be provided after this day.
Event Time
7:45 am – 9:30 am
7:45 am – Registration & Light Breakfast
8:30 am – Panel Discussion
Location
The Helms Design Center is located at the Helms Bakery campus at 8745 Washington Boulevard in Culver City.
Directions
Avoid the stress of rush hour and skip traffic! The Helms Design Center at 8745 Washington Blvd in Culver City is conveniently located a short, pleasant walk from a number of transit lines, including:
Metro Rail “E” (Expo) Line Culver City Station
(1 block west at Washington and National Blvds)
Culver City Bus “1” and “1C1” lines
(at the adjacent Washington Blvd/Helms Avenue street corner)
Parking
For those who choose to drive, parking is available in the adjacent interior parking garage at 8711 Washington Blvd (look for the red banners), or there is parking available throughout the Helms Bakery complex. Parking Map
Sponsor Provided Tickets
Thanks to the generosity of our annual Sponsors, WUF has a small number of free tickets available to members of the community. If you are not able to join as a member or purchase a ticket for this month’s panel presentation, but would like to join us, please write us at info@westsideurbanforum.com to inquire if we have any remaining sponsor provided tickets.
www.westsideurbanforum.com
Image Credit: California State Senate

Book Signing with Pippa Garner: Act Like You Know Me
2023-11-18 16:00 - 18:00 | Arcana: Books on the Arts, 8675 Washington Blvd., Culver City, CA, 90232
Free
Join Arcana: Books on the Arts on Saturday, November 18th, 4:00-6:00 pm for a book signing with renowned Los Angeles-based artist Pippa Garner.
Available will be the much-anticipated catalogue for Ms. Garner’s current career-spanning retrospective – Act Like You Know Me, along with the 2023 edition of her iconic, long-unavailable Philip Garner’s Better Living Catalog.
If you cannot attend and would like to order a signed copy of either – or both – to have shipped or to pick up at the shop, please place your order with Arcana Books!
We look forward to seeing you this Saturday!
Act Like You Know Me is the first comprehensive monograph on innovative American artist Pippa Garner. Encompassing Garner’s most iconic works, from the Backwards Car to the Half-Suit, alongside never-before-seen photographs and ephemera, it surveys fifty years of her transdisciplinary art practice, from the late 1960s to the early 2010s, through photography, illustration, ephemera, and original writings. “Act Like You Know Me” supplements exclusive visuals and texts by Garner with archival press materials on the artist from such notable figures as Glenn O’Brien, Ralph Rugoff, and Hayden Dunham in addition to three new original commissions from contemporary, award-winning authors Shola von Reinhold, Dodie Bellamy, and Fiona Alison Duncan, and serves to introduce a highly-influential, under-recognized artist whose uncompromising approach to life and practice has allowed her to interact with the worlds of illustration, editorial, television, and art without ever becoming beholden to them.
Pippa Garner’s Better Living Catalogue – originally published in 1982, takes the form of a mail order catalog featuring clever and whimsical inventions that parody consumer goods while simultaneously critiquing America’s obsession with ingenuity, efficiency, leisure, and comfort. These works, which were made as prototypes and photographed for the publication, take the form of improbable accessories, clothing, footwear, home appliances, and office gadgets. For example, the “Reactiononometer,” a portable wristband, instantly measures social success, while the “Digital Diet Loafers” display the wearer’s weight with every step. If the “Munch-o-Matic” reduces deskwork interruptions by flinging a snack right into the user’s mouth, other items promise financial solvency (the controlled cash flow “Autowallet”), sustainable waste management, or mess-free companionship (the “Pet-a-Vision” TV console). The artist asserts that all of the products in the book are “absolute necessities for contemporary survival.” Many of the prototypes Garner created for the publication were ultimately repurposed or recycled, making this previously rare gem of an artist book one of the artist’s few works to now be widely available.
Born in the suburbs of Chicago in 1942, the artist formerly known as Philip Garner has satirized American-style consumerism for decades, reifying the joys of everyday life and personal liberation along her way. With her prankish sense of humour and conceptual dedication to experimental engineering, she has altered materials of mass production – from Fordism through the pharmacopornographic era – subverting commercial binaries to reveal the transitory nature of material life and her own transpersonal identity.

Book Signing for New Ground: Jacob Samuel and Contemporary Etching
2023-12-02 16:00 - 18:00 | Arcana: Books on the Arts, 8675 Washington Blvd., Culver City, CA, 90232
Free
Join Arcana: Books on the Arts on Saturday, December 2nd, from 4:00-6:00 pm for a book signing for New Ground: Jacob Samuel and Contemporary Etching.
Music for the afternoon will be supplied by DJ Dave Muller.
If you cannot attend and would like to order a signed copy to have shipped or to pick up at Arcana, please purchase here. Orders will begin shipping Tuesday, December 5th.
Over the course of four decades, Santa Monica-based master printer and publisher Jacob Samuel has collaborated with some of the most influential painters, sculptors, photographers, performance artists, and musicians of the 20th and 21st centuries to make etchings, a medium grounded in techniques more than five centuries old. Through a traditional but maximally flexible approach, he was driven to prove that etching could be a successful contemporary medium, and the breadth, variety and creativity in the works he published is evidence of his success in making old master printmaking relevant to artists today. Published for an exhibition that draws from Mr. Samuel’s catalog of more than seventy projects, New Ground presents a selection of works by a diverse range of artists including Ed Ruscha, John Baldessari, Jonas Wood, Shio Kusaka, Barry McGee, Wangechi Mutu, Christopher Wool, Chris Burden, Nancy Rubins, Mona Hatoum, Rebecca Horn, Jannis Kounellis, Cristina Iglesias, Rita McBride, Josiah McElheny, Mathew Monahan, Meredith Monk, Gabriel Orozco, Gert and Uwe Tobias, Charline von Heyl, James Welling, and many more. This richly illustrated hardbound catalogue features an essay by curator Esther Adler, interviews with thirteen of the artists Samuel has worked with, and a checklist detailing every project published by Edition Jacob Samuel in the collection of the Museum of Modern Art. A brand new example additionally signed by master etcher – and decades-long Arcana pal Jacob Samuel.

Nature, Art & Habitat Residency - “FIRE: Renewal, Rituals, and Power”
2023-12-07 18:30 - 20:30 | Helms Design Center, 8745 Washington Boulevard, Culver City, CA, 90232
Free
On Thursday, December 7th from 6:30 to 8:30 pm, please join us in welcoming Nature, Art and Habitat as they introduce the 2024 residency topic, FIRE: Renewal, Rituals, and Power. The evening’s conversation is focused on the role of Fire as an elemental force that has shaped the very fabric of existence on earth.
The discussion will address pressing questions such as:

What is our awareness of the dynamics of fire?
How does fire and pollution connect us and highlight issues of global justice?
How can materialities help protect our homes and workplaces?

Come imagine future scenarios about transforming our material culture and help NAHR investigate the many facets of fire in history, rituals, and renewal. The 2024 NAHR open call will be explored in an dialogue and through a collaborative design exercise.
Head of Ceremony: Deborah Weintraub, AIA, LEED AP
Keynote Speaker: Greg Kochanowski, AIA, ASLA, Architect TBD
NAHR Fellow 2023: Dodd Holsapple, Artist
SCHEDULE
6.30 – 6.40pm: Arrival and Socializing
6.40 – 6.45pm: Introduction and Welcome
6.45 – 6.50pm: The “5 Ws” of NAHR
6.50 – 7.05: Past Fellow and Helms Grant recipient presentation Dodd Holsapple
7.10 – 7.20pm: Keynote address on 2024 topic by xxxx
7.20 – 7.30pm: 2024 Topic Announcement, Introduction of workshop prompts
7.30 – 8.05pm: Participative workshop / charrette
8:05 – 8.30pm: Presentations and final summation remarks
ABOUT NAHR
Nature Art and Habitat, an Eco-laboratory of Multidisciplinary Practice, located in Taleggio Valley, Bergamo, Italy and Santa Ynez, California, is a program that aims to unfold and display a sensitive type of culture that relates to nature as a source of inspiration and a measure of available resources.
NAHR is a non-profit organization dedicated to explorations on the environment and creativity, hosting researchers and scholars from all around the world yearly.
FREE Parking is located in any of the Helms Bakery Campus lots.

Book signing for Hearing Voices - Selected Lyrics 1987-2021 by Dean Wareham and Ed Templeton
2023-12-09 16:00 - 18:00 | Arcana: Books on the Arts, 8675 Washington Blvd., Culver City, CA, 90232
Free
Join Arcana: Books on the Arts on Saturday, December 9th, 4:00 – 6:00 pm for a book signing for Hearing Voices – Selected Lyrics 1987-2021 by Dean Wareham and Ed Templeton.
If you cannot attend and would like to order a signed copy to have shipped or to pick up at Arcana, please purchase here. Orders will begin shipping Tuesday, December 12th.
Hearing Voices is a collection of lyrics by songwriting great Dean Wareham. Born in Wellington, New Zealand, Wareham moved to New York City as a teenager, in August 1977. It was here, in high school, that he met future bandmates Damon Krukowski and Naomi Yang. All three went on to attend Harvard University, and in 1987 founded Galaxie 500, for which Wareham was the singer, guitarist and principal songwriter. Galaxie 500 released three albums For Rough Trade between 1987 and 1991 that have only grown in stature and influence. Wareham’s next band Luna recorded seven albums for Elektra and Beggar’s Banquet, followed by four albums as Dean & Britta (with wife Britta Phillips), and three simply as Dean Wareham, including his most recent album I Have Nothing to Say to the Mayor of L.A. Also a writer, Wareham’s memoir, Black Postcards, was published by Penguin, and he has contributed to Salon, Pitchfork, the Talkhouse and Counterpunch.
Hearing Voices is the first published collection of his lyrics, and is the result of a unique collaboration with the artist Ed Templeton, who created the illustrations for the book. Ed Templeton’s drawings, paintings and photographs have been widely exhibited and published in the United States, Europe and Asia. Hearing Voices is his fifth title with Nazraeli Press. A brand new example of the first edition limited to one thousand unnumbered copies additionally signed by Dean Wareham and Ed Templeton.

Book Signing for Doug Aitken: Mirage
2023-12-16 16:00 - 18:00 | Arcana: Books on the Arts, 8675 Washington Blvd., Culver City, CA, 90232
Free
Join Arcana: Books on the Arts on Saturday, December 16th, from 4:00-6:00 pm for a book signing with Doug Aitken for Mirage.
If you cannot attend and would like to order a signed copy to have shipped or to pick up at Arcana, please purchase here. Orders will begin shipping Tuesday, December 19th.

Between 2017 and 2021 artist Doug Aitken presented his site-specific installation entitled “Mirage” in the California desert outside Palm Springs, at a defunct Detroit bank, and nestled in the Swiss Alps. “Mirage” takes the form of a ranch-style suburban American house whose exterior is entirely clad in reflective mirrored surfaces that camouflage it in landscapes far removed from the familiar lawn and picket fence. The book is an immersive chronicle of the three installations, featuring photographs, architectural drawings, and other materials related to the project accompanied by a text by Neville Wakefield as well as an interview with the artist. Handmade with cold foils, silver printing, an exposed spine, and bound as a leporello, this extraordinary document is a tour de force of the bookmaker’s art.
A brand new, most handsome example of the first edition limited to one thousand copies additionally boldly signed “Doug Aitken” in ink.

Westside Urban Forum Breakfast Panel Discussion - A Conversation with Supervisor Lindsay Horvath
2024-01-11 07:45 - 09:30 | Helms Design Center, 8745 Washington Boulevard, Culver City, CA, 90232
Thursday, January 11th, 2024
Helms Design Center
8745 Washington Boulevard, Culver City
7:45 am – 9:30 am
Doors open at 7:45 for registration, breakfast and networking.
Panel from 8:30 am – 9:30 am
RSVP Required!

Members Register Here

Nonmembers Register Here

In 2022, voters in Los Angeles County’s 3rd Supervisorial District elected Lindsay P. Horvath to the Board of Supervisors. Succeeding Sheila Kuehl, Horvath assumed office after serving as a City Councilmember and the longest consecutively-serving Mayor for the City of West Hollywood. In December 2023, she became chair of the Board.
Supervisor Horvath has already made history with a number of historic firsts: she is the youngest woman and first millennial to be elected to the Board of Supervisors, the youngest chair of the Board, and currently is the only renter to serve on the Board – bringing a much-needed perspective to LA County leadership.
Having campaigned on solutions to homelessness, public safety, reproductive freedom, and environmental sustainability, Supervisor Horvath is positioned to deliver for a much larger constituency that includes the Westside and beyond. The third supervisorial district includes nearly two million residents and 431 square miles of land stretching from the Pacific Ocean to Los Feliz, and from Venice to San Fernando. The County’s $43 billion budget eclipses the combined state budgets of Kansas, Montana and Vermont.
The Westside Urban Forum is pleased to welcome Supervisor Horvath for a candid discussion with their membership, kicking off our 2024 programs.
Moderator to be announced.
Registration Fees
$50 Members
$65 Non-Members
$10 Student Members & Retired Members
$15 Student Non-Members & Retired Non-Members
Pre-registration closes on Wednesday, January 10th, at 4:00 PM. After Wednesday, January 10th, onsite registration will be available at the cost of an additional $10. No refunds or credits will be provided after this day.
Event Time
7:45 am – 9:30 am
7:45 am – Registration & Light Breakfast
8:30 am – Panel Discussion
Location
The Helms Design Center is located at the Helms Bakery campus at 8745 Washington Boulevard in Culver City.
Directions
Avoid the stress of rush hour and skip traffic! The Helms Design Center at 8745 Washington Blvd in Culver City is conveniently located a short, pleasant walk from a number of transit lines, including:
Metro Rail “E” (Expo) Line Culver City Station
(1 block west at Washington and National Blvds)
Culver City Bus “1” and “1C1” lines
(at the adjacent Washington Blvd/Helms Avenue street corner)
Parking
For those who choose to drive, parking is available in the adjacent interior parking garage at 8711 Washington Blvd (look for the red banners), or there is parking available throughout the Helms Bakery complex. Parking Map
Sponsor Provided Tickets
Thanks to the generosity of our annual Sponsors, WUF has a small number of free tickets available to members of the community. If you are not able to join as a member or purchase a ticket for this month’s panel presentation, but would like to join us, please write us at info@westsideurbanforum.com to inquire if we have any remaining sponsor provided tickets.
www.westsideurbanforum.com

Helms Avenue Sidewalk Sale this Saturday
2024-01-13 12:00 - 17:00 | Helms Walk, 3270 Helms Avenue, Los Angeles, CA, 90034
On Saturday, January 13th from 12:00 to 5:00 PM, please visit our retailers during a special Helms Avenue Sidewalk Sale, with incredible savings featured at this pop up event on our pedestrian plaza, with additional in-store, online and special-order items available. Additional sales and promotions are located inside our Helms Bakery showrooms. Please see retailers for more details.
HD Buttercup | Coco Republic not only completed a BIG showroom redesign, is hosting their famous Half Yearly Sale, but will pop up outside on Helms Avenue for one day only with not-to-be-missed items for your home. You’ll have to venture inside their showroom to see the rest of the sale, which is literally everything!
Featured items from HD Buttercup include the Montauk Dining Armchair and the Tribeca Emerald Side Table.
The Rug Warehouse has many rugs being deeply discounted during their Semi-Annual Sale, including a late 19th century antique Lavar Kerman carpet. See the rug experts for additional items on sale in-store.
Rejuvenation is making way for new 2024 designs inside their showroom so their tent will be chock full of sale items to select from, including a Monrowe Chair in luscious brown leather, tables, mirrors and more!
Harbour Outdoor has a big online sale in full swing, but they are offering special discount orders on their Loop Sun Lounge, $2295 and on sale for $1606, their Pacific Dining Chair, $750, on sale for $524, and their Pacific Angled Sun Lounge, $1795 on sale for $1256. Don’t miss out on this one-day-only offer.

Book Signing with Todd Hido + Mark Steinmetz
2024-01-20 16:00 - 18:00 | Arcana: Books on the Arts, 8675 Washington Blvd., Culver City, CA, 90232
Join us on Saturday, January 20th, from 4:00-6:00 pm as Arcana: Books on the Arts starts 2024 off in style by presenting a special dual book signing with longtime favorites – and pals – Todd Hido and Mark Steinmetz.
Each has a lovely hot off the Nazraeli Press offering in The End Sends Advance Warning and France 1987, and they both will be at the shop for the afternoon!
If you cannot attend and would like to order a signed copy of Todd Hido’s The End Sends Advance Warning, Mark Steinmetz’s France 1987, or both, to have shipped or to pick up at the shop, please place your order here.
This event is free and open to the public.

Todd Hido
“For over 25 years, Todd Hido has crafted narratives through loose and mysterious suburban scenes, desolate landscapes, and cinematic portraits. Irrespective of its title, this is a book about hope and beauty and why we seek it so desperately at this time. For his latest images he has roamed as far as the Hawaiian Islands and their meteorological opposites; the shores of the Bering Sea, and Nordic fjords above the Arctic Circle. Even with such geographic diversity, Hido captures places that feel at once familiar and unknown; welcoming and unsettling. With this stunning new monograph, Hido picks up where his previous title Bright Black World left off, presenting some eighty new and previously unpublished landscape photographs. The End Sends Advance Warning is beautifully printed on heavyweight art paper and bound in offset printed linen. The book also includes nine tipped-in photographs printed on Kasadaka art paper, as well as tipped-in and laid-in booklets. A masterpiece of an artist’s book, and a must for the serious contemporary art library.”

Mark Steinmetz
“In the summer of 1987, I was 26 years old, a couple years out of graduate school, and living in a derelict apartment outside of Boston. I had received an artist’s residency in the South of France, and so, in August, I flew to Paris. I stayed a few weeks with close family friends in a top floor apartment on the Avenue de Wagram. My friends were working in fashion and film, and I was told my bed had once belonged to Jane Fonda before she became Barbarella. The weather was getting colder, and they gave me a brown corduroy jacket to wear that Jean Seberg (Godard’s Breathless, Preminger’s Bonjour Tristesse) had cried on. I would eat some breakfast and run around Paris photographing all day—hardly eating because I had no money—returning to their apartment for dinner and a glass of champagne.
“Later in the year, I went to the South to begin my artist’s residency at the Camargo Foundation, in Cassis, a town on the sea not far from Marseille. The writer Virginia Woolf, the pointillist Paul Signac, the fauvists André Derain and Raoul Dufy, and the Provençal poet Frédéric Mistral, had spent extended periods of time in Cassis. I took day trips from Cassis to Arles, Aix, Marseille, and Nice, and could process my film in the simple darkroom that was supplied to me.
“In 1987, there were no cell phones or digital cameras. To meet up with someone you had to set a time and a place and each of you had to stick to the plan. The seasons seemed to linger around more, and in general, everyone seemed to have more time. The parks, museums, and subways were less crowded. The rhythm of daily life was more relaxed. People were worried in 1987, but not as worried as we are now.” – From the Introduction by Mark Steinmetz
This wonderful collection of previously unpublished photographs by Mark Steinmetz, made some thirty-five years ago during an extended stay in the South of France, provides welcome insight into his earliest years as a working artist. It comprises over sixty photographs beautifully printed in duotone on Japanese Kasadaka art paper, and bound in Burgundy linen. Limited to only one thousand case-bound copies, France 1987 will sell out quickly.

Fresh Perks: Helms Instagram Giveaway for February
2024-01-26 09:00 - 2024-01-28 17:00 | Online, CA
We had such a blast sharing our #love for all of you during last December’s Giftable Giveaways on Instagram, that we’ve decided to give away something every month of the year!
That’s right. We are officially calling 2024 the year of Fresh Perks as a way to show our thanks and gratitude. We appreciate you for choosing Helms Bakery District as your go-to design hub, your shopping destination, and a favorite spot to dine. Thanks for spending time with us throughout the entire year and thank you for always showing up. We love seeing you!
Be sure to follow us on Instagram @helmsbakerydistrict to see what we’re giving away and to be eligible to participate. The Giveaway begins on Friday, January 26th at 9 am and ends on Sunday, January 28th at 5 pm.
To enter is Simple:
(1) you must Follow us on Instagram,
(2) Tag 2 friends in your comment so they can follow us and enter too, and
(3) Tell us why you love Pasta!
Sign up for our newsletter to find out when the next Helms Fresh Perk drops.
Good luck!
Rules & Regs
(4) No purchase is required to enter.
(5) Winners will be selected randomly, contacted after each giveaway closes, and announced in our comments on Instagram.
(6) Open to US residents only, 18 years and older. By entering, entrants confirm they are at least 18+ years of age.
(7) This is a “GIVEAWAY” and is not eligible for return, refund, or exchange at any of our showrooms or restaurants.
(8) The “Helms Perks” giveaway is not sponsored, endorsed, administered by or associated with Instagram. Entrants release Instagram and all brands of all responsibility and agree to Instagram’s terms of use.
(9) One entry per Instagram user. Duplicate entries will not be considered.
(10) This giveaway is open to residents of Los Angeles County.

Arcana Book Signing + Discussion for WINOGRAND COLOR
2024-02-03 16:00 - 18:00 | Arcana: Books on the Arts, 8675 Washington Blvd., Culver City, CA, 90232
Free
On Saturday, February 3rd from 4:00 to 6:00 pm, please join Arcana: Books on the Arts for a discussion about the fabulous new Twin Palms book WINOGRAND COLOR with the book’s editor Michael Almereyda and Geoff Dyer. The discussion will begin at 4:15 followed by a book signing with Mr. Almereyda.
If you can’t make it, you can order a copy of WINOGRAND COLOR signed by Michael Almereyda here.
Garry Winogrand is known primarily for his spontaneous and energetic street photography in black-and-white. What is lesser known is that Winogrand also shot more than 45,000 color slides between the early 1950s and late 1960s. These photographs were often taken between assignments, when the photographer, working on his own, developed and refined an approach to his medium that was increasingly open, independent, and radical. He routinely photographed with two cameras strapped around his neck, one loaded with color film, the other with black and white.
“Winogrand Color” presents one hundred and fifty photographs selected from the archives at the Center for Creative Photography by the American film director, Michael Almereyda and former Museum of Modern Art curator, Susan Kismaric. It is the first monograph dedicated to the artist’s rarely seen color work.

Arcana Book Signing + Discussion with Mary Virginia Swanson for Publish Your Photography Book
2024-02-10 16:00 - 18:00 | Arcana: Books on the Arts, 8675 Washington Blvd., Culver City, CA, 90232
Free
On Saturday, February 10th from 4:00 to 6:00 pm, please join Arcana: Books on the Arts for a book signing with the iconic Mary Virginia Swanson to celebrate the publication of the newly updated edition of the ever-popular Publish Your Photography Book! Ms. Swanson will be signing and taking your questions in a discussion moderated by Radius Books’ Isabella Beroutsos.
If you cannot attend and would like to order a signed copy of Publish Your Photography Book to have shipped or to pick up at Arcana, please place your order here.

The first book to demystify the process of producing and publishing a book of photographs, Publish Your Photography Book was first released in 2011 and subsequently sold out two editions. This highly anticipated third edition guides photo-based artists through the steps involved in publishing a book of their work. Industry insiders Darius D. Himes and Mary Virginia Swanson survey the current landscape of photography-book publishing and point out the many avenues to pursue and pitfalls to avoid. This updated, expert guide covers: a history of the photobook; an overview of the publishing industry; the process of bringing your project to book form (with both traditional publishing and self-publishing options); how to market a photography book (including a dialogue with collectors on the limited edition and artist-made books); case studies with published photographers; and valuable resources on production materials, publishing and marketing timelines.
Filled with educational wisdom, the book features interviews and contributions from artists, agents, editors, designers, printers, publishers, distributors, booksellers, curators and librarians who share their experiences and provide advice about each step on the path to publication and placement. A removable workbook helps readers address book preparation, draft submission guidelines, production timelines and marketing plans. With over 50 years of combined industry experience and insights, the authors also provide both historical context and contemporary expertise about the international photobook scene, including awards, fairs and grants.
The contributors include: Regina Maria Anzenberger, Bob Aufuldish, Julia Borissova, Barbara Bosworth, Frish Brandt, Sonel Breslav, Joan Brookbank, Jane Brown, Jason Burstein, David Campany, Alejandro Cartagena, Bruno Ceschel, Nelson Chan, Lewis Chaplin, Clément Cheroux, David Chickey, Joshua Chuang, Mary DelMonico, Sarah Espenon, Jon Evans, Chloe Ferres, Tricia Gabriel, Susan kae Grant, Kris Graves, Hans Gremmen, Nathalie Herschdorfer, Todd Hido, Deborah Hollis, Tiffany Jones, Christina Labey, Joan Liftin, Michael Lundgren, Lesley A. Martin, Christopher McCall, Lisa McCarty, Clifton Meador, Dan Milnor, Arezoo Moseni, Colleen Mullins, Azu Nwagbogu, Martin Parr, Cecile Poimboeuf-Koizumi, Alan Rapp, Rixon Reed, Ruth R. Rogers, Laura Russell, Markus Schaden, Mike Slack, Søren Solkær, David Solo, Gerhard Steidl, Alan Thomas, Ian van Coller, Anne Wilkes Tucker, Amy Wilkins, Deborah Willis, Denise Wolff, Nancy E. Wolff, Carl Wooley, Sophie Wright and Philip Zimmermann.

Arcana x Burntsienna Artbook Review
2024-02-17 11:00 - 13:00 | Arcana: Books on the Arts, 8675 Washington Blvd., Culver City, CA, 90232
Saturday, February 17, 11:00 am to 1:00 pm
8675 Washington Boulevard, Culver City
Join Arcana: Books on the Arts for an artbook review with Jason E.C. Wright, Director of Burntsienna Research Society.
This installation focuses on Architecture, Fashion, or Product Design (special artbooks or periodicals), a programme for artbook collectors and creative professionals to engage with collected artbooks and each other. Guests are invited to bring up to two (2) artbooks, design books, or periodicals from their own collections to share on Arcana’s long display tables.
Each programme begins with a formal review of two (2) books from the Burntsienna Research Library – moderated by Jason E.C. Wright – followed by each guest sharing a bit about what they’ve brought, and how each title offers special reference or inspiration for their practice. For the remaining time you’re invited to flip through the books on display, to read quietly, to make notes or take reference photos, and to personally engage with creative professionals of different disciplines.
We look forward to welcoming you at Arcana Books and Helms Bakery District.
This is a ticketed event: $25, limited to 18 spaces.
BOOK TICKETS HERE
Guest passes for design students available; request HERE.
Ticket proceeds benefit the Burntsienna Research Library and Collections.

Arcana Book Signing with Yelena Yemchuk for Malanka
2024-02-17 16:00 - 18:00 | Arcana: Books on the Arts, 8675 Washington Blvd., Culver City, CA, 90232
Free
On Saturday, February 17th from 4:00 to 6:00 pm, please join Arcana: Books on the Arts for a book signing with Yelena Yemchuk to celebrate the publication of Malanka.
If you cannot attend and would like to order a signed copy to have shipped or to pick up at Arcana, please place your order here.

“Ukrainian-born, Brooklyn-based photographer and painter Yelena Yemchuk is most commonly known for her fashion and portrait photographs, which have appeared in Italian and Japanese Vogue, V, the New Yorker and The New York Times. Yemchuk makes images that teeter on the threshold between her Eastern European heritage and her daily life in New York; between fiction and reality; between the grand beauty of 1960s cinema and the social and built environments of post-Soviet realms. As with all of her work, Malanka is a personal, feminine, surrealist and magical project. The eponymous tradition is a pre-Christian folklore ritual driving out winter and welcoming spring, an ancient custom reminiscent of Persephone’s return in Greek mythology. It is celebrated on January 14th, the old New Year in the Julian calendar, by ethnic Romanians in western Ukraine. In 2019 and 2020, Yemchuk traveled to Crasna (Krasnoilsk in Ukrainian) to document the night-long festival. Accompanying Yemchuk’s striking photographic documentation is a poetic essay by Romanian cultural journalist Ioana Pelehatai.”

Fresh Perks: February Instagram Giveaway
2024-02-23 09:00 - 2024-02-25 17:00 | Online, CA
It’s February and time for the second installation of our Fresh Perks giveaway on Instagram, a little social fun each and every month of the year. Grab a Father’s Office freebie when you Enter-to-Win!
We are officially calling 2024 the year of Fresh Perks as a way to show our thanks and gratitude. We appreciate you for choosing Helms Bakery District as your go-to design hub, your shopping destination, and a favorite spot to dine. Thanks for spending time with us throughout the entire year and thank you for always showing up. We love seeing you!
Be sure to follow us on Instagram @helmsbakerydistrict to see what we’re giving away and to be eligible to participate. The Giveaway begins on Friday, February 23rd at 9 am and ends on Sunday, February 25th at 5 pm.
To enter is Simple:
(1) you must Follow us on Instagram,
(2) Tag 2 friends in your comment so they can follow us and enter too, and
(3) Post a Story and Tag us. We love seeing your creative self!
Sign up for our newsletter to find out when the next Helms Fresh Perk drops.
Good luck!
Rules & Regs
(4) No purchase is required to enter.
(5) Winners will be selected randomly, contacted after each giveaway closes, and announced in our comments on Instagram.
(6) Open to US residents only, 18 years and older. By entering, entrants confirm they are at least 18+ years of age.
(7) This is a “GIVEAWAY” and is not eligible for return, refund, or exchange at any of our showrooms or restaurants.
(8) The “Helms Perks” giveaway is not sponsored, endorsed, administered by or associated with Instagram. Entrants release Instagram and all brands of all responsibility and agree to Instagram’s terms of use.
(9) One entry per Instagram user. Duplicate entries will not be considered.
(10) This giveaway is open to residents of Los Angeles County.

Arcana Book Signing with Dawoud Bey for Elegy
2024-03-02 16:00 - 18:00 | Arcana: Books on the Arts, 8675 Washington Blvd., Culver City, CA, 90232
Free
On Saturday, March 2nd from 4:00 to 6:00 pm, please join Arcana: Books on the Arts for a book signing with Dawoud Bey to celebrate the publication of Elegy
If you cannot attend and would like to order a signed copy to have shipped or to pick up at Arcana, please place your order here.

Renowned for his Harlem street scenes and expressive portraits, Dawoud Bey continues his ongoing series on African American history focusing on the landscape to create a portrait of the early African American presence in the United States. Elegy brings together Bey’s three landscape series to date – “Night Coming Tenderly, Black (2017)”, “In This Here Place (2021)”, and “Stoney the Road (2023)” – elucidating the deep historical memory still embedded in the geography of the United States. Bey takes viewers to the historic Richmond Slave Trail in Virginia, where Africans were marched onto auction blocks; to the plantations of Louisiana, where they labored; and along the last stages of the Underground Railroad in Ohio, where fugitives sought self-emancipation. Essays by the exhibition’s curator, Valerie Cassel Oliver, and scholars LeRonn P. Brooks, Imani Perry, and Christina Sharpe illuminate the work. By interweaving these bodies of work into an elegy in three movements, Bey doesn’t merely evoke history, he retells it through historically grounded images that challenge viewers to go beyond seeing and imagine lived experiences.
A brand new example additionally SIGNED by photographer Dawoud Bey.

Cover Image: Untitled (James River) from the series Stony the Road, 2023, Dawoud Bey (American, born 1953), gelatin silver print. Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Gift of Mrs. Alfred duPont, by exchange. Image © Dawoud Bey. Photograph of Dawoud Bey © Frank Ashman.

Book a 20-Minute Design Consultation with a KOHLER Expert!
2024-03-15 10:00 - 2024-03-16 18:00 | Kohler Signature Store, 3250 Helms Ave, Los Angeles, CA, 90034
KOHLER Signature Store offers daily customer service and advice about the latest and greatest products in bathroom design. On Friday, March 15th and Saturday, March 16th, you’re invited to book a complimentary 20-minute bathroom design consultation with KOHLER’S expert designers in-store for a limited time only.
Appointment required, limited availability.
BOOK AN APPOINTMENT
WHAT TO EXPECT
You will receive a complimentary 20-minute speed design session with a KOHLER Bathroom Design expert. During the consultation, our designer could offer recommendations such as floorplan changes, or product or design considerations. If you’re interested in a full design solution, we will be extending a special offer in store on our KOHLER Bathroom Design Services-starting at $299.
We encourage you to bring inspiration, measurements, questions, or photos of your current bathroom to the consultation (not required).
ABOUT KOHLER SIGNATURE STORE
Discover the latest KOHLER products and unparalleled service at the KOHLER Signature Store in Culver City, CA. The KOHLER Signature Store offers a unique and comprehensive shopping experience that is distinguished by a modern, innovative store and a merchandise mix that completely indulges you as you experience the KOHLER brand. KOHLER project consultants with expertise in bath design, offer design development and project assistance. Additionally, the store features functioning products from KOHLER, Kallista, Robern, KOHLER Surfaces tile and stone and KOHLER Custom Vanities.

Arcana x Burntsienna Artbook Review
2024-03-16 11:00 - 13:00, 2024-04-13 11:00 - 13:00 | Arcana: Books on the Arts, 8675 Washington Blvd., Culver City, CA, 90232
Join Arcana: Books on the Arts for an artbook review with Jason E.C. Wright, Director of Burntsienna Research Society.
This installation focuses on Architecture, Fashion, or Product Design (special artbooks or periodicals), a programme for artbook collectors and creative professionals to engage with collected artbooks and each other. Guests are invited to bring up to two (2) artbooks, design books, or periodicals from their own collections to share on Arcana’s long display tables.
Each programme begins with a formal review of two (2) books from the Burntsienna Research Library – moderated by Jason E.C. Wright – followed by each guest sharing a bit about what they’ve brought, and how each title offers special reference or inspiration for their practice. For the remaining time you’re invited to flip through the books on display, to read quietly, to make notes or take reference photos, and to personally engage with creative professionals of different disciplines.
We look forward to welcoming you at Arcana Books and Helms Bakery District.
This is a ticketed event: $25, limited to 18 spaces.
TICKETS
Guest passes for design students available; request HERE.
Ticket proceeds benefit the Burntsienna Research Library and Collections.

Thresholds 2024: Photography and Urban Architecture
2024-03-18 08:00 - 2024-03-19 00:00 | Online, CA
We are always on the lookout for new art, architecture and design community partnerships. We are super excited to announce an upcoming event with our friends at Los Angeles Center for Photography.
Thresholds 2024: Photography and Urban Architecture: Open internationally for image-based artists, this call invites submissions for photographic works from across the world that considers the relationship between photography, urban architecture, and their viewers/users.
Taking street photography as its opening point, Thresholds 2024 will consider our connections with and the ways in which urban architecture informs our presence in the world. From expansive skyscrapers to minute ornate details, from periodic styles to historic monuments, from the mundane to the iconic, photography of urban architecture investigates the elements that define our public spaces and engagement, capturing the aesthetics of the ever-changing global cityscapes.
Deadline for submissions is Tuesday, March 19th at midnight PST.
SUBMISSION INFORMATION HERE
Exhibition opens May 4th at the Helms Design Center.
Photo by Joshua Tann, Honorable Mention, Personal Territory: Annual Members Exhibition 2023

Friend or Foe: How Will AI Affect Urban Development in LA?
2024-03-21 07:30 - 09:30 | Helms Design Center, 8745 Washington Boulevard, Culver City, CA, 90232
In 2024, we find ourselves suddenly navigating the dynamics brought about by the swift proliferation of applied artificial intelligence. It has changed the conversation around inspired creativity, technical prowess, and even experience itself – nothing seems to be immune to the reach of AI-powered techniques.
At the same time, our most urgent societal challenge is ensuring shelter for our unsheltered and housing insecure neighbors. Could AI technologies help us to accelerate development of housing for Los Angeles? Does AI help us to make better informed choices in urban planning? Is a rapid visualization of design concepts building a stronger community engagement? What are the opportunities that AI technologies offer – and what are the potential risks?
Join Westside Urban Forum on March 21 as our panelists bring diverse perspectives on the issue through their work in government, public policy, venture capital, startups, housing development, and urban design. Our question to them was this: Does Artificial Intelligence/Machine Learning offer us a path to improve urban development? Come find out what the leading minds have to say.
RSVP Required
MEMBER TICKETS
NONMEMBER TICKETS
Registration Fees
$50 Members
$65 Non-Members
$10 Student Members & Retired Members
$15 Student Non-Members & Retired Non-Members
Pre-registration closes on Wednesday, March 20th. After Wednesday, March 20th, onsite registration will be available at the cost of an additional $10. No refunds or credits will be provided after this day.
Event Time
7:45 am – 9:30 am
7:45 am – Registration & Light Breakfast
8:15 am – Panel Discussion
Contact
Suzi Paine · info@westsideurbanforum.com · 310-283-2423

Fresh Perks: March Instagram Giveaway
2024-03-29 09:00 - 2024-03-31 17:00 | Online, CA
It’s March and time for our Fresh Perks giveaway on Instagram, a little social fun each and every month of the year. This month, enter-to win an Arcana: Book on the Arts freebie! One lucky winner will be contacted after the end of the giveaway.
We are officially calling 2024 the year of Fresh Perks as a way to show our thanks and gratitude. We appreciate you for choosing Helms Bakery District as your go-to design hub, your shopping destination, and a favorite spot to dine. Thanks for spending time with us throughout the entire year and thank you for always showing up. We love seeing you!
Be sure to follow us on Instagram @helmsbakerydistrict to see what we’re giving away and to be eligible to participate. The Giveaway begins on Friday, March 29th at 9 am and ends on Sunday, March 31st at 5 pm.
To enter is Simple:
(1) you must Follow us on Instagram,
(2) Tag 2 friends in your comment so they can follow us and enter too, and
(3) Tell us the title of your favorite book!
Sign up for our newsletter and automatically be entered for a second chance to win.
Plus, you’ll find out when the next Helms Fresh Perk drops. Good luck!
Rules & Regs
(4) No purchase is required to enter.
(5) Winners will be selected randomly, contacted after each giveaway closes, and announced in our comments on Instagram.
(6) Open to US residents only, 18 years and older. By entering, entrants confirm they are at least 18+ years of age.
(7) This is a “GIVEAWAY” and is not eligible for return, refund, or exchange at any of our showrooms or restaurants.
(8) The “Helms Perks” giveaway is not sponsored, endorsed, administered by or associated with Instagram. Entrants release Instagram and all brands of all responsibility and agree to Instagram’s terms of use.
(9) One entry per Instagram user. Duplicate entries will not be considered.
(10) This giveaway is open to residents of Los Angeles County.

Golden Egg Hunt at Room & Board
2024-03-30 11:00 - 19:00 | Room&Board, 3231 Helms Avenue, Culver City, CA, 90034
What’s more fun than an Egg Hunt? An Egg Hunt with toy-filled goodies! Bring the kiddos to Room & Board this Saturday, March 30th, for an afternoon exploring their 2024 Collection and enjoying a full day of treasure-hunting family fun.
Room & Board
Toy-Filled Golden Egg Hunt (for Kids)
Saturday, March 30th
11AM – 7PM
*While supplies last

Arcana Book Signing with Thom Browne
2024-04-06 16:00 - 18:00 | Arcana: Books on the Arts, 8675 Washington Blvd., Culver City, CA, 90232
Free

Join Arcana: Books on the Arts on Saturday, April 6th, between 4:00 and 6:00 PM for a book signing to celebrate the publication of the massive new Phaidon monograph Thom Browne, with a glass of champagne and the esteemed designer himself.
If you cannot attend and would like to order a signed copy to have shipped or to pick up at the shop, please place your order here.
We look forward to seeing you!

“With a vast celebrity clientele, Thom Browne is widely recognized for modernizing today’s professional uniform: the suit. As the company’s twentieth anniversary nears, Thom Browne. celebrates the legacy of the house. The book features an introduction and texts by Andrew Bolton, the Wendy Yu curator in charge of The Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute, and specially commissioned photography by Johnny Dufort presenting more than two hundred looks from past seasons. It concludes with a tableau of show installations that further illustrate the house’s design philosophy and evolution. Published as a hardback enclosed in a clamshell box, the book includes four, six, and eight-page gatefolds along with more than forty translucent vellum pages featuring the brand’s signature four stripes. It also includes a Thom Browne-designed grosgrain ribbon.”
Thom Browne is an American fashion designer and the founder/creative director of Thom Browne, a luxury fashion house based in New York. Initially celebrated for his distinctive approach to men’s tailoring in 2003, Browne has since expanded the collections to include womenswear, childrenswear and accessories. He has also become known for his highly conceptual runway presentations which have gained global attention for their thought-provoking themes and dramatic settings. In 2023 he became chairman of the CFDA.

A reception, lecture, and discussion with Neal Schwartz, FAIA
2024-04-11 18:30 - 20:30 | Helms Design Center, 8745 Washington Boulevard, Culver City, CA, 90232
Please join us on Thursday, April 11, 6:30-8:30 pm, for a reception, lecture, and discussion with Neal J. Z. Schwartz.
“Onomatopoeic Space: I Make My Own Name”
In collaboration with the Helms Bakery District and the Cal Poly SLO LA Metro Program in Architecture and Urban Design
Helms Design Center
8745 Washington Blvd., Culver City, CA 90232
Free Parking is available at the corner of Helms Ave. and Venice Blvd.
Lecture is Free and Open to the Public
RSVP

Neal Schwartz, FAIA
Neal J. Z. Schwartz established the modern design studio, S^A | Schwartz and Architecture, in 1997. Recent recognition for the firm’s design work includes several Chicago Athenaeum American Architecture Honor Awards, the James Beard Foundation Award for Excellence in Restaurant Design, the International Trends Home of the Year Award, an Architizer A+ Award, and multiple RADA and Residential Design Awards. In addition, their work has consistently been honored by the AIA California Council, San Francisco, Silicon Valley, Redwood Empire, and Boston chapters. S^A is also committed to significant pro-bono work with non-profits, including La Cocina, The Children’s Creativity Museum, Larkin Street Youth Services, Public Architecture, and the National AIDS Memorial Grove.
The firm’s work has been profiled broadly, including features in Architectural Record, The New York Times, Dwell, Architect, Metropolis, and Residential Architect, among others. Recent book publications include the New View California collection of 20 of the region’s best residential firms and Influencers Architecture’s review of 37 international design leaders.
Neal has been actively involved in teaching for over 25 years, most recently as a full Professor of Architecture at the California College of the Arts (CCA). He was the founding chair of the AIASF Public Policy & Advocacy Committee (PPAC) advocating for improvements to SF Planning’s residential design review policies and procedures. Recognition of this work has included an AIACC Presidential Citation and two AIASF Community Alliance Awards.
Neal completed dual master’s degrees in architecture and public policy at Harvard University’s Graduate School of Design and the Kennedy School of Government, respectively. He graduated with Distinction in Architecture, received the Thayer Award for Meritorious Scholarship, the Sheldon Traveling Fellowship, and national awards from the Urban Land Institute and American Planning Association.

Introduced and moderated by Stephen Phillips, FAIA, PhD, Principal of Stephen Phillips Architects (SPARCHS) and professor, director, Cal Poly LA Metro Program in Architecture and Urban Design (California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo).

Photos: Interior image of Modal Home (photo by Bruce Damonte) and image of CCBT Scout (photo by Bruce Damonte), and Neal Schwartz.

SPONSORED BY

Washington Corridor Gallery Exhibits AVPA Student Art
2024-04-13 10:00 - 19:00 | Washington Corridor Gallery, 8723 Washington Boulevard, Culver City, CA, 90232, United States
Join us this weekend as we welcome Culver City’s student artists for their opening exhibition inside Helms Bakery District’s Washington Corridor Gallery. For their final year of AVPA, the Visual Art Seniors wanted to exhibit inside a gallery space and we are excited to partner with them to bring their vision to life.
AVPA students have been working together on this project since September 2023 and are so excited to present it to the world. Everyone has contributed pieces in their own unique art style, and it is a celebration of their individual artistic visions. There will be everything from digital prints to oil paintings to graphite drawings.
GALLERY HOURS:
Saturday, April 13th from 10 am to 7 pm
Reception & Awards Ceremony from 5 to 7 pm
Sunday, April 14th, from 12 to 5 pm
ARTISTS:
Lola Alonso, Etienne Birchfield, Queequeg Boosinger, Soli Butts, Samantha Culajay, Kamalika De, Vi Garcia, Madelyn Intrieri, Jasmine Liu, Claudia Lowey, Haifa Maung, Lily Maxson, Makenzie McCullen, Emayi Monroy, Jolene Prevenas, Lucia Rauser, Benjamin Scully, Bhupa Sriwattananon, Cortney Valencia, Andrew Ward

Arcana Book Signing with Magdalena Wosinska + Special Guest Tobin Yelland
2024-04-13 16:00 - 18:00 | Arcana: Books on the Arts, 8675 Washington Blvd., Culver City, CA, 90232
Free

Join Arcana: Books on the Arts on Saturday, April 13th, between 4:00 and 6:00 PM to celebrate the publication of the Magdalena Wosinska’s amazing survey of her skateboarding photographs, Fulfill The Dream. In addition to signing the first copies in the States of this hot-off-the-press import, Ms. Wosinska will be engaging in a discussion with renowned cinematographer and photographer Tobin Yelland comparing their shared yet very different experiences in the heady world of the skate culture of the 1990s and beyond.
If you cannot attend and would like to order a signed copy to have shipped or to pick up at the shop, please place your order here!
We look forward to seeing you!

“Fulfill the Dream is a documentary photobook by Polish-born, Los Angeles-based photographer Magdalena Wosinska that captures the American skate culture of the 1990s through color and black-and-white snapshots. The scene’s energy, creativity, and rebellious spirit influenced fashion, music, and artistic expression, shaping a generation of American underground youth. The book features Chad Muska, Austyn Gillette, Jim Greco, Harold Hunter, Ed Templeton, Eric Ellington, Ali Boulala, and numerous other influential skaters. Beyond the book’s broader examination of American skate subculture, Wosinska’s project is a deeply personal journey through her teenage years and an exploration of what it means to be a misfit in a world of misfits. Her visual diary captures the duality that has shaped her life: the joy and exhilaration of skateboarding alongside meaningful human connection and the adrenaline-fueled world of drugs, a first love, prejudice, a deep need to find a place of belonging and struggles with mental health. Shortly after immigrating to the U.S. from communist Poland in 1991, Wosinska’s coping mechanism for culture shock was her camera. It became her passport to a world ruled by boys, and a language for fitting in and forming heartfelt friendships in the skate community. Through raw, visceral portraits and self-portraits created in juxtaposition to the male-dominated scene, she captured the now-famous teen spirit of the ‘90s, reflecting the ever-shifting balance between the highs and lows of belonging and the essence of years of making dreams come true as a skate photographer through perseverance, diligence, and hard work. Alongside the teenage angst of the era, the project explores themes of resilience, female empowerment, and the relentless pursuit of goals.”

A reception, lecture, discussion and book launch with Cathy Simon, FAIA
2024-04-18 18:30 - 20:30 | Helms Design Center, 8745 Washington Boulevard, Culver City, CA, 90232
Please join us on Thursday, April 18, 6:30-8:30 pm, for a reception, lecture, discussion, and book launch with Cathy Simon, FAIA.
“Occupation: Boundary, Art, Architecture, and Culture at the Water”
In collaboration with the Helms Bakery District and the Cal Poly SLO LA Metro Program in Architecture and Urban Design
Helms Design Center
8745 Washington Blvd., Culver City, CA 90232
Free Parking is available at the corner of Helms Ave. and Venice Blvd.
Lecture is Free and Open to the Public
RSVP

Cathy Simon
Cathy Simon’s five-decade long career has focused on transformative design at all scales. Her award-winning work comprises design for higher and secondary education, civic and commercial buildings, reinvention of historic structures, waterfront projects and urban design of numerous postindustrial Bay Area waterfront sites including the renovation of Pier 1, the Ferry Building and the masterplan for Treasure Island. Academic master plans include Harvard Futures, a study of Harvard in Allston, Brown in the Jewelry District, NYU Plans 2031, Stanford in Redwood City, and 2008 and 2017 Master Plans for Bard College, where she has also designed four buildings. In 1986 she was elevated to Fellow of the American Institute of Architects for her work in Design. Educated at Wellesley College and Harvard Graduate School of Design, she was the William A. Bernoudy Architect in Residence at the American Academy in Rome in 2015 and taught architecture at both Stanford and UC Berkeley where in 1996 she was the Howard Friedman Distinguished Professor of Architecture in Practice. From 1985-2008, Simon founded and led SMWM, a celebrated women-owned architecture and urban design practice with offices in San Francisco and New York. In 1999 SMWM won the AIACC Firm Award, the youngest firm to be so awarded. In 2008, SMWM joined Perkins + Will and from October 2015-January 2018, she served as a Senior Consulting Design Principal.
A speaker, design juror and critic, Simon is a member of the University of Washington Architectural Commission and the University of California Berkeley Design Review Committee. In 2016 she was the Board Chair of the Dutch organization OrangeGoesGreen, and in 2017-2018 served as a Research Advisor for the Bay Area Resilient by Design Challenge. From 1993-1997, she was President of the GSD Alumni Council and served several terms on the GSD Visiting Committee. She also served for 12 years as a Trustee of the Golden Gate Parks Conservancy from 1992 to 2005.
Cathy’s design philosophy and expertise have made her a natural spokesperson for the burgeoning revitalization and resiliency of post-industrial waterfronts worldwide and she was recently an urban design and architecture consultant to a multi-firm engineering team developing the Port of San Francisco’s Waterfront Resiliency Program. Her book about design and the waterfront, Occupation: Boundary, Art, Architecture and Culture at the Water was published in 2022 by ORO Editions. In 2023 she received the Harvard Graduate School of Design Distinguished Alumni Award. Cathy’s and SMWM’s papers, drawings and models are collected in the Environmental Design Archives at UC Berkeley, where last fall they were shown at the College of Environmental Design in an exhibit entitled, “Giving Voice to Values.”

Follow link to purchase: Occupation: Boundary, Art, Architecture, and Culture at the Water – SIGNED BY AUTHOR CATHY SIMON | ORO EDITIONS

Introduced and moderated by Stephen Phillips, FAIA, PhD, Principal of Stephen Phillips Architects (SPARCHS) and professor, director, Cal Poly LA Metro Program in Architecture and Urban Design (California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo).

Photos: Image of Pier 1, The Ferry Building Renovation (SMWM), and image of Oceanside Water Pollution Control Plant (SMWM), and Cathy Simon (SMWM/Perkins+Will).

SPONSORED BY

Celebrate Earth Day with Cisco Home
2024-04-20 11:00 - 17:00 | Cisco Home, 8705 Washington Boulevard, Culver City, CA, 90232, United States
On Saturday, April 20th from 10:00 am to 4:00 pm, please join Cisco Home for an Open House and Earth Day celebration. Enjoy a mini eucalyptus wreath making workshop in partnership with Olivia’s Floreria.
This event is ticketed. Sign up for a time slot between 12:00 – 4:00 pm.
TICKETS
While you’re there, gather up some information about Cisco’s Inside Green program and preview their April Fresh Perks Instagram giveaway. Be sure to sign up for the Helms Bakery newsletter any time during the month of April and you will automatically be entered to win a Cruz Ottoman
About Cisco’s Inside Green
Inside Green is the ultimate choice for natural healthy furniture. It is a uniquely smart, healthy, responsible, alternative method of building furniture made entirely from FSC woods, natural latex, jute, hemp, wool, goose feathers and down. These natural materials are not only superior in terms of comfort and lifespan, but are inherently flame retardant without the use of chemicals. Every product in the Cisco line can be ordered with the Inside Green option.
