Helms Design District

A Conversation and Book Signing with Gere Kavanaugh
2019-05-21 18:30 - 20:30 (America/Los_Angeles) | Helms Design Center, 8745 Washington Boulevard, Culver City, CA, 90232
Free
THIS EVENT IS SOLD OUT!
On Tuesday, May 21 from 6:30 to 8:00pm, we are pleased to welcome design icon, Gere Kavanaugh. Join us for a reception with co-authors Louise Sandhaus and Kat Catmur in conversation with the design legend herself.
Books will be available for sale during the event and at Arcana: Books on the Arts.
Limited Seating! Please RSVP.

Book Signing + Conversation with Rohina Hoffman and Aline Smithson
2019-05-18 16:00 - 18:00 | Arcana: Books on the Arts, 8675 Washington Blvd., Culver City, CA, 90232
Free
On Saturday, May 18th from 4:00 to 6:00 pm, please join us at Arcana: Books on the Arts for a book signing and conversation with Rohina Hoffman and Aline Smithson in celebration of the launch of Hair Stories.
Hair Stories is a series of excerpted interviews and color portraits of a diverse array of women that explores the complex relationship women have with their hair. Indian-born, Los Angeles–based photographer Rohina Hoffman deployed the interviewing skills she has developed in her training as a neurologist to establish an intimate rapport that allowed for a truthful dialogue about the role of hair in these women’s lives. Though conceived and shot before the #MeToo movement, this salient project presents hair as a metaphor for identity, femininity, and the manner in which women struggle for control over their own bodies in a sometimes misogynistic world. Hair Stories shows that hair is more than just style or aesthetics; it is a physical manifestation of the ongoing hope and history of women.
Born in India and raised in New Jersey, Rohina Hoffman is a fine art photographer whose practice uses portraiture and the natural world to investigate themes of identity, home, women’s issues, and adolescence. A graduate of Brown University Medical School and resident at UCLA Medical Center, her training led to a career as a neurologist. While an undergraduate at Brown University, Rohina also studied photography at RISD and was a staff photographer for the Brown Daily Herald. A skilled observer of her patients, Rohina was instilled with a deep and unique appreciation of the human experience. Her ability to forge the sacred trust between doctor and patient has been instrumental in fostering a parallel connection between photographer and subject.
Aline Smithson is an artist, educator, and editor based in Los Angeles. She is best known for her conceptual portraiture and a practice that uses humor and pathos to explore the performative potential of photography. Growing up in the shadow of Hollywood, her work is influenced by the elevated unreal. She received a BA in art from the University of California at Santa Barbara and was accepted into the College of Creative Studies. After a decade-long career as a New York Fashion Editor, Aline returned to Los Angeles and to her own artistic practice. She founded LENSCRATCH, a photography journal that celebrates a different contemporary photographer each day, has been the Gallery Editor for Light Leaks Magazine, and has curated and jurored numerous exhibitions.

A reception, lecture, and discussion with Benjamin Ball & Gaston Nogues of Ball-Nogues Studio
2019-05-09 18:30 - 20:30 | Helms Design Center, 8745 Washington Boulevard, Culver City, CA, 90232
Free – Please RSVP
On Thursday, May 9th, from 6:30 pm – 8:30 pm Helms Bakery District and the Cal Poly LA Metro Program in Architecture and Urban Design are excited to host a reception, lecture, and discussion with Benjamin Ball & Gaston Nogues of Ball-Nogues Studio

Benjamin Ball & Gaston Nogues of Ball-Nogues Studio
Benjamin Ball grew up in Colorado and Iowa where his mother’s involvement in theatre proved influential. While studying for his degree at the Southern California Institute of Architecture (SCI-Arc), Ball logged a stint at Gehry Partners. Upon graduation, he sought work as a set and production designer for films (including the Matrix series) as well as music videos and commercials with such influential directors as Mark Romanek and Tony Scott. His experience ranges from work on the Disney Concert Hall and small residential architectural commissions for boutique design firms to complex medical structures and event design.
Gaston Nogues was born and raised in Buenos Aires before moving to Los Angeles at the age 12. Frequently accompanying his father to his job as an aerospace engineer, Nogues acquired a fascination with the hands-on process of building. An honors graduate in architecture from SCI-Arc, he moved directly from school into a position at Gehry Partners where he worked in product design and production; he then became a specialist in creative fabrication. Nogues remained at Gehry’s office until 2005 (except for a one-year stint in 1996 as an assistant curator at a fine arts publishing house, Gemini GEL). In his spare time, Nogues flies paragliders.
Ball-Nogues is a collaborative design and fabrication studio led by Benjamin Ball and Gaston Nogues that produces architecture, art, and industrial objects. The studio has exhibited at major institutions throughout the world, including the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles; the Museum of Modern Art; the Guggenheim Museum; PS1; Indianapolis Museum of Art, arc en rêve centre d’architecture + Musée d’Art Contemporain de Bordeaux; the Venice Biennale, the Hong Kong | Shenzhen Biennale; and the Beijing Biennale. They have received numerous honors including two AIA Design Awards, United States Artists Target Fellowships, and a grant from the Graham Foundation for Advanced Studies in the Fine Arts. In 2007, the Studio was the winner of the Museum of Modern Art’s Young Architects Program Competition. Recently, their work became part of the collection of the MoMA. The partners have taught in the graduate architecture programs at SCI-Arc; the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), and the University of Southern California. Their work has appeared in a variety of publications worldwide including the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, the Guardian, Architectural Record, Artforum, Icon, Log, Architectural Digest, and Sculpture.

Introduced and moderated by Stephen Phillips, AIA, 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)
Free Parking is available at the corner of Helms Ave. and Venice Blvd.
Photos (Left to Right): Benjamin Ball & Gaston Nogues, Installation at San Diego International Airport by Ball-Nogues Studio, Healing Pavillion in Los Angeles by Ball-Nogues Studio.

Upcoming Schedule
May 23rd Sylvia Lavin (rescheduled)
June 4th Lucia Allais (Princeton)

AIA 2x8 Student Competition Exhibition Opening
2019-05-08 17:30 - 20:30 | Helms Design Center, 8745 Washington Boulevard, Culver City, CA, 90232
Free
On Wednesday, May 8th from 5:30 – 8:30 pm, please join us for the Grand Opening of the 2×8 Student Competition, Exhibition and Scholarship program which showcases exemplary student work from architecture & design institutions throughout California.
Celebrating the state’s unequaled diversity in pedagogical directions, each of the participating academic programs select two student projects that epitomize their core vision. As many as 16 schools participate in the annual show.
Participating students exhibit their work at a public venue and have the opportunity to potentially receive scholarships to further their education as tomorrow’s architects.
2×8:Exchange, the 13th iteration of the AIA|LA’s celebrated annual 2×8 student exhibit and scholarship fundraiser, adds VR immersion, a zero waste plan, and an engaging event series to the one-of-a-kind pop up gallery that 2×8 is known for.

Join us for a Reception + Book Signing for Paperback L.A. Book 3
2019-05-05 16:00 - 18:00 | Helms Design Center, 8745 Washington Boulevard, Culver City, CA, 90232
Free
On Sunday, May 5th from 4:00 to 6:00 pm, please join us for a reception and book signing to celebrate the launch of Paperback L.A. Book 3, A Casual Anthology: Secrets. SigAlerts. Ravines. Records.
Paperback L.A. Book 3 is a freewheeling, visually striking book that brings together an unusual collection of texts and photos to create what Los Angeles Magazine called a “genius” mosaic of Los Angeles, present and past. It’s the final volume of the acclaimed Paperback L.A. anthology series, which was introduced last year and has been honored by critics as among the best recent books about L.A.
Contributors include journalists, fiction writers, oral history tellers, humorists, food writers, and essayists from many different decades from 1873 to the present. Writers will present brief readings from selections of their work:
Lisa See on the legendary 1930s Dragon’s Den nightclub, created by Asian American art students, from her bestselling family history, On Gold Mountain
RJ Smith on a 1940s moment when Central Avenue musicians amplified awareness of a Supreme Court civil rights case, from his book The Great Black Way
Lou Mathews on the street racing scene in the late 1960s, from his novel L.A. Breakdown
River Garza on his apprenticeship as a Tongva plank-canoe paddler, from his essay for News from Native California
Rosanne Welch on how the old New Hollywood came up with The Monkees, from her article for Written By
Patricia Freeman on comparing summers in L.A. and N.Y. circa late’80s when pantyhose were an issue, from her essay for L.A. Style magazine
Contributing photographers will be on hand to introduce their photo essays:
Alexandra Hedison (Nowhere)
Warren Hill (The Right Notes)
Ann Elliott Cutting (Motion and Stasis)
Kovi Konowiecki (Hometown Gold)
Copies of Paperback L.A. Books 1 & 2 will also be available, and writers and photographers from those books will be on hand for signing. The launch is co-sponsored by publisher Prospect Park Books and Liberty Hill Foundation, L.A.’s social justice foundation. Culver City Mayor Meghan Sahli-Wells and Council Member Daniel Lee will welcome attendees.

Cisco Home Hosts META Art Exhibition & Auction
2019-05-04 18:00 - 21:00 | Helms Design Center, 8745 Washington Boulevard, Culver City, CA, 90232
Free
On Saturday, May 4th from 6:00 – 9:00 pm, please join us for an evening of art and appetizers benefiting META’s Latinx college scholars who are attending universities locally and across the country, hosted by our newest showroom, Cisco Home.
The evening will feature amazing art for sale donated to META by prominent artists including Shepard Fairey, Karlos Marquez, Joe Reza and Chaco Ruelas. Complimentary drinks and appetizers will be served. Please stop by to meet the META Scholars!
Tickets are complimentary. RSVPs are strongly encouraged and appreciated.
All proceeds benefit the META Foundation Scholarship Fund. The META Foundation provides college scholarships to Latinx youth from Southern California who attend schools locally and throughout the country. This school year, META is supporting 97 scholars.

Arcana Books Hosts Public Issue 2 Launch Party + Signing
2019-04-27 16:00 - 18:00 | Arcana: Books on the Arts, 8675 Washington Blvd., Culver City, CA, 90232
Free
On Saturday, April 27th between 4:00 and 6:00 PM, please stop by Arcana: Books on the Arts to celebrate the West Coast launch of the latest installment of Creative Director Alexander McWhirter’s thematic annual art and fashion journal, Public.
Presented in a distinctive large-format with three different cover options, the highly-anticipated new issue tackles the challenge “We Must Take Action”. Public 2 features seven subjects photographed by Camille Vivier, Jack Webb, Eileen Cowin, Thomas Giddings, Aleksandra Zagozda, Moises Saman, and Rachel Lamb, with styling by Delphine Danhier, Eliza Conlon, and Shibon Kennedy. Notes McWhirter: “The obvious is all around us. It is a void in which everything has been fine-tuned to such an extent that indistinctiveness prevails. “Cool” has become inoffensive and predictable, and taste is easy to place a pulse on. Public breaks this pattern of democratized cool, bringing together a body of work that covers a unique perspective on subjects in life.”
Originally from London, Alexander McWhirter began his career in New York as the Art Director at V Magazine before founding McWhirter Studio. His projects focus on working closely with distinctive collaborators to present a narrative that observes human interaction, be that with our environment or with each other. The story is woven together with elements from art and fashion, the resulting idea is unmistakable and inclusive to all. He has collaborated with Visionaire, Suzanne Geiss Gallery, Cultural Traffic, and Calvin Klein, where he worked closely with Raf Simons and Pieter Mulier on 2017 campaigns for Calvin Klein Jeans, Underwear, and the 205W39NYC RTW Collection Book.

Dialogues: A reception, lecture, and discussion with Dwayne Oyler and Jenny Wu of Oyler Wu Collaborative
2019-04-25 18:30 - 20:30 | Helms Design Center, 8745 Washington Boulevard, Culver City, CA, 90232
Free – Please RSVP
On Thursday, April 25, from 6:30 pm – 8:30 pm Helms Bakery District and the Cal Poly LA Metro Program in Architecture and Urban Design are excited to host a reception, lecture, and discussion with Dwayne Oyler and Jenny Wu of Oyler Wu Collaborative.

Oyler Wu Collaborative
Dwayne Oyler and Jenny Wu established the architecture and design firm of Oyler Wu Collaborative in Los Angeles in 2004. The firm is recognized for its experimentation in design, material research, and fabrication, and was the winner of the 2013 Design Vanguard Award from Architectural Record and the 2017 J. Irwin and Xenia S. Miller Prize.
Their recently completed projects include the competition-winning design, The Exchange, for Exhibit Columbus, a 3D printing Culinary Lab in Los Angeles, and the Monarch Tower, a 16-story residential high rise in Taipei, Taiwan. The office was recently selected by the City of Los Angeles to design the LA River Bikeway and Greenway project, a large scale public project. The office has won numerous awards including, the 2013 Emerging Talent Award from AIA California Council, the 2012 Presidential Honor Award for Emerging Practice from AIA LA, Taiwan’s ADA Award for Emerging Architect, and the 2011 Emerging Voices Award from the Architectural League in New York.
Their book, Pendulum Plane, was published in 2009 by the Los Angeles Forum for Architecture and Urban Design, and a more recent book, Trilogy: SCI-Arc Pavilions, was published by SCI-Arc Press. Both partners are members of the design faculty at the Southern California Institute of Architecture (SCI-Arc) and have been visiting instructors at the Harvard Graduate School of Design, Syracuse University, and Columbia GSAPP.

Introduced and moderated by Stephen Phillips, AIA, 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)
Free Parking is available at the corner of Helms Ave. and Venice Blvd.
Photos (Left to Right): Dwayne Oyler, MONARCH Apartments by Oyler Wu Collaborative (Taipei, Taiwan), Jenny Wu.

Upcoming Schedule
May 23rd Sylvia Lavin (rescheduled)
June 4th Lucia Allais (Princeton)

Photography for Artists - A Workshop with Cecily Brown
2019-04-24 19:00 - 21:00 | Helms Design Center, 8745 Washington Boulevard, Culver City, CA, 90232
On Wednesday, April 24th from 7 to 9 pm, please join us for a workshop brought to you by Textile Arts Los Angeles and Cecily Brown.
Capturing the essence of your artwork in a single image can be seriously frustrating. This workshop, Photography for Artists, is an evening learning about the best practices and quick tips for documenting your artist portfolio with Cecily Brown, a local Photographer and Artist. Cecily will be leading a workshop on Portfolio Photography, giving helpful tips and answering questions related to the challenges of documenting works of all shapes, sizes and mediums. Notes on Lighting, Composition, Installation Techniques, and Shooting Tips, and much more will be shared, and your questions will be answered!
CLASS FEE $25 MEMBERS; $35 NON-MEMBERSfessional Development, Cecily Brown,
About Cecily Brown
Cecily Brown received her Bachelor of Fine Arts in Film, Photography & Visual Arts from Ithaca College. She has worked as a Gallery Coordinator at the Handwerker Gallery of Ithaca College, a Studio Photography Assistant at Maine Media Workshops, and as a freelance Web Designer & Marketing Specialist since graduating in 2014. After moving to Los Angeles in 2017, Brown has worked as a Professional Re-Toucher and Designer at The Pod Photography, a portrait studio in Culver City; and currently works as their Production Manager and Photographer. She is currently working to expand her personal photography business and looks forward to collaborating with local artists in the future.

Textile Arts LA Hosts Knotless Netting with Polly Giacchina
2019-04-13 10:00 - 16:00 | Helms Design Center, 8745 Washington Boulevard, Culver City, CA, 90232
On Saturday, April 13th from 10 am to 4 pm, please join Textile Arts Los Angeles for a workshop that explores the hand weaving technique of knotless netting with Polly Jacobs Giacchina.
Netting can shape and curve around most any form. Stop by and experiment with this new technique around small objects, learn to make pouches, and explore other possibilities.
Sign up for the workshop at Textile Arts LA!
About Polly Giacchina
Polly Jacobs Giacchina was introduced to fiber with two diverse views. Studying at San Diego State University with Joan Austin and independently exploring natural materials with Misti Washington in Solana Beach CA, which started a unique lifestyle of discovery. She has exhibited in galleries and museums both nationally and internationally and teaches basketry and hand weaving techniques. Polly has been published in American Craft Magazine, Fiber Art Now, the National Basketry Organization Quarterly and several books on fiber art. Polly travels internationally to teach workshops,
Please BYOLunch – You will have an hour break to eat and chat among the group.

Reception, Lecture, and Discussion with Jon Lott of PARA Project
2019-04-11 18:30 - 20:30 | Helms Design Center, 8745 Washington Boulevard, Culver City, CA, 90232
Free – Please RSVP
On Thursday, April 11, from 6:30 pm – 8:30 pm Helms Bakery District and the Cal Poly LA Metro Program in Architecture and Urban Design are excited to host a reception, lecture, and discussion with Jon Lott of PARA Project.

Jon Lott of PARA Project

Jon Lott is principal of PARA Project, co-founder of Collective-LOK, and Assistant Professor of Architecture at Harvard University’s Graduate School of Design, where he is the Director of the Master in Architecture I Program.
He is recipient of both the Emerging Voices Award and the Architectural League Prize (from the Architectural League of New York), the Design Vanguard award (by Architectural Record), the New Practices New York award (by the American Institute of Architects), and twice a MoMA/PS1 Young Architect’s finalist.
Lott’s recent and current work includes: Syracuse University’s School of Education Commons; Haffenden House (a finalist for the Mies Crown Hall Americas Prize); the Van Alen Institute in New York City (with Collective-LOK); and two houses in California (both receiving P/A awards). The work has been published in the New York Times, the LA Times, Architectural Record, Metropolis, Domus, the Architect’s Newspaper, a+u, Form, Azure, among others.
He holds a Master of Architecture with distinction from Harvard University’s Graduate School of Design, a Bachelor of Architecture from California Polytechnic State University San Luis Obispo, and is an NCARB-certified architect, with licensure in New York, California, and Massachusetts.
Introduced and moderated by Stephen Phillips, AIA, 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)
Free Parking is available at the corner of Helms Ave. and Venice Blvd.
Photos above, left to right: Jon Lott, Stump House by PARA Project office. Below: Stump House and Pioneertown House.

Upcoming Schedule
April 25th: Oyler Wu
May 9th: Ball Nogues
May 23rd: Lucia Allais (Princeton)

The Helms Design Center Welcomes Artist Kayla Sweet-Newhouse
2019-03-28 18:00 - 21:00 | Helms Design Center, 8745 Washington Boulevard, Culver City, CA, 90232
Free
On Thursday, March 28th from 6:00 to 9:00 pm, Helms Bakery District is pleased to present Interactions, by Kayla Sweet-Newhouse, a solo exhibition of sculpture and multimedia photomontages that leap from the wall.
In Interactions, Sweet-Newhouse explores the existential tensions between the fragility of life and the hard context in which it is conceived and must survive. Because of daunting odds, ineffable beauty requires courage and determination to prevail today. Lush and delicate porcelain pieces express the defiant spirit necessary to thrive.
An Artist Meet & Greet will be held on Saturday, April 6th from 11:00 am to 12:00 pm.
The exhibition will be on display through April 11, 2019.
About the Artist
Born in New York City, Kayla Sweet-Newhouse is a dedicated artist working primarily with ceramics and photography. Her sculpture is informed by world travels and multiple fields of study, from animal biology to the art and culture of ancient peoples. She currently lives and works in Venice, Inglewood, and Paris.

Join Angel City Press and Robert Inman for a Conversation + Book Signing
2019-03-26 19:00 - 21:00 | Helms Design Center, 8745 Washington Boulevard, Culver City, CA, 90232
Free
On Tuesday, March 26, from 7 to 9 pm, please join us for a conversation with Robert Inman in celebration of the (re)launch of The Architectural Guidebook to Los Angeles.
The map may not be the territory, and the word may not be the thing, but this guide is as close as it gets.
Since its first publication by the Los Angeles County Museum of Art in 1965, this seminal vade mecum of Los Angeles architecture has explored every rich potency of the often relentless, but sometimes—as the authors have captured here—relenting L.A. cityscape. Revised extensively and updated rigorously since its fifth edition published in 2003, The Architectural Guidebook to Los Angeles now contains ninety-six sections organized in thirteen geographic chapters, boasting over 200 new additions to over thousands of entries cataloging every crease of Los Angeles County’s metropolitan sheath.
Originally written by leading architectural historians Robert Winter—described by Los Angeles Magazine as both the “spiritual godfather” and “father” of L.A. architecture—and the late, great David Gebhard, the guide has been revised and edited for a sixth edition by award-winning L.A. urban walker and Winter’s trusted collaborator Robert Inman. Nathan Masters, historian and Emmy-award-winning host, producer, and managing editor of KCET’s Lost LA , writes the foreword.
The Architectural Guidebook to Los Angeles, hailed by many as the built L.A. opus, explores the manmade structures, gardens, parks, and other physical features of a fulgurous Los Angeles. With singular wit and brio, the authors artfully steward readers through all regions and styles, from the Spanish Mexican Period to Postmodern, American Take-over to High Tech, and Beaux-Arts to Craftsman. Sites covered begin with the missions of Spanish California and end with projects completed in 2017.
Dr. Robert W. Winter (1924–2019)Lauded as a “Guru,” “Father,” and “Godfather” of Los Angeles architecture, Dr. Robert W. Winter was a renowned historian of fabricated California. Born in Indianapolis, Indiana in 1924, Winter received his doctorate from Johns Hopkins University and went on to teach at Dartmouth College, then UCLA, before spending thirty-one years as the Arthur G. Coons Professor of the History of Ideas at Occidental College, where he retired in 1994. In addition to his seminal work, An Architectural Guidebook to Los Angeles, written initially with David Gebhard in 1965 and now in its sixth edition, Winter’s most notable books include, Craftsman Style (2004) and The California Bungalow (1980).
Dr. David Gebhard (1927–1996) was a preeminent architectural historian and preservationist. After a long career teaching at UC Santa Barbara, he is remembered through his many written contributions to both the field writ large and his preservation efforts in both Santa Barbara and Pasadena.
Robert Inman is the author of A Guide to the Stairways of Los Angeles (2008) and Finding Los Angeles by Foot: Stairstreet, Bridge, Pathway, and Lane (2013). A native son of Los Angeles, he is an award-winning urban walker and frequent collaborator of his mentor, Dr. Robert W. Winter.

Film Screening + Reception with Architect and Filmmaker, Mina Chow
2019-03-20 18:30 - 20:30 | Helms Design Center, 8745 Washington Boulevard, Culver City, CA, 90232
On Wednesday, March 20th from 6:30 to 8:30 pm, please join us for a screening of FACE OF A NATION: What Happened to the World’s Fair?, along with a reception with filmmaker and architect, Mina Chow.
The film explores how the World’s Fair captured the imaginations and dreams of budding (and established) architects and why its importance has seemed to fade in America. What happened? Why has America’s participation declined? Does our current political climate mean that we’ll never be a part of a World’s Fair again? Examining these questions and more are why Women in Architecture (WiA LA) is excited to present a screening of this thought-provoking documentary by architect-filmmaker Mina Chow.
Chow achieved her professional goals, but when she finally had the opportunity to attend the event that once inspired her, she was shocked. Visiting the Shanghai World Expo in 2010, she noted that the United States’ presence at the fair had dwindled to almost nothing. But why? Who was responsible? Her search for answers led to the making of “FACE OF A NATION“, a documentary that takes a serious yet entertaining look at what these events meant to us as Americans – and what their absence means to our country as currently comprised.
The WiA LA invites you to this special screening to see how a country built by visionaries lost interest in such a visionary event and provides an opportunity to return to the optimism the World Fair embodies.
This Event Offers 2 AIA HSW Credits.
Seating is Limited. Purchase Tickets Here

The Craft of Marketing with Lesley Roberts
2019-03-13 19:00 - 21:00 | Helms Design Center, 8745 Washington Boulevard, Culver City, CA, 90232
On Wednesday, March 13th from 7 to 9 pm, please join us for the first in our professional development series with our partners Lesley Roberts of OceanParkStudio and Textile Arts Los Angeles.
The Craft of Marketing workshop will address the tools you need to market your professional practice. We’ll talk about branding, websites, photography, social media, email campaigns, public relations, and creating a budget and schedules. The presentation will run about 90 minutes, followed by Q&A and conversation. This workshop is appropriate for creatives in many fields: textile artists (of course!), photographers, graphic designers, fine artists, illustrators, industrial designers, architects, and emerging makers in various industries.
CLASS FEE $35 MEMBERS; $50 NON-MEMBERS
About Lesley Roberts of OceanParkStudio
Lesley earned a BFA in Art History from UCLA and a certificate from UCLA Anderson’s Executive Education program. She is the principal of OceanParkStudio, a marketing and strategy firm that believes in the power of thoughtful ideas, creative vision, and clarity of purpose to achieve meaningful change and growth. Oceanparkstudio operates with a focus on social enterprise, community building, and small business. Lesley is also a principal of licensing agency Count the Chickens and co-director of Textile Arts | Los Angeles.

Film Screening of Agave: The Spirit of a Nation
2019-03-12 18:30 - 21:30 | Helms Design Center, 8745 Washington Boulevard, Culver City, CA, 90232
On Tuesday, March 12th from 6:30 to 9:30 pm, please join us for a special evening of film and spirit at the Helms Design Center, celebrating the tradition of the agave plant.
We begin at 6:30 pm with a screening of the film Agave / The Spirit of a Nation followed by a Q&A. Then the evening opens up to a tasting & reception from 8:00 to 9:00 pm inside the Louis Poulsen showroom, where guests will have the opportunity to sample mezcales and tequilas produced across México. Experts and beginners alike will have an opportunity to learn and get excited about the spirit. Salut!
Tickets are $35
Purchase Tickets
About the Film
This expressive documentary explores the phenomenon of the fastest trending alcohol spirit in the world, Tequila and Mezcal. This journey takes us to the world’s most bio-diverse landscape of the agave plant, Mexico; here families have been passing down the tradition of distilling agave for generations, at times, even clandestinely. From the alluring red highlands of Jalisco to the rugged mountains of Oaxaca, the film follows three producers – Carlos, Graciela, and Aquilino in this burgeoning renaissance. From a bootstrap ambition to carrying on a father’s legacy, their successes and sacrifices unfurl in this interweaved story. Discover how one delicate plant can carry the weight of a nation and the people trying to protect it for the future.

This event is brought to you by: Mezcalistas, Helms Bakery District, and Digital Cave.

Short Films Walk: LA Feature Presentation
2019-03-09 17:00 - 19:00 | Helms Design Center, 8745 Washington Boulevard, Culver City, CA, 90232
Free
Join us for the conclusion of our day-long festival of short films for our Feature Presentation:
Renzo Piano: The Architect of Light
2018 | 65 min | Spain | Directed by Carlos Saura
Celebrated Spanish director Carlos Saura captures the genius of Renzo Piano, one of the most famous Italian architects in the world. The brilliant designer behind structures including the Center Pompidou in Paris, the Auditorium Parco della Musica in Rome, and The New York Times Building in midtown Manhattan, Saura follows Piano during the design of the Botín Center in Santander, Spain. The story becomes a reflection on his creative process.
5:00 – 5:30 pm: Welcome Reception
5:30 – 6:30 pm: Film Screening
6:30 – 7:00 pm: Conversation with Kerry Brougher, the first director of the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures in Los Angeles, moderated by award-winning journalist and architecture critic, Edward Lifson
This portion of the day has limited seating. For Free Tickets: RSVP Here
More info on Short Films Walk: LA.

Short Films Walk: LA 2019
2019-03-09 11:00 - 17:00 | Helms Design District, 8800 Venice Blvd., Los Angeles, CA, 90034, United States
Free
Join us on Saturday, March 9th, from 11 am to 5 pm, at Helms Bakery District for a day of free screenings of over 24 short films showcasing architecture and design. Pop into any of the eight participating showrooms on the walk, including Arcana: Books on the Arts, Danish Design Store, H.D. Buttercup, Louis Poulsen, Rejuvenation, Room & Board, Scandinavian Designs, and Vitra to experience a unique program of films curated by the Architecture & Design Film Festival.
The films will be shown on a loop and play throughout the day so guests have an opportunity to see dozens of film shorts as they walk from showroom to showroom. The SFW:LA will conclude with the screening of a feature length film, Renzo Piano: The Architect of Light, followed by a conversation with Kerry Brougher, the first director of the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures, moderated by Edward Lifson. Seating is limited for this portion of the day. Please RSVP.
More info here.

Urban Forest, a Meditative Art Exploration Into Nature
2019-03-08 19:00 - 21:00 | Helms Design Center, 8745 Washington Boulevard, Culver City, CA, 90232
Free
On Friday, March 8th from 7 to 9 pm, please join us for the opening of Urban Forest, an art exhibit that is the result of a collaboration between Los Angeles based artists Rachel X Hobreigh and Marcus Maria Jung.
The exhibition features painting, sculpture, and photography, inviting the audience into an experience that is both vibrant and meditative, guiding viewers deeper into the realms of the natural world. Both Hobreigh and Jung are interested in exploring and opening gateways into nature through their works in this exhibition.
Urban Forest is an invitation to dive into nature and experience the spirit and souls of trees in a unique way. This co-creation with nature is made visible through the two artists’ works, which are beautifully paired into a contrasting yet energetic and aesthetic experience. The artist’s works share an intimate, sensory and emotive experience, even though their styles, materials, and techniques are uniquely different.
On view until March 20th.
About the Artists
Rachel X Hobreigh is an international artist – she has exhibited in Paris, France, Jena, Germany, as well as the United States. Hobreigh’s work focuses on depicting the feminine in nature and capturing moments in time. Hobreigh’s latest work invites the viewer to experience paintings of female forms in nature. Her use of color, composition and choice of scale is vibrant, dynamic and alive, while exploring themes of nature mythologies and feminine identity.
Marcus Maria Jung’s work has been shown in art exhibitions, installations, and performances in both Europe and the United States. In his art he is exploring themes such as transience, environmental crisis, and a new eco-mythology that is emerging at this time. Jung’s work embodies the ancient and sacred relationship between the human spirit and the natural world. He is part of a new wave of artists and creatives dedicated to healing the planet through artistic practices.

Arcana Books Hosts a Conversation + Book Signing with Dafi Kühne
2019-03-02 16:00 - 18:00 | Arcana: Books on the Arts, 8675 Washington Blvd., Culver City, CA, 90232
On Saturday, March 2nd from 4 to 6 pm, please join Arcana: Books on the Arts for a meet, greet, and book signing with master graphic designer, Dafi Kühne, in conversation with Lars Müller and Gloria Kondrup.
Dafi Kühne is a Swiss designer who works with analog and digital ways to produce fresh and unique letterpress-printed posters. Using very different kinds of instruments – from a MacBook to a pantograph – for his compositions, he pushes the boundaries of design. Never afraid of getting his hands dirty in his creative workshop, Kühne embraces the labor involved in the entire process of creating a poster from initial idea to finished product. Fusing modern means with the centuries-old tradition of the letterpress, he forms a new vocabulary on how to communicate through type and form in a truly un-nostalgic way. Never retro, his work is a clever response to the search for new ways of graphic expression: true print. True Print is also the title of his first comprehensive monograph published by Lars Müller.
Dafi Kühne (*1982) is a graphic designer. He studied Visual Communication at Zurich University of the Arts and owns a design and letterpress printing studio named babyinktwice. He was included in Print magazine’s 20 under 30 list in 2012.
Lars Müller, born in Oslo in 1955 and a Norwegian citizen, has been based in Switzerland since 1963. After becoming a graphic designer in Zurich, extended travels, and a one-year assistant position with designer Wim Crouwel in Amsterdam, Müller established his studio in Baden / Switzerland in 1982. In 1983 he published his first book and, as Lars Müller Publishers, has produced some six hundred titles to date. Müller is a passionate educator and has taught at various universities in Switzerland and in Europe, frequently serves on academic and competition juries, and is currently a member of the steering board of Design Preis Schweiz. From 2013 to 2015, Müller was the international president of AGI – Alliance Graphique Internationale.
Gloria Kondrup is a full-time professor as well as the Executive Director of the Hoffmitz Milken Center for Typography at Art Center College of Design. As the Director of Archetype Press – ArtCenter’s unique and vibrant letterpress studio – she redefines the value of typography and analog technology in the digital landscape. Her fine art printworks and books span both fields of art and design, and are in private and public collections including AIGA, The Getty, and the Sackner Archive of Concrete and Visual Poetry. As a design consultant to national and international firms she has helped evolve extensive branding, identity, and packaging systems for clients including Aon, Avon, and Goodwill Industries.

Reception, Lecture and Discussion with John Enright of Griffin Enright Architects
2019-02-28 18:30 - 20:30 | Helms Design Center, 8745 Washington Boulevard, Culver City, CA, 90232
Free
On Thursday, February 28, from 6:30 pm – 8:30 pm Helms Bakery District and the Cal Poly LA Metro Program in Architecture and Urban Design are excited to host a reception, lecture, and discussion with John Enright of Griffin Enright Architects.

John Enright of Griffin Enright Architects
John Enright, FAIA is Vice Director / Chief Academic Officer at SCI-Arc and a founding principal of Griffin Enright Architects, along with SCI-Arc faculty member Margaret Griffin, FAIA. Their versatile practice includes projects ranging from large-scale commercial and residential commissions to furniture design and gallery installations. Their work has been extensively published locally, nationally, and internationally; and has received over forty awards for design excellence including, local, state, and national AIA Awards in addition to The American Architecture Award from the Chicago Athenaeum. Their project ‘Vertical Garden’ is part of the permanent collection at the MAK in Vienna, Austria and they were participants in the ‘New Sculpturalism’ exhibition at MOCA.
Enright has taught design studios and technology seminars at SCI-Arc, Syracuse University, University of Houston, and the University of Southern California. His academic research focuses on design and building technology, including new digital paradigms as applied to fabrication and construction. He has been the recipient of multiple grants, including an NCARB Grant for the Integration of Practice and Education in the Academy, and USC’s Advancing Scholarship in the Humanities and Social Sciences grant for his research on the work of Konrad Wachsmann.
Enright has served on the advisory committee of the national AIA’s Educator Practitioners Network, the Los Angeles Mayor’s Design Advisory Panel and NCARB’s Licensure Task Force. He is a Fellow of the American Institute of Architects, and is a LEED AP. Enright received an M.S.Arch from Columbia University and a B.Arch from Syracuse University.
Introduced and moderated by Stephen Phillips, AIA, 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)
Free Parking is available at the corner of Helms Ave. and Venice Blvd.
Photos (Left to Right): John Enright, Luxe Lakes Villas by Griffin Enright Architects.

Upcoming Schedule
April 11th: Jon Lott (Para; Harvard GSD)
April 25th: Oyler Wu
May 9th: Ball Nogues
May 23rd: Lucia Allais (Princeton)

Textile Slam! An Evening of Short Talks, Conversation, Community, and Dinner
2019-02-26 18:30 - 21:00 | Helms Design Center, 8745 Washington Boulevard, Culver City, CA, 90232
On Tuesday, February 26th at 6:30 pm, please join Textile Arts Los Angeles for their first TEXTILE SLAM!
Textile Slam! is a semi-regular opportunity for friendly conversation and networking, featuring a rotating slate of presenters, each of whom will deliver an informal six-minute (or less) presentation.
Textile Arts LA invites members, artists, designers, architects, educators, and all-around neat thinkers to talk about their work, ideas that interest them, or projects they are exploring. TALA envisions the Slam! as a casual, community, conversation-oriented event.
2019 Textile Slams will be held Tuesdays, Feb 26, May 14, and October 29. SAVE THE DATES!
Cocktails, dinner, and program: $45 members; $60 non-members; students $25
Although there is no application fee to present, all attendees and presenters must purchase a ticket for the Slam!
Complete Details and Registration at Textile Arts Los Angeles.
SCHEDULE
6:30 pm – Cocktails and Conversation
7:00 pm – Dinner
7:30 pm – Presentations
8:30 pm – 2 minute wrap-up
9:00 pm – Evening Ends

Lecture and Book Launch with Craig Hodgetts: Swimming to Suburbia
2019-02-21 18:30 - 20:30 | Helms Design Center, 8745 Washington Boulevard, Culver City, CA, 90232
Free
On Thursday, February 21, from 6:30 pm – 8:30 pm Helms Bakery District and the Cal Poly LA Metro Program in Architecture and Urban Design are excited to host a presentation, discussion, and book launch with Craig Hodgetts of Hodgetts + Fung.

Craig Hodgetts, FAIA
Craig’s use of high technology and storytelling to invigorate his designs produces an architecture that embraces contemporary ideology, information culture, and evolving lifestyles. With a broad-ranging background in theater arts, automotive engineering, and architecture, Craig Hodgetts brings a singular synergy to the design of challenging environments. Craig has created legacy projects for the California Institute of the Arts, Art Center College of Design, and Occidental College. His creative direction on a celebrated exhibition showcasing the Case Study program was followed by a series of landmark civic and cultural facilities including the Hollywood Bowl and the UCLA Gateway.
Craig is a professor at the UCLA Graduate School of Architecture and Urban Planning, and was a Founding Dean of the School of Design at the California Institute of the Arts. A prolific writer, he has contributed essays and observations to the Los Angeles Times and Cosmopolitan Magazine, as well as signature books on science-fiction icon Syd Mead and architect James Stirling. Craig has been granted patents for a mobile logistics center, a prefabricated classroom, and an evacuated tube structure for the hyperloop system.
Introduced and moderated by Stephen Phillips, AIA, 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)
Free Parking is available at the corner of Helms Ave. and Venice Blvd.
Photos (Left to Right): Craig Hodgetts, Hodgetts’ 1978 vision for the novel “Ecotopia”.
Upcoming Schedule
February 28th: Griffin Enright
April 11th: Jon Lott (Para; Harvard GSD)
April 25th: Oyler Wu
May 9th: Ball Nogues
May 23rd: Lucia Allais (Princeton)

AIGA Explores the Future of Design and Activism
2019-02-20 18:45 - 21:00 | Helms Design Center, 8745 Washington Boulevard, Culver City, CA, 90232
Design has always embraced activism. It inspires breath-taking work that has changed society and the trajectory of the artists career. The opportunities for expression has grown…or has it? On Wednesday, February 20th from 6:45 – 9:00 pm, please join AIGA for Avenues of Activism, a presentation and discussion in the Helms Design Center.
The category was once dominated by posters, but now the immediacy and amplification potential of social media ads and organic posts seem the natural next step. But what about the potential for censorship from the privately owned social platforms or faceless blowback.
Join the conversation — learn what experts see as the future of design and activism. Will design activism look like the past, be a complete change or a blend of both? Attend our event to find out.
AGENDA
6:45 PM: Mix & Mingle
7:30 PM: Introduction
7:40 PM: Speakers
8:30 PM: Q&A
8:45 PM: Closing Remarks
8:50 PM: Giveaways
9:00 PM: After Party
SPEAKERS
Marie-Aimee Brajeux | Hack for LA
Umi Hsu | Design Strategy & Digital Initiatives Lead at the City of LA, Dept. of Cultural Affairs
Abby Stone | Design + Engagement Lead at LA-Más
Jayna Zweiman | Co-creator & Co-founder of the Pussyhat Project
TICKET PRICING
Sustaining & above members: Free
Contributing & Supporting members: $15
Student members: $10
Non-members: $25

EVENT CANCELED: Lecture and Discussion with Sylvia Lavin
2019-01-31 18:30 - 20:30 | Helms Design Center, 8745 Washington Boulevard, Culver City, CA, 90232
Free
We apologize for this event being canceled this evening. It will be rescheduled for a future date. Sorry for any inconvenience.

Upcoming Schedule
February 21st: Craig Hodgetts (Book Launch)
February 28th: Griffin Enright
April 11th: Jon Lott (Para; Harvard GSD)
April 25th: Oyler Wu
May 9th: Ball Nogues
May 23rd: Lucia Allais (Princeton)

Lecture and Discussion with Michael Osman
2019-01-17 18:30 - 20:30 | Helms Design Center, 8745 Washington Boulevard, Culver City, CA, 90232
Free
On Thursday, Jan 17, from 6:30 pm – 8:30 pm Helms Bakery District and the Cal Poly LA Metro Program in Architecture and Urban Design are excited to host a presentation and discussion with Michael Osman.

About Michael Osman
Michael Osman is an Associate Professor and the Director of the Critical Studies and M.A./Ph.D programs at UCLA Architecture and Urban Design. His research in architectural history focuses on the modern period with a particular emphasis on the buildings and cities of the United States. He seeks connections between the infrastructure that undergirds the process of modernization and the historiography of modernist architecture. Some topics of his writing include: the early formation of ecological science and its influence on theories of city growth, the study of the managerial instruments used for organizing and representing spaces for industrial production, and the architectural profession’s relation to modern construction processes. In this expanded view of modernism’s history, he identifies the contributions made by architects and urban thinkers to changes in the modes of life over the last two centuries. Osman’s book, Modernism’s Visible Hand: Architecture and Regulation in America(University of Minnesota Press), focuses on the history of environmental and economic systems of regulation in the United States. A number of his essays address critical problems in modernism’s historiography. These include an examination of Reyner Banham’s use of the term “ecology” and an analysis of the metaphysical aspirations latent in some twentieth-century writings on concrete. Osman is a founding member of Aggregate: The Architectural History Collaborative, a platform for exploring new methods in architectural history. He is currently chair of the Aggregate Board of Directors.

Introduced and moderated by Stephen Phillips, AIA, 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)
Free Parking is available at the corner of Helms Ave. and Venice Blvd.
Photos courtesy of Michael Osman

Room & Board's Yearly Clearance Event - Saturday January 5th
2019-01-05 10:00 - 18:00 | Room&Board, 3231 Helms Avenue, Culver City, CA, 90034
Room & Board fans know that their once-a-year floor sample and clearance sale is BIG news!
This year, it’s been pushed to a new day and time. Head over to the Culver City showroom on Saturday, January 5th from 10 am to 6 pm to secure that must-have piece of furniture for your home.

Sending You Warm Wishes for a Happy and Bright 2019!
2018-12-17 08:00 - 2019-01-02 17:00

Arcana Books Celebrates Todd Hido's Bright Black World
2018-12-15 16:00 - 18:00 | Arcana: Books on the Arts, 8675 Washington Blvd., Culver City, CA, 90232
Free
On Saturday, December 15th from 4 to 6 PM, please join Arcana: Books on the Arts to celebrate the publication of Todd Hido’s magnificent new book, Bright Black World from Nazraeli Press. Stop by to quaff refreshments, socialize, and engage in some festive last-minute holiday shopping.
For over two decades, Todd Hido has crafted narratives through loose and mysterious suburban scenes, desolate landscapes, and stylized portraits. He has traversed North America capturing places that feel at once familiar and unknown; welcoming and unsettling. Underscoring the influences of Nordic mythology and specifically the idea of Fimbulwinter, which translates into the ‘endless winter’, Hido’s new monograph, Bright Black World alludes to and provides form for this notion of an apocalyptic, never-ending winter. Exploring the dark terrain of the Northern European landscape and regions as far as the North Sea of Japan enchanted Hido, calling him back on several occasions. This presents the artist’s first significant foray extensively photographing territory outside of the United States, chronicling a decidedly new psychological geography.
Opening with a text by Alexander Nemerov, Bright Black World contains forty-eight plates printed in an over-sized format, featuring two vertical gatefolds and a fold-out poster measuring some 25 by 40 inches. This first printing is limited to 3,000 cloth bound copies.

Curatorial Hub Holiday Art Popup Comes to the Helms Design Center
2018-12-09 16:00 - 19:00 | Helms Design Center, 8745 Washington Boulevard, Culver City, CA, 90232
On Sunday, December 9th from 4 to 7 pm, please join us in welcoming Curatorial Hub to the Helms Design Center for a Holiday Popup Art Show featuring works from well-known and emerging artists from Los Angeles and beyond.
Primarily an online gallery, Curatorial Hub pops up to support their goal of bringing diverse and affordable art to the world. The concept was created by artist Bettina Hubby who devotes part of her practice to collaboration and connection, both of which are central to her new initiative. This new arts-venue draws upon her combined strengths of curating, collaborating, and poetic outreach. Make ART your gift this season!
Opening Party: Sunday, December 9th from 4 to 7 pm Light Bites + Refreshments + Good Cheer
Open Studio Hours: December 10th – 15th, from 12 to 6 pm.
