Helms Design District

Lecture and Discussion with Maxi Spina and Jia Gu of Spinagu
2018-05-17 18:30 - 20:30 (America/Los_Angeles) | Helms Design Center, 8745 Washington Boulevard, Culver City, CA, 90232
Free
On Thursday, May 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 Maxi Spina and Jia Gu of Spinagu.
JIA GU
Jia Gu (b. Shanghai, China) is an architectural designer, educator, and curator with a special interest in critical and conceptual practices in art and architecture. She holds a B.A in Visual Arts with Honors from UCSD and a Master of Architecture with Honors from UCLA. She is Director of Materials & Applications and Associate Director of UCLA A.UD Summer Programs. She is currently pursuing a PhD in Architecture at UCLA. She is a co-founder of Spinagu.
MAXI SPINA
Maxi Spina (b. Rosario, Argentina) is the co-founder of Spinagu. He is currently Design Faculty and Applied Studies Faculty at SCI-Arc. He was previously the Maybeck Fellow at UC Berkeley, Lecturer at CCA, and Associate Professor at Woodbury. His work has been featured in exhibitions at A+D Museum, SCI-Arc, Jai & Jai, and Wuho Gallery. He received his M.Arch from Princeton University and a B.Arch from National University of Rosario, Argentina.

SPINAGU is a practice dedicated to architecture, curation, and pedagogy, formed of Jia Gu and Maxi Spina. They produce traditional architectural objects, such as follies, houses, and towers, alongside non-traditional objects, such as chess sets, exhibitions, and text. Their work is invested in formal exercises as well as thought experiments. They are interested in architecture as a speculative medium through which to explore technology, history, materiality, and form. They currently teach at SCI-Arc and the University of Southern California, and Jia directs an architectural exhibition space called Materials & Applications.

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): Maxi Spina and Jia Gu, Other Turns, Thick

Series Schedule:
Thursday, May 24: Forward-slash/Back-slash – Christoph Kumpusch
Thursday, May 31: Form:uLA – Bryan Cantley

Arcana Books Hosts a Conversation with Photographer John Divola
2018-05-12 16:00 - 18:00 | Arcana: Books on the Arts, 8675 Washington Blvd., Culver City, CA, 90232
Free
On Saturday, May 12th between 4:00 and 6:00 PM, please join Arcana: Books on the Arts for a conversation between John Divola and The Getty Museum Department of Photographs curator Amanda Maddox followed by a book signing of his stunning new MACK publication.
Between 1974 and 1975, American photographer John Divola – then in his mid-twenties and without a studio of his own – traveled across Los Angeles in search of dilapidated properties in which to make photographs. Armed with a camera, spray paint, string, and cardboard, the artist would produce one of his most significant photographic projects entitled Vandalism.
To produce this visceral black and white series of images Divola vandalized vacant homes with abstract constellations of graffiti-like marks, ritualistic configurations of string hooked to pins, and torn arrangements of card, before photographing the results. The project vigorously merged the documentary approach of forensic photography with staged interventions echoing sculpture, performance, and installation art. Serving as a conceptual sabotaging of the delineations between such documentary and artistic practices at a time when the ‘truthfulness’ of photography was being called into question, Vandalism helped to establish Divola’s highly distinctive photographic language.

Lecture and Discussion with Julia Körner of JK Design GmbH
2018-05-03 18:30 - 20:30 | Helms Design Center, 8745 Washington Boulevard, Culver City, CA, 90232
Free
On Thursday, May 3, from 6:30pm – 8:30pm Helms Bakery District and the Cal Poly LA Metro Program in Architecture and Urban Design are excited to host a presentation and discussion with Julia Körner of JK Design GmbH.
Julia Körner is an award-winning designer working at the convergence of architecture, product and fashion design – specializing in additive manufacturing and robotic technology. Her work stands out, recognized today at the top level of these disciplines, where it has been featured in National Geographic, at the Venice Biennale, Paris Haute Couture and institutions such as the FRAC Centre in Orleans, the Art Institute of Chicago, the High Museum of Art in Atlanta and the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York to name a few. The constantly intriguing aspect of Julia’s work is the embodiment of a beautiful organic aesthetic.
Born in Salzburg, Austria; Julia received master degrees in architecture from the University of Applied Arts, Vienna (with distinction) and the Architectural Association, London. She is currently based between Los Angeles and Salzburg and has previously practiced in London and New York.
Julia is founder of JK Design GmbH, specializing in digital design for 3D-Printing. Her recent collaborations involved 3D-Printed fashion pieces developed with Haute Couture Houses for Paris Fashion weeks as well as 3D printed designs for Hollywood entertainment productions. She recently collaborated with costume designer Ruth Carter on the 3D-Printed fashion designs for Marvel’s Black Panther. In 2015, Julia launched an entirely 3D-Printed ready-to-wear collection entitled ‘sporophyte’.
Julia is faculty at University of California Los Angeles, Architecture and Urban Design Department since 2012; she has held previous academic appointments at the University of Applied Arts Vienna, Lund University in Sweden, and the Architectural Association Visiting School in France and Jordan.

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): Hymenium Jacken, Speciation, Julia Körner

Series Schedule:
Thursday May 17: Spinagu – Maxi Spina and Jia Gu
Thursday May 24: Forward-slash/Back-slash – Christoph Kumpusch
Thursday May 31: Form:uLA – Bryan Cantley

Arcana Books Celebrates the Release of Alexander McWhirter's Fashion Journal
2018-05-03 18:00 - 20:00
Free
On Thursday, May 3rd between 6:00 and 8:00 pm, please join Arcana: Books on the Arts to celebrate the West Coast launch of Creative Director Alexander McWhirter’s brand new Fashion journal, Public. The beautifully designed, large-format first issue features five portfolios photographed by Glen Luchford, Nadine Fraczkowski, Vivien Solari, Benjamin Lennox, and Greta Ilieva along with images by McWhirter and Alice Neale.
Notes the publisher: “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. Issue 1 of 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 most recently 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.

Kao Pao Shu Sample Sale is Back!
2018-05-03 10:00 - 2018-05-05 18:00 | Helms Design Center, 8745 Washington Boulevard, Culver City, CA, 90232
On Thursday, May 3 through Saturday, May 5 from 10am to 6pm, Kao Pao Shu, our favorite architecturally-inspired fashion brand, returns to the Helms Design center for their yearly sample sale. Enjoy savings of up to 70% on purses, backpacks, clothing and more!

Lecture and Discussion with Andrew Holder of LADG
2018-05-01 18:30 - 20:30 | Helms Design Center, 8745 Washington Boulevard, Culver City, CA, 90232
Free
On Tuesday, May 1, from 6:30pm – 8:30pm Helms Bakery District and the Cal Poly LA Metro Program in Architecture and Urban Design are excited to host a presentation and discussion with Andrew Holder of LADG.
Andrew Holder is co-principal of LADG (the Los Angeles Design Group) and Assistant Professor at the Harvard Graduate School of Design. His research and design interests include the late baroque architecture of 18th-century Germany, the English picturesque, and the construction of architecture as an inanimate subject. Andrew’s recent work has been published in Young Architects 16, A plus T, Log, Pidgin, Project, and RM 1000. He is a frequent lecturer and guest critic at institutions across the United States and has held teaching appointments at the University of Michigan, the University of Queensland, the University of California, Los Angeles, SCI-Arc, and Otis College of Art and design. Andrew is a Harry S. Truman Scholar, an Oberdick Fellow at the University of Michigan, and a Robert B. Pamplin Jr. Fellow at Lewis & Clark College. He received a Master of Architecture with distinction from the University of California, Los Angeles and a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from Lewis & Clark College.
LADG
Established in 2004, the Los Angeles Design Group (LADG) is led by principals Claus Benjamin Freyinger and Andrew Holder. The founders see their work as contributing to a longer history of ideas, and draw on this history to craft unexpected solutions to conventional problems in architecture and design. The firm works at all scales, with completed projects in California, Colorado, Hawaii, Minnesota, New York, Oregon, and the United Kingdom. Recent work includes a free-standing indoor-outdoor restaurant in Southern California and the installation of a contemporary picturesque garden in Loeb Library at the Harvard Graduate School of design. The firm has received numerous professional honors and recognitions, including Progressive Architecture Awards in 2017 and 2018, the 2014 League Prize from the Architectural League of New York, and multiple citations from the Los Angeles Chapter of the AIA.
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): Andrew Holder, 259 Hampton, Cast of Things

Series Schedule:
Thursday May 3: Julia Körner
Thursday May 17: Spinagu – Maxi Spina and Jia Gu
Thursday May 24: Forward-slash/Back-slash – Christoph Kumpusch
Thursday May 31: Form:uLA – Bryan Cantley

Come Meet Photographer Jessica Antola at Arcana Books
2018-04-21 16:00 - 18:00 | Arcana: Books on the Arts, 8675 Washington Blvd., Culver City, CA, 90232
Free
On Saturday, April 21st between 4 and 6pm, head over to Arcana: Books on the Arts to meet photographer Jessica Antola and celebrate the publication of Circadian Landscape.
Jessica Antola’s first monograph entitled Circadian Landscape is a vibrant journey through Sub-Saharan Africa. Traveling mostly by car, she captures the distinctive style and beauty of everyday life in Benin, Burkina Faso, Cote d’Ivoire, Ghana, Ethiopia, Senegal, and Togo.
Her striking portraits, landscapes, and vignettes offer an intimate view of life lived in rural villages, big cities and along the remote roadways between the two. Men dressed head to toe in elaborate African wax textiles share a motorcycle; ancestral spirits bridge earthly and supernatural worlds in masked dances; the rich red soil dusts the lush tropical jungle; a girl in an over-sized straw hat steers her boat with a boldly patterned patchwork sail; and a gold jewelry-clad Kumasi King performs a warrior dance. Antola is captivated by how people around the world express themselves in relation to their environments, and her images reflect the astonishing variety of ways people create and define themselves daily through dress and ritual, work and play.

Fireclay Tile Pops Into Rejuvenation for a Home Design Celebration
2018-04-19 18:00 - 20:00 | Rejuvenation, 8780 Venice Boulevard, Los Angeles, CA, 90034, United States
Calling all Design Professionals!
On Thursday, April 19 from 6 to 8 pm, please join Rejuvenation and Fireclay Tile for cocktails and thoughtful conversation about in-home design. Share your restoration and renovation ideas with experts from all areas of the design industry. Please RSVP.

Come Celebrate California Missions With Arcana Books
2018-04-15 16:00 - 18:00
Free
On Sunday, April 15th between 4 and 6 pm, stop in Arcana: Books on the Arts to meet author and photographer Melba Levick and co-author Ruben G. Mendoza in celebration of the publication of The California Missions from Rizzoli!
The twenty-one missions of California – from San Diego to San Francisco Solano – are historic treasures and sites of pilgrimage for visitors from the world over. Intrinsically beautiful structures typically built of adobe brick and wood, adorned with towers, domes, whitewashed stucco, often surrounded by lush gardens, the missions are at the very heart of California.
Established by Spanish padres, built by Native Californians, and preserved and restored by historians and architects, California’s missions are unique monuments to the region’s indigenous and European histories. This colorful, informative exploration of all twenty-one sites, each with its own rich story to tell, journeys along the historic Camino Real from Mission Dolores with its flower-strewn courtyard gardens in San Francisco, to San Juan Capistrano, famous for the swallows that flock to its inviting grounds. With lush photography that captures the missions’ details so splendidly, this is the perfect book for mission visitors and lovers of their strong and simple forms.
Upcoming Events at Arcana Books
Saturday, April 21st, 4 to 6 pm
JESSICA ANTOLA: CIRCADIAN LANDSCAPE
Saturday, May 19th, 4 to 6 pm
INTERNATIONAL SIGNAL CODE ALPHABET BY CORITA KENT

KCRW’s Frances Anderton and Avishay Artsy Discuss "Bridges and Walls" Series
2018-04-12 18:30 - 20:30
Free
For the last two months, KCRW’s DnA: Design and Architecture has looked at the structures that connect us and divide us. They called the series Bridges and Walls. Now the series has wrapped but the conversation continues – and we hope it will continue in person with you!
On Thursday, April 12, KCRW hosts a wrap party and discussion inside the Helms Design Center.
6:30pm Reception
7:15pm Conversation and Q & A
8:30pm It’s a Wrap!
Following a reception with refreshments and light bites, KCRW’s Curious Coast reporter Jenny Hamel will interview Frances Anderton and Avishay Artsy, co-producers and co-hosts of Bridges and Walls, about the series and the questions it raised. Some guests from the series will be present to respond to specific questions and join in the celebration. We’d love you to attend and bring your questions and observations about the bridges and walls that connect and divide us. RSVP here!
ABOUT BRIDGES AND WALLS
The impetus for the conversation was then-presidential candidate Donald Trump’s repeated calls for building a border wall. KCRW looked into the real and political connections and divisions in California. The result was eight in-depth reports that featured a wide range of guests giving voice to the human impact of the infrastructure that shapes our state.
Bridges and Walls is supported in part by the California Arts Council, a state agency. Learn more at www.arts.ca.gov.

An International Art Exhibition Comes to the Helms Design Center
2018-04-07 17:00 - 21:00 | Helms Design Center, 8745 Washington Boulevard, Culver City, CA, 90232
Free
On Saturday, April 7 from 5 to 9 pm, please join us for the opening reception of Bridges between Continents & Memories/ Passerelles entre Continents et Souvenirs, an International exchange exhibition inside the Helms Design Center.
Bridges between Continents & Memories is a collection of works from three American and four French artists using photographic images as source to create contemporary mixed media pieces dealing with memory and modernity.
American artists worked closely with the French organization, Les Seize Agnes, to strengthen the artistic dialogue between International artists. This collection of work was originally exhibited in France in 2016 at the Marie de Paris 8th, and the Mu Gallery in Paris. In 2017 Bridges between Continents was exhibited at St Glidas de Rhuys in the Mayors Gallery in Brittany, and will be presented at Helms Bakery from April 6 – 17, 2018 by appointment only.
California artists include Rachel X Hobreigh, Cris Orfescu, and Debra Dobkin. French artists include Renée Amitai, Jean Pierre Mosca, Patrick Dunand, and François De Verdière.
For more information about the artists and exhibition, please contact: Rachel X Hobreigh, 310 850-8140.

Lecture and Discussion with Lawrence Scarpa of Brooks + Scarpa
2018-04-05 18:30 - 20:30 | Helms Design Center, 8745 Washington Boulevard, Culver City, CA, 90232
Free
On Thursday, April 5, from 6:30pm – 8:30pm Helms Bakery District and the Cal Poly LA Metro Program in Architecture and Urban Design are excited to host a presentation and discussion with Lawrence Scarpa of Brooks + Scarpa. Lawrence Scarpa has garnered international acclaim for the creative use of conventional materials in unique and unexpected ways. He is also considered a pioneer and leader in the field of sustainable design.
He is the recipient of the Smithsonian Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum Award in Architecture and was also awarded the State of California and National American Institute of Architects Architecture Firm Award. Over the last ten years, Mr. Scarpa’s firm has received more than 50 major design awards, including twenty-one National AIA Awards, Record Houses, Record Interiors, the Rudy Bruner Prize, five AIA Committee on the Environment “Top Ten Green Building” Awards and the World Habitat Award, one of ten firms selected worldwide. He has also received the Gold Metal from the AIA Los Angeles, the Lifetime achievement awards from Interior Design Magazine and the AIA California Council and the National AIA Collaborative Achievement Award
Mr. Scarpa’s is also the co-founder of the A+D Museum in Los Angeles, Livable Places and the Affordable Housing Design Leadership Institute.
He in currently on the faculty at the University of Southern California and has taught and lectured at the university level for more than two decades. Some of those institutions include UNC Charlotte, Harvard University, UCLA, SCI-arc, Washington University in St. Louis, University of Florida, University of Michigan, University of Southern California and the University of California at Berkeley. He is a co-founder of the Affordable Housing Design Leadership Institute Livable Places, Inc.; a nonprofit development and public policy organization dedicated to building mixed-use housing and to help develop more sustainable and livable communities.
brooksscarpa.com
calpolylametro.com
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: Lawrence Scarpa and AngleLake. Below: SUMA

Series Schedule:
Tuesday May 1: LADG – Andrew Holder
Thursday May 3: Julia Körner
Thursday May 17: Spinagu – Maxi Spina and Jia Gu
Thursday May 24: Forward-slash/Back-slash – Christoph Kumpusch
Thursday May 31: Form:uLA – Bryan Cantley

Short Films Walk: LA
2018-03-10 10:00 - 19:00 | Helms Design District, 8800 Venice Blvd., Los Angeles, CA, 90034, United States
Free
On Saturday, March 10, from 10am to 7pm, Helms Bakery District will host a day of FREE screenings of over 24 short films on architecture and design. Pop into any of the six participating showrooms on the walk, including Arcana Books, Harbour Outdoor, H.D. Buttercup, Room & Board, Scandinavian Designs, and Vitra to experience a unique program of films curated by 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, Building Hope: The Maggie’s Centres, followed by a conversation with Frances Anderton, host of KCRW’s Design and Architecture along with special guests. Seating is limited for this portion of the day. Please RSVP.
More info here

Join us for a Lecture and Discussion with Chris Lowe and Axel Schmitzberger of Domaen
2018-03-08 18:30 - 20:30 | Helms Design Center, 8745 Washington Boulevard, Culver City, CA, 90232
Free
On Thursday, March 8, from 6:30pm – 8:30pm Helms Bakery District and the Cal Poly LA Metro Program in Architecture and Urban Design are excited to host a presentation and discussion with Chris Lowe and Axel Schmitzberger of Domaen. Domaen is a multidisciplinary design-build practice with its seat in Los Angeles. Domaen practices versatile, multidisciplinary design. It is as much a field of action and thought as it is an award-winning full-service practice. The work of Domaen has been widely published and appears frequently in film and commercials.
Chris Lowe, with years of hands-on construction industry experience and widespread recognition in the art world, founded Domaen — the full-scale, multidisciplinary design, construction, and project management company. Prior to Domaen, Chris was a successful artist in Seattle. Having exhibited his work successfully, he applied himself in the construction trade and extended these talents to production and set design upon moving to Southern California. His work has subsequently been showcased in notable local and international publications.
Axel Schmitzberger is a licensed architect and partner at Domaen. He holds a tenured position as Professor at California State Polytechnic University, Pomona with emphasis on design and digital construction methods. Having been widely published, Axel has lectured and taught extensively in the United States, Europe, and Asia. With an award-winning career in architecture and graphic design spanning over two decades he has contributed and developed the architectural and visual identity of Domaen.
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.
Series Schedule:
Thursday April 5: Brooks + Scarpa – Angela Brooks and Lawrence Scarp
Tuesday May 1: LADG – Andrew Holder
Thursday May 3: Julia Körner
Thursday May 17: Spinagu – Maxi Spina and Jia Gu
Thursday May 24: Forward-slash/Back-slash – Christoph Kumpusch
Thursday May 31: Form:uLA – Bryan Cantley

Arcana Books Welcomes Eames Demetrios for Storytelling + Book Signing
2018-03-03 16:00 - 18:00 | Arcana: Books on the Arts, 8675 Washington Blvd., Culver City, CA, 90232
Free
On Saturday, March 3rd from 4 to 6pm, artist, writer, and geographer-at-large Eames Demetrios joins Arcana: Books on the Arts for an intimate storytelling experience and exclusive first book signing of his most recent limited edition publication Kcymaerxthaere: The Story so Far…(Folio 1).
The two-volume set highlights the first 138 installations that exist in Kcymaerxthaere (Ky-MAIR-icks-THEER), the parallel world started by Demetrios in 2003. Through imagery, text, and artwork the publication offers an analog way to experience the global art project and serves as a tool to share this endeavor with the global community that makes the project possible. Sales of the publication will fund its translation into the 23 languages that appear in the installations.
Kcymaerxthaere tells the stories of a parallel world through books, performances, Internet, embroideries, guided collaborations, but perhaps most distinctively through installations—especially physical markers (usually in stone, concrete, or bronze) and far more elaborate historical sites, which can be up to an acre in size, that honor the parallel world in our linear world.
One can think of Kcymaerxthaere as an illuminated manuscript where every page is in a different location. Come explore this rich parallel world and see how the stories connect and extend!
All welcome. RSVP encouraged.

Join us in Celebrating Award-Winning Journalist, Lynell George
2018-03-03 14:00 - 16:30 | Helms Design Center, 8745 Washington Boulevard, Culver City, CA, 90232
Free
Helms Bakery is excited to partner with Angel City Press in celebration of the release of a collection of essays by award-winning journalist, Lynell George. Join us on Saturday, March 3rd from 2:00 to 4:30 pm for a not-to-be-missed author meet & greet plus book signing of After/Image: Los Angeles Outside the Frame.
After/Image: Los Angeles Outside the Frame by Lynell George is the result of her years of contemplating and writing about the arts, culture, and social issues of Los Angeles, always with an emphasis on place and the identity of the people who live in — or leave — L.A. As a staff writer for the Los Angeles Times and LA Weekly, Lynell George explored place after place that makes the city tick, met person after person, and encountered the cumulative heart of the city. After/Image is her collection of essays, evocative photographs, profiles, and reportage focused on Los Angeles beneath-the-surface—both the past and the here-and-now.

About the Author
Lynell George is a journalist and essayist. After/Image: Los Angeles Outside the Frame is her first book of essays and photography, exploring the city where she grew up. She is also the author of No Crystal Stair: African Americans in the City of Angels, a collection of features and essays drawn from her reportage. As a staff writer for both the Los Angeles Times and L.A. Weekly , she focused on social issues, human behavior, and identity politics, as well as visual arts, music, and literature. She taught journalism at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles, in 2013 was named a USC Annenberg/Getty Arts Journalism Fellow, and in 2017 received the Huntington Library’s Alan Jutzi Fellowship for her studies of California writer Octavia E. Butler. Her writings have appeared in several essay collections. A contributing arts-and-culture columnist for KCET|Artbound, her commentary has also been featured in numerous news and feature outlets including Boom: A Journal of California, Smithsonian, Zócalo Public Square, Los Angeles Review of Books, Vibe, Chicago Tribune, Washington Post, Essence, Black Clock, and Ms. Her liner notes for Otis Redding Live At The Whisky A Go Go: The Complete Recordings won a 2017 GRAMMY.
Photo by Aaron Salcido

Cal Poly LA Metro Program Welcomes Architect Jonathan Ward to the Helms Design Center
2018-02-22 18:30 - 20:30 | Helms Design Center, 8745 Washington Boulevard, Culver City, CA, 90232
Free
On Thursday, February 22nd from 6:30 to 8:30 pm, please join us for a presentation and discussion with moderator Stephen Phillips and architect, Jonathan Ward of NBBJ, in collaboration with the Cal Poly LA Metro Program in Architecture and Urban Design. This event is free and open to the public.
RSVP Here
Architect Jonathan Ward has dramatically advanced building design and the experiences they create, leading to unique and unexpected beauty. His body of work – which includes projects for Samsung, Tencent, Microsoft, Alibaba, Reebok, Wellcome Trust, Telenor and UCLA — challenges client expectations and uses a combination of research and intuition to uncover compelling design solutions.
Jonathan has cultivated a learning-based design process. He views each design project as an opportunity to develop a specific idea or point of view focused on generating a true sense of community and connectivity. Since 1996, Jonathan has worked within the framework of design practice NBBJ, where he currently serves as global design partner. During his tenure at the firm, Jonathan has evolved the practice into one built on a global network of experts with small creative design workshops that deliver insightful, fresh and innovative buildings and experiences.
Free Parking is available on the Helms Bakery campus located at Venice Boulevard and Helms Avenue.

AIGA Hosts and Art Deco Lettering Workshop with Nick Misani - Afternoon Session
2018-02-10 14:00 - 18:00 | Helms Design Center, 8745 Washington Boulevard, Culver City, CA, 90232
On Saturday, February 10th from 2:00 to 6:00 pm, we are excited to partner with AIGA to host an Art Deco hand lettering workshop with Nick Misani. This four-hour class will quickly cover the foundations of lettering and briskly segue into dramatic uppercase letterforms, unexpected ligatures, geometric scripts, and ornamentation. You will learn three Art Deco hand lettering styles to prepare you for your final project: a postcard for a 1920/30s jazz club.
You’ll leave the workshop with:
– A lettering piece that is both fresh and on-trend (while still being rooted in history) and ready for its Instagram closeup.
– A general knowledge of this glitzy time in design history as well as a list of resources to continue learning about Art Deco typography and design.
– All the skills you need to infuse the rest of your work with some Jazz-Age glamour.
TICKET PRICING
Members (Sustaining & above): $140
Members (Contributing & Supporting): $175
Non-Members: $200
(Workshop is limited to 24 students.)
PURCHASE TICKETS
PARKING & TRANSPORATION
Public and street parking is available. Public transit and ride sharing are also encouraged. For public transportation visit metro.net for schedules.

AIGA Hosts and Art Deco Lettering Workshop with Nick Misani - Morning Session
2018-02-10 09:00 - 13:00 | Helms Design Center, 8745 Washington Boulevard, Culver City, CA, 90232
On Saturday, February 10th from 9:00 am to 1:00 pm, we are excited to partner with AIGA to host an Art Deco hand lettering workshop with Nick Misani. This four-hour class will quickly cover the foundations of lettering and briskly segue into dramatic uppercase letterforms, unexpected ligatures, geometric scripts, and ornamentation. You will learn three Art Deco hand lettering styles to prepare you for your final project: a postcard for a 1920/30s jazz club.
You’ll leave the workshop with:
– A lettering piece that is both fresh and on-trend (while still being rooted in history) and ready for its Instagram closeup.
– A general knowledge of this glitzy time in design history as well as a list of resources to continue learning about Art Deco typography and design.
– All the skills you need to infuse the rest of your work with some Jazz-Age glamour.
TICKET PRICING
Members (Sustaining & above): $140
Members (Contributing & Supporting): $175
Non-Members: $200
(Workshop is limited to 24 students.)
PURCHASE TICKETS
PARKING & TRANSPORATION
Public and street parking is available. Public transit and ride sharing are also encouraged. For public transportation visit metro.net for schedules.

Head Over to Room & Board and See What's New
2018-01-28 11:00 - 19:00, 2018-01-27 11:00 - 19:00 | Room&Board, 3231 Helms Avenue, Culver City, CA, 90034
Free
The Room & Board team spent the entire night giving their showroom a big refresh and it’s time to unveil what’s new!
On Saturday, January 27 and Sunday, January 28, please join them for a special open house weekend to explore their 2018 collection of beautifully designed, artisan-crafted furniture and accessories. Discover modern design inspiration for your home, enjoy light refreshments, and enter to win a $1000 Room & Board gift card.

Arcana Books Hosts Lyle Ashton Harris for a Book Signing + Discussion
2018-01-27 16:00 - 18:00 | Arcana: Books on the Arts, 8675 Washington Blvd., Culver City, CA, 90232
Free
On Saturday, January 27th between 4:00 and 6:00pm, please join Arcana: Books on the Arts to celebrate Lyle Ashton Harris’ new Aperture monograph Today I Shall Judge Nothing That Occurs, along with a lively and engaging presentation with guests Walead Beshty, Charles Gaines, and Amelia Jones.
Throughout the late 1980s and early 1990s, a radical cultural scene emerged across the globe, finding expression in the galleries, nightclubs, and bedrooms of New York, London, Los Angeles, and Rome. In Lyle Ashton Harris: Today I Shall Judge Nothing That Occurs, the artist’s archive of 35mm Ektachrome images are presented alongside journal entries and recollections by additional contributors coalescing in a presentation of what Harris has described as “ephemeral moments and emblematic figures… against a backdrop of seismic shifts in the art world, the emergence of multiculturalism, the second wave of AIDS activism, and incipient globalization.” The Ektachrome Archive “constructs collective and private narratives to comment on identity, desire, sexuality, and loss” and was included in the 2017 Whitney Biennial.
About the Panelists
Born in the Bronx in 1965, Lyle Ashton Harris received his MFA from the California Institute of the Arts, and attended the Whitney Museum of American Art Independent Studies Program. His work has been exhibited worldwide including at the Whitney Museum, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, 52nd Venice Biennial, and São Paulo Biennial. He currently is an associate professor of art at New York University, and is represented by New York’s Salon 94.
Born in London in 1976, Walead Beshty is a Los Angeles-based artist and writer. Beshty was an Associate Professor in the Graduate Art Department at Art Center College of Design, Pasadena, and has taught at numerous schools including UCLA, UC Irvine, CalArts, the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, and the MFA Program at Bard College. He is renowned for his unique conceptual approach to photography and sculpture and emphasis on the conditions of the production and circulation of images and artworks.
Charles Gaines received his MFA from the Rochester Institute of Technology in 1967. In 2013 he received a John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation Fellowship and presented the critically acclaimed solo exhibition Notes on Social Justice at Paula Cooper Gallery, New York. In 2012, Gaines was the subject of a mid-career survey at the Pomona College Museum of Art and the Pitzer College Art Gallery in Claremont, California. His works are in the collections of the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, Hammer Museum, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Museum of Modern Art, New York, and Whitney Museum of American Art. He has been a full-time faculty member of the School of Art at CalArts since 1989. He currently resides in Los Angeles, and is represented by Susanne Vielmetter Los Angeles Projects and Paula Cooper Gallery.

Amelia Jones is the Robert A. Day Professor in Art and Design and Vice-Dean of Critical Studies at USC’s Roski School of Art and Design. Trained in art history, film theory, and performance studies, and widely read in philosophy and identity theory, Jones is known for her work elaborating a queer, anti-racist, feminist history and theory of modern and contemporary Euro-American visual arts.
UPCOMING EVENTS at Arcana
Saturday, March 3rd, 4:00 – 6:00 PM
EAMES DEMETRIOS: KCYMAERXTAERE
April – Date and Time TBD
JESSICA ANTOLA: CIRCADIAN LANDSCAPE

Best Wishes From Our Family to Yours!
2017-12-19 - 2018-01-02 | Helms Design District, 8800 Venice Blvd., Los Angeles, CA, 90034, United States

The Unmarked Door Presents "The Heart of Winter", an Immersive Holiday Tale
2017-12-17, 2017-12-16, 2017-12-16 - 2017-12-17 | Helms Design Center, 8745 Washington Boulevard, Culver City, CA, 90232
On Saturday, December 16th and Sunday December 17th, join us in welcoming The Unmarked Door for a special presentation of The Heart of Winter, an immersive evening created by Syrie Moskowitz (The Midnight Frolic) and Golden Globe and Emmy nominated composer, Rolfe Kent (Dexter, Sideways, Legally Blonde, Up in the Air).
It starts with A Winter Reunion…
Lanterns, Polar Bears, and Professor Gustavson from Advanced Pyrotechnics and Theoretical Lasers? Reunite with your former college classmates on a Winter Camping Adventure. Get ready for team games around the campfire, a rousing snowball fight, and waltzing to the backdrop of falling snow, all while helping Sebastian figure out his love life in a Winter Wonderland. It’s “an enchanted musical tale for the holiday” -Noah Nelson, No Proscenium
Performance Schedule
Saturday, December 16
6:30pm and 9:00pm
Sunday, December 17
5:00 pm and 8:00pm
Information and to Purchase Tickets

A Special Discussion with Alec Byrne and Hugh Brown at Arcana Books this Weekend
2017-12-17 16:00 - 18:00 | Arcana: Books on the Arts, 8675 Washington Blvd., Culver City, CA, 90232
Free
On Sunday, December 17th between 4 and 6 pm, join Arcana: Books on the Arts for a very special discussion between Alec Byrne and Grammy award-winning art director, designer, and artist Hugh Brown followed by a book signing.
In addition to the spectacular boxed Insight Editions London Rock – The Unseen Archive, Arcana will have copies of the special überEditions “Signature Editions” – each limited to twenty-five copies only with one of five matted silver gelatin photographic prints of Byrne’s iconic images of the halcyon days of Rock.
Photographer Alec Byrne covered the British rock and roll scene from the mid-1960s through the mid-1970s – the height of the rock revolution. Legendary performers such as The Rolling Stones, The Beatles, The Who, The Jimi Hendrix Experience, Bob Dylan, Led Zeppelin, The Yardbirds, Bob Marley, T. Rex, The Doors, The Faces, The Hollies, and David Bowie passed through Swinging London and provided provocative fodder for the prolific young lensman. Byrne’s resulting archive of rock-and-roll photos disappeared out of sight and into storage for close to four decades before being reintroduced to the world in late 2012 with an acclaimed one-night show in Los Angeles attended by more than one thousand people. Since then, the work has been featured during the 2013 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony and acquired by London’s National Portrait Gallery. Through rare live performance images, intimate portraits, and candid captures of the scene, Alec Byrne: The Unseen Archive – the photographer’s first feature-length book – brings the era into stunning focus, painting an evocative picture of an inimitable time and place.

Arcana Hosts a Discussion + Book Signing with Gloria Katz, Willard Huyck & Manfred Heiting
2017-12-16 16:00 - 18:00 | Arcana: Books on the Arts, 8675 Washington Blvd., Culver City, CA, 90232
Free
On Saturday, December 16th between 4 and 6 pm, please join Arcana: Books on the Arts for a discussion with Gloria Katz, Willard Huyck and Manfred Heiting, celebrating their two significant new books from Steidl.
VIEWS OF JAPAN FROM THE GLORIA KATZ & WILLARD HUYCK COLLECTION OF PHOTOGRAPHS: Most collectors have their own unique attractions and approaches to the objects of their collecting. This exquisitely produced volume features the adventures of Gloria Katz and Willard Huyck – two renowned filmmakers who began collecting Japanese photography more than a decade ago – whose ongoing hunt seems indeed like a Hollywood movie. A memoir about their love of Japanese photography and their experiences collecting it, Views of Japan makes available a selection of rare masterpieces from their extensive collection along with a personal “script” recounting how they scouted, debated, selected, and ultimately acquired many of the works. This was no small undertaking considering the rarity of some of the images, particularly those taken before the 1970s. Since 2002, they have assembled an encyclopedic collection of images from the 19th Century to the present, including key works by Nobuyoshi Araki, Hiroshi Hamaya, Eikoh Hosoe, Miyako Ishiuchi, Kikuji Kawada, Daido Moriyama, Ikko Narahara, Issei Suda, Shomei Tomatsu, and Shoji Ueda.
Their collection was shaped into Views of Japan by photographic historian Manfred Heiting, the designer and editor of extensive surveys of German, Soviet, and Japanese photobooks. The resulting volume is a distinctly personal presentation of one of the greatest private holdings of Japanese photography in the world, and an accessible look at a practice long ignored by Western histories.
THE JAPANESE PHOTOBOOK 1912-1990: Edited by Manfred Heiting – who has also designed and edited extensive surveys of German and Soviet photobooks, “The Japanese Photobook 1912-1990” illustrates the development of photography in twentieth Century as seen in the photo publications of Japan. Documenting successively the early Modernist influences of European and American Pictorialism, the German Bauhaus and Imperial military propaganda, to the complete collapse and destruction of the country in 1945, it then records a new beginning with the unique self-determination of a young generation of Post-War photographers and visual artists highlighted by the “Provoke” style, as well as protest and war documentation of the late 1950s to the early ’70s – the signature “Japanese photobook” – as we have come to know it.
This massive, authoritative, and highly visual undertaking presents an essay by Ryuichi Kaneko – the leading historian of Japanese photobooks, contributions from Heiting, Fujimura Satomi, Duncan Forbes, Mitsuda Yuri, Iizawa Kotaro, Shirayama Mari, and Matthew S. Witkovsky, and detailed information and illustrations of over four hundred photographically-illustrated publications. It is the most extensive English-language survey of Japanese photobooks of this period, and a crucial step in making the history of Japanese photography – long-neglected by the Western canon – accessible to the English-speaking world.
