Things to do in L.A. this weekend

This immersive, one-night-only installation at Dorothy Chandler Pavilion uses contemporary astrophysics research to explore the themes of grief, loss and human connection. There’s an air of mystery around the “transformative experience,” but it sounds like something that we as a city could definitely benefit from right now, so color us intrigued. Ponder your place in the cosmos at the installation, which is part of PST ART. Of special interest to millennials will be a an afternoon event featuring LeVar Burton (4:30–6:30pm)—the conversation with the Reading Rainbow host is already at capacity, but there will be a standby line in case seats open up.

J.K. Simmons plays a ferocious jazz teacher in this Miles Teller-starring masochistic music thriller. Catch a screening of Whiplash at the Saban Theatre with an 18-piece jazz band—rushing or dragging?—conducted by the film’s composer, Justin Hurwitz. You’ll have three chances to catch this 10th anniversary concert and screening—not quite my tempo—with one show on February 7 and a pair on February 8. Presumably no chairs will be thrown.

L.A.’s finest folk and indie rock muscians unite for a wildfire relief show at the Glendale Presbyterian Church. Andrew Bird, Bright Eyes, Kelcey Ayer (Local Natives), Jim James (My Morning Jacket), Madison Cunningham, David Longstreth (Dirty Projectors), Ty Segall, Kevin Morby, Delicate Steve, the Milk Carton Kids, Ethan Tasch, Molly Burch, Strawberry Guy, Uwade and Largo mainstays Watkins Family Hour top the lineup. Late additions Dawes, Jeff Parker, Katie Gavin (MUNA) and actor John C. Reilly were just announced. Proceeds from the night will go to Sweet Relief’s Musicians Fund, which benefits musicians affected by the Eaton Fire.

The Hammer Museum is celebrating the opening of its newest exhibition, “Alice Coltrane, Monument Eternal,” with quite the party. Get a first look at the show—which looks at the life and legacy the late jazz musician, spiritual leader and widow of John Coltrane through an artistic lens—and enjoy a DJ set by Coltrane’s grand-nephew, none other than Flying Lotus. Admission is free but first-come, first-served, as the museum is expecting a packed house.

Add some swank to your Super Bowl Sunday at Skybar’s second annual watch party. Settle in by the hotel pool (you can spring for cabana seating) with a craft cocktail in hand and root for your team—a projector screen and TVs will be playing the game throughout the space. Doughbrik’s will provide pizza, and the EC Twins will provide the soundtrack. The game kicks off at 3:30pm, but the party will get things started at 11am.

Scope out dozens food and craft booths while dragon dances, kung fu demonstrations, live candy sculpting and other entertainment plays out across a street festival. For those new to celebrating the holiday, the fest’s “cultural passport” experience teaches you how different regions celebrate Lunar New Year. This annual event takes place just on Alhambra’s Main Street and celebrates the diversity of the San Gabriel Valley.

Help restore the earth at this outdoor celebration, where you can plant native oak trees, learn about native plants and Indigenous Tongva culture, take nature walks and play games in Elysian Park—all for free. The event marks the first day of planting for the Broad’s reforestation project, Social Forest: Oaks of Tovaangar, which is a companion to the museum’s PST exhibition, Joseph Beuys: In Defense of Nature. Note: The event is only accessible via free shuttles from the Broad, so head to the museum, not Elysian Park directly. Free tickets for the event include same-day admission to the Broad, so you can make an afternoon of it when the shuttle drops you back off.

The Chinese Club of San Marino hosts its annual Lunar New Year Festival in idyllic Lacy Park, which will be filled with cultural performances and displays, games and food vendors serving up savory and sweet treats. The free community event aims to channel good fortune and unite people after the fires affected so many in the San Gabriel Valley. To that end, the fest will also have a dedicated donation booth to raise funds for fire relief. 

It’s famous for that spaghetti kiss—a legendary scene that Walt Disney almost cut out. But Lady and the Tramp has many other charming moments; the script evolved out of years of personal pet stories shared by the studio’s animal-loving writers and executives. It’s a true labor of love. See it at the El Capitan Theatre around Valentine’s Day, and if you opt for the Sweethearts Dinner and a Movie package ($70), you can dine at Miceli’s down the street before or after a 7pm screening and re-create that spaghetti kiss yourself.

What’s more fun than having a crush? The Center for the Arts Eagle Rock is tapping into that energy with this Valentine’s-themed art show. Snap some shots in the Polaroid photo booth, and support local creatives by shopping one-of-a-kind art and zines in a historic building. The center will be donating to those impacted by the fires, and a table will be set up to donate zines to rebuild the collection that was lost when the Palisades Branch Library was destroyed.

Conor Oberst, Mike Mogis and Nathaniel Walcott released a new album in the fall, then had to reschedule their planned L.A. tour date. Catch them at the Wiltern this Friday, and expect to hear Oberst’s wordy, straight-from-the-diary songs—both from the new album and from seminal Bright Eyes efforts I’m Wide Awake, It’s Morning and Digital Ash in a Digital Urn, both of which just celebrated their 20th anniversary. The next night, you’ll also find them at the “I Love L.A.” Eaton Fire Relief Benefit in Glendale.

Westfield Culver City is celebrating Black History Month with a full lineup of free art, culture and community programming. From February 8 to 23, the first floor of the shopping center will be filled with art by emerging local Black creators including Christen Austin, Mike Norice and Tyris Winter. On February 8 from 1pm to 3pm, a Community Kickoff Celebration will offer musical performances, dance showcases, book signings, storytimes and more. And February 15, from 1pm to 3pm, is Creative Expressions Day, where kids can get creative with arts and crafts. Entry to all events is free, but signing up online ahead of time is recommended.

Santa Monica Place is welcoming the Year of the Snake with cherry blossom wishing trees, craft kits for kids and shopping deals for adults. Though the red and gold lanterns will stay up from January 29 to February 13, stop by on February 8 (2–5pm) for a free, family-friendly event—expect Chinese lion dance performances on the hour, dough and balloon artists, live music and more. Pick up a red envelope with exclusive offers from the shopping center’s retailers and restaurants.

The winter edition of Dine L.A. is back from January 24 to February 7, with hundreds of restaurants participating in the two-week blitz of bang-for-your-buck set menus. Scattered among the prix-fixe tradition’s dizzying full list of menus are some of L.A.’s best restaurants offering their signature fare at a more budget-friendly price point. Before you make a reservation, check out our list of the best lunch and dinner deals the event has to offer. In light of the recent fires, LA Tourism is donating $5 per reservation made to the American Red Cross, which will be matched by Banc of California for a total of $10.

This celebration of the culture of card collecting is coming to the Mayan Theater over Super Bowl weekend. Whether you’re a newcomer to the world of cards or a seasoned collector, you can shop entry-level cards, rare collector’s cards, sports cards, gaming cards, Pokemon and art cards from 100 vendors. Check out the custom card station, where you can craft personalized cards for free. Also on hand will be free jarritos, live DJs, food trucks and L.A. Rams cheerleaders, who’ll be signing autographs.

After popping up at D23 and Long Beach shopping center 2nd & PCH, themed mini-golf experience Pixar Putt has landed at its most logical home: the Pixar Place Hotel, close to California Adventure and its Pixar Pier. Putt your way through 18 themed holes and step into the stories of Pixar favorites including Toy Story, The Incredibles, Monsters, Inc., Finding Nemo, Coco, A Bug’s Life, Wall-E and Inside Out. Opening weekend is sold out, but don’t worry: The course will remain open through June 1.

Some of L.A.’s best improvisers, podcasters and actors come together for this wildfire charity live read of the screenplay for 1979’s beloved The Muppet Movie. Participants include Paul F. Tompkins, Nina West, David Dastmalchian, Bobby Moynihan, Hal Lublin and Mark Gagliardi, among many others; Off Book, Jessica McKenna and Zach Reino’s hilarious improvised musical podcast, will handle the music. A portion of proceeds will go to GiveDirectly, which focuses on getting cash directly into the hands of disaster victims. Though in-person tickets are currently sold out, you can still support—and enjoy—the show via a paid livestream.

Both the Grove and the Americana at Brand observe Lunar New Year with the type of polished, curated displays that you’ve come to expect from the L.A. shopping meccas. Some stores and restaurants are offering special promotions and limited-time items for the holiday, and if you’re a Caruso Signature member, you can pick up a lucky red envelope and a collectible tote bag on Lunar New Year itself, January 29, and earn double “Caruso Coins” at select stores—including David Yurman and Gucci—through February 12. For some free fun, swing by the Americana on February 8 for a parade (1–4pm) featuring traditional lion and dragon dances, as well as performances by the Korean Dance Team.

As love continues to pour in for the inimitable David Lynch, some of the city’s movie theaters are paying tribute, filling their schedules with special screenings of the director’s films. American Cinematheque is leading the charge this week with screenings of Lost Highway and Mulholland Drive at the Los Feliz 3 (Vidiots is also showing the Naomi Watts starrer), as well as Eraserhead, Dune and Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me at the Egyptian.

Welcome the Year of the Snake amid the lush greenery of South Coast Botanic Garden every weekend this February. Enjoy an afternoon of festive Chinese, Vietnamese and Korean traditions, with hands-on activities including kite-making and puppet-making or a Zodiac Stroll through the grounds. You’ll also find storytelling, a wishing tree, live music, a 360-degree photo booth and specialty food and cocktails (available for purchase). Admission is $15, but for $8 more, you can catch a performance by lion dancers, martial artists, drummers and folk dancers (Sat, Sun at 9:30am, 12:30pm, 3:30pm).

The historic theater is putting on eight distinct cultural events to mark the Lunar New Year during this multi-week festival. Highlights include a performance of Patsy, a play about the first Asian American congresswoman, on January 25; a screening of the first-known Chinese American film, The Curse of Quon Gwon, on January 31; a live lion dance performance by the East Wind Foundation and a dragon puppet-making workshop by Bob Baker Marionette Theater on February 1; and, that evening, a program of new classical works inspired by the moon called “Lunar Harmonies.” Plus, from February 14 through March 9, Master Class finds Tim Dang directing Terrence McNally’s Tony-winning play about opera icon Maria Callas. See the full lineup of events here.

The beloved puppet theater’s new show is actually a throwback to its beginnings. Something to Crow About was first created in 1959 for the Laguna Beach Festival of Art and gave Bob Baker Marionette Theater its signature style before the theater officially opened in 1963. The satirical show, which has been revitalized, uses farm animal characters to tell a story about Broadway. 

Frank Lloyd Wright’s Hollyhock House—centerpiece of Barnsdall Art Park and Los Angeles’ only UNESCO World Heritage Site—just might be the most stunning backdrop for an art exhibition. And, in this case, the home is the subject itself, too. L.A.-based photographer Ireland captured the intricate details of the Hollyhock House in 21 photographs on display throughout the onetime residence.

See over 50 garments from Diane von Furstenberg, best known for her iconic wrap dress, during this career-spanning exhibition at the Skirball. Alongside artwork and fabric swatches, the show will also focus on her philanthropic work as well as how her life was shaped as the daughter of a Holocaust survivor.

Pasadena’s USC Pacific Asia Museum hosts this exhibition based on the Getty’s scientific research into Cai Guo-Qiang’s gunpowder art. The show fills up nearly the entire museum with a vast selection of the artist’s work alongside scientific imagery exploring the nature of gunpowder and Cai’s process in using it.

After its fall debut at Walt Disney Concert Hall as part of PST ART, artist Doug Aitken’s multimedia collab with the L.A. Phil and L.A. Master Chorale makes the jump to the Marciano Art Foundation. The free museum mounts the multichannel video piece in its massive theater gallery, which you can see during routine opening hours (Tue–Sat 11am–6pm). But look out for separate reservations for weekly (typically on Saturdays) live performances organized by both musical ensembles.

The masters of alfresco movie viewing are keeping outdoor screening season alive with their Fireside Films series, which ensures you’ll stay cozy, with outdoor heaters and a complimentary hot beverage with each ticket. Enjoy a steady stream of modern classics (The Dark Knight, Pride & Prejudice) local favorites (La La Land, Friday) and recent releases (Beetlejuice Beetlejuice) screened atop LEVEL DTLA throughout the winter months.

This exhibition of 21 soundstage-sized installations has floated its way into L.A. Don’t expect mere bundles of birthday balloons: Instead, these pieces range from room-filling ball pits to reflective LED tunnels to giant grabbable bubbles, all inspired by air in some way. The “Let’s Fly” edition of this touring show is a more fun experience than your run-of-the-mill made-for-Instagram attraction: Whether you’re bonking the bouncy “Ginjos,” pushing a charcoal-tipped sphere or getting swept up in a staticky whirlwind of balloons, there are some undeniably entertaining—and yes, very photogenic—hands-on scenes here.

You can’t seem to get more a stone’s throw away from a huge festive light display in Los Angeles come holiday season. Well, except for this new entry to the scene, which is making its L.A. debut all the way at Raging Waters. If you feel like making the trek out to San Dimas, though, Luminosa looks like quite the impressive display, boasting over 1,000,000 LED lights and larger-than-life lanterns through miles of illuminated trails. Adding to the experience are acrobatic performers, artisan vendors, food trucks and even some stone-carving.

This first-floor exhibition at the Broad features hundreds of German artist Joseph Beuys’s “multiples,” editioned objects (with a focus here on environmentalism) that stretched the meaning of sculpture. But the most notable aspect of this show extends beyond the gallery walls: Inspired by Beuys’s 7000 Eichen (7000 Oaks), the concurrent Social Forest: Oaks of Tovaangar will plant 100 native trees (primarily coast live oaks) in Elysian Park and at Kuruvungna Village Springs.

A collaboration with the Carnegie Observatories and the Griffith Observatory, this LACMA exhibition brings together a global collection of pieces, from the Stone Age to today, that reflect humans’ ever-evolving attempts to explain the origins of the universe. Alongside pieces of sacred artwork and architecture, you can expect some heady, scientifically minded contemporary works. 

“Color in Motion” features close to 150 objects—pieces of technology, costumes, props and film posters—from the 1890s to today. Broken up into six themes, the exhibition looks at the connection between color, music and movement, like in early dance and animated shorts; decades of color technologies, from Technicolor processes and Disney’s women-led Ink & Paint Department to contemporary digital tools; monochrome silent films; the narrative role of color; and experimental works. The final gallery in the show is dubbed the Color Arcade, an interactive, neon-hued space that includes a corridor inspired by the trippy stargate from 2001: A Space Odyssey.

This spectacular exhibition from the Icelandic-Danish artist brings a new series of optical installations to MOCA’s Little Tokyo location. Don’t let the reflective, colorful pieces fool you into thinking this is some run-of-the-mill “immersive” exhibition: Olafur Eliasson’s works invite you to admire the everyday miracles of physics that shape how we see the world. 

The Natural History Museum’s taxidermy dioramas turn a century old this year, and to celebrate the museum is reviving an entire hall of displays that’ve been dark for decades. Expect some fresh approaches to these assembled snapshots of the wilderness, including alebrijes made of recycled materials, a crystalline depiction of pollution and a tech-driven display of the L.A. River.

Study the technical and cultural background of colorful clay vessels, textiles, bark-paper pages and sculptures in the Indigenous Americas—and how their significance has been downplayed among colonialist histories—at this LACMA exhibition. 

More than 50 works on display at the Autry showcase how Indigenous artists have crafted visions of alternative futures in the face of enduring colonial trauma, with surreal spacescapes from Wendy Red Star, pop culture commentaries by Andy Everson and a site-specific space odyssey created by Virgil Ortiz.

It’s more than just the low clearance: This exhibition at the Petersen explores the custom paint, engraving, upholstery and, of course, the gravity-defying suspension of the lowrider scene. In addition to iconic cars, influential artists in the Chicano lowrider art scene are spotlighted.

A true multihyphenate, Carver was a painter in addition to a pioneering agricultural scientist. CAAM will display seldom-seen paintings, as well as his lab equipment, alongside contemporary works that were inspired by his foundational work in modern conservation—ideas that started to spread with his “Jesup Wagon,” an early 1900s movable school.

Gawk at a collection of mid-20th-century illuminated pieces from Andy Warhol, Dan Flavin, Allen Rupperberg and eight others at the Norton Simon’s display of electric art. 

This year’s M3GAN has arrived in this wickedly fun AI horror.