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Natural History Museum: First Fridays – May

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“L.A. Backstory” with NHMLA History Department

TOURS: 5pm | 5:30pm | 6pm

Los Angeles has influenced the growth and development of American culture and technology for over 160 years. Tour guests will go behind the scenes to view seldom-seen History Department artifacts from the evolution of the automotive, aviation and aerospace industries to sports, early oil exploration, SoCal architecture, and local design studios that have affected global lives.

Tour tickets are available on a first-come-first-served basis in the Museum’s Grand Foyer.

Behind-the-Scenes After Hours: The Seaver Center will keep its doors open after the tours for guests to stop by: 6:30pm – 8pm.

 

Tall or Sprawl? Remaking L.A. — of, by, and for the People

Discussion: 6:30pm

It’s the City of Angels, but what kind of city is it? It’s a place that, in just a handful of generations, grew from adobes and dirt roads to an architectural crazy-quilt built not on a human scale but on the scale of the Model T and the Humvee. In its third century, L.A. tries to reverse-engineer itself to become livable, walkable, and accessible. Can it be done? What would that L.A. be like, to work in and live in?

Christopher Hawthorne, City of Los Angeles Chief Design Officer

Christopher Hawthorne is the Chief Design Officer for the city of Los Angeles, a position appointed by Mayor Eric Garcetti. Prior to joining City Hall, he was architecture critic for the Los Angeles Times from 2004 to early 2018. With Alanna Stang, he is the author of “The Green House: New Directions in Sustainable Architecture” (Princeton Architectural Press). His writing has also appeared in the New York Times, the New Yorker, Slate, the Washington Post and many other publications. He is professor of the practice at Occidental College, where since 2015 he has directed the Third Los Angeles Project, a series of public conversations about architecture, urban planning, mobility and demographic change in Southern California. Hawthorne has also taught at the U.C. Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism, Columbia University and the Southern California Institute of Architecture. He collaborates frequently with KCET-TV in Los Angeles, winning an L.A.-area Emmy Award for the 2016 program “Third L.A. with Architecture Critic Christopher Hawthorne” and writing and directing “That Far Corner: Frank Lloyd Wright in Los Angeles,” which had its broadcast debut earlier this year. A third-generation Californian, he grew up in Berkeley and earned a bachelor’s degree from Yale, where he studied political science and architectural history.

Mia Lehrer, Founder of Studio-MLA

Mia Lehrer, FASLA, founded MLA with a vision to improve quality of life through landscape. She is internationally recognized for progressive landscape design, advocacy for sustainable and people-friendly public places, and catalyzing work for a climate-appropriate future. Mia has led the design and implementation of ambitious public and private projects, including the Hollywood Park Racetrack redevelopment and its new LA NFL Stadium, the LA County Natural History Museum Gardens, Vista Hermosa Natural Park, and many Los Angeles River-related projects. She earned her Master of Landscape Architecture degree from Harvard University’s Graduate School of Design, and lectures and teaches around the world. Among recent accomplishments, she serves on the US Fine Arts Commission and received the ASLA’s LaGasse Medal last year.

Dan Rosenfeld, Director, Land Use Solutions, Community Partners

Dan Rosenfeld is a real estate investor who alternates between private and public-sector service. In the private-sector, Mr. Rosenfeld served as a senior officer with The Cadillac Fairview Corporation, Tishman-Speyer Properties, and Jones Lang LaSalle. He was a founding member of Urban Partners, LLC, a nationally recognized developer of urban infill, mixed-use and transit-oriented real estate. Among the firm’s major projects are Del Mar Station, Wilshire/Vermont Station and the Caltrans District 7 Headquarters. Mr. Rosenfeld is currently developing and managing real estate in Los Angeles and Seattle. In the public sector, Mr. Rosenfeld served as Director of Real Estate for the State of California and City of Los Angeles, and as a Senior Deputy for Economic Development with Los Angeles County. Mr. Rosenfeld is a graduate of Stanford University and the Harvard Business School. He is married to noted choreographer Heidi Duckler and lives in Los Angeles. The couple have three grown children Anya, Austen and Ellery.

Moderator: Patt Morrison

Patt Morrison is a Los Angeles writer and newspaper columnist who has a share of two Pulitzer Prizes. She has won six Emmys and eleven Golden Mike awards for her work hosting public television and radio programs. She also hosted the nationally syndicated television program “The Book Show with Patt Morrison,” and her seminal nonfiction book “Rio LA, Tales from the Los Angeles River” was a best-seller. Her writing appears in both fiction and nonfiction anthologies. And Pink’s, the legendary Hollywood hot dog stand, named its vegetarian hot dog “The Patt Morrison Baja Veggie Dog” in her honor.

 

Performances

8:00pm – Earth Girl Helen Brown

Born a figment of Sonny Smith’s imagination in the storm of invention and tributary appropriation that formed the 100 Records project, Earth Girl Helen Brown reemerged in 2017 response to cosmic cultural forces seeming to demand an engaged response. The Center for Planetary Intelligence Band has released one cassette EP per season in collaboration with Empty Cellar Records, each confronting a singular solar satellite (MERCURY, MARS, SATURN, and VENUS), topic of planetary importance (fire, war, communication, love), and aspirational genre (country crossover, analog electronic, cumbia, Sade), with proceeds of each benefiting organizations committed work related to the topic at hand. Forthcoming Vinyl releases form In the Red/Empty Cellar Records continue the project.

With Heidi Alexander at the helm, the band and related media artists and technicians includes Jamie Barron, Jamin Barton, Eric Bauer, Aylin Beyce, Emilee Booher, Ryan Browne, Tim Cohen, Grace Cooper, Dave Cousin, Brad Caulkins, Mikal Cronin, Bart Davenport, Brigid Dawson, John Dwyer, Chris Fallon, Lars Finberg, James Finch Jr., Davin Givhan, Dylan Hadley, Dustin Hamman, Kiran Harlow, Wilder Harlow, Graeme Gibson, Tahlia Harbour, Anna Hillburg, Douglas Hilsinger, Warren Huegel, Emmett Kelly, Nora Keys, Shannon Lay, Raven Mahon, Rusty Miller, Charlie Moonheart, Jack Name, Ethan Novikoff, Tim Presley, Ty Segall, Dave Sitek, Sean Smith, Sonny Smith, Kelley Stoltz, Enrique Tena, Alica Vanden Heuvel, Lida Vanden Heuvel and Mikey Young.

In step with the executive format the band is on a four-year trajectory of narrative abstraction, economic entanglement, art, information, administration, music, and hopefully a little policy making.

9:15pm – Homeshake

Born in the bleak isolation of the secluded prairie city of Edmonton, Canada, Homeshake’s Peter Sagar worked with friends in a number of local bands before picking up and moving to Montreal in 2011 to begin recording under the Homeshake moniker. Following two self-released cassettes (“The Homeshake Tapes” and “Dynamic Meditation”) and two acclaimed full lengths (“In The Shower” and “Midnight Snack”), Sagar cracks a window open with his third album for “Sinderlyn – Fresh Air”.

Started immediately following the recording of “Midnight Snack”, “Fresh Air” continues Sagarʼs exploration of dreamy, downtempo bedroom R&B and draws inspiration from such disparate artists like Sade, The Band, Broadcast, Prince, and Angelo Badalamenti. As the title “Fresh Air” suggests, Sagarʼs songs were created to clear his listenersʼ minds of negativity. Full of smokey, laid back love songs and airy productions, Sagarʼs decidedly stoned sound is a breath of fresh air.

 

DJ Lounge

5 – 6pm & 8:30 – 10pm: KCRW Anthony Valadez—Resident DJ

Anthony Valadez has been on the FM dial for over 20 years dating back to his college mix show days on KCSN to currently hosting his weekly show on KCRW and online on Tune In. His shows have been hailed by Ty Dolla Sign, Childish Gambino and Julian Casablanca (the Strokes) for his keen ear for new and emerging artists. He is also a contributor to Boston’s WBUR’s Here and Now segments chiming in what’s new on the musical landscape.    He hosted 3 seasons of Crate Diggers on FUSE.tv which sent him across the country digging in record bins from city to city with celebrated and legendary dj’s. As a club DJ, Valadez has rocked crowds in Tokyo, Shanghai, London and Latin America in addition to holding residencies at The Natural History Museum’s First Fridays, the SLS in Las Vegas and has opened for the likes of Bruno Mars, Sly Stone, Ben Harper, Little Dragon, Capital Cities, Prince. In 2014, he was handpicked by Jennifer Lopez and her team for her homecoming concert in the Bronx and performed for over 16,000 people. He was voted Best DJ in the LA Weekly Readers Pool for 2016.

6 – 8:30pm: DJ Kara

Born and raised in Indianapolis Indiana, DJ Kara is an ambitious female DJ based in LA, serving the Greater Los Angeles Area. Starting at a young age, Kara has always been passionate about music, and her excitement for music continued through college as she attended Purdue University in West Lafayette Indiana, studying Business Management at the Krannert School of Business.

Early in the process of Kara taking on the skill she came across a well known DJ Management company called VoxDjs and began working with them. VoxDjs was a crucial factor to Kara’s growth as a DJ and MC. Three years with them she was able to gain significant professional experience, work with high end clients, and learn the ins and outs of the craft. To this date Kara has DJed over 100 weddings, 200 private event, and has developed a strong reputation in the event industry.

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