Culver City Times

The Los Angeles Times’ David Pagel wrote a full review of the new Thomas Burke’s show at Western Project Gallery, saying “Thomas Burke's new paintings are eye-grabbing extravaganzas that pack more visual wallop into their brightly colored surfaces than has been seen since artists like Richard Anuszkiewicz, Bridget Riley, Julian Stanczak and Victor Vasarely invented Op Art in the 1960s.”

Continues the review:

...Burke treats Op as a springboard into something bigger and bolder and more muscular than it was the first time around. A great deal of oomph, and even more delicacy, are palpable in "Dutch Jailbreak," his rollicking exhibition of eight new paintings at Western Project.

Each is a diamond-shaped panel that the New York artist has taped and painted…

When I rode my bike down Ballona Creek this weekend, I noticed some nice new signs in the uplands section of the Ballona Wetlands (known as Area C.) Very nice, since the signs brings attention to the fact that this area is already a thing to be valued, not just an empty lot to be filled. In the picture below, you can even see an egret (I do believe) that seems to agree....

This experience reminded me that I recently received an email from the Santa Monica Bay Restoration Commission letting me know that Culver City has been actively working to be good stewards of Ballona Creek – as well as the land and sea that it…

This Saturday, February 28, at 8:00 pm, the Culver City Symphony will perform works by Mozart, Wieniawski, Stravinsky and Schumann at Veteran's Memorial Auditorium. 

The program will include: 

Mozart: Overture, "The Magic Flute" (1791)

Wieniawski: Violin Concerto, No. 2 (1870)

Kevin Miura, Violin (Miura Bio)

Stravinsky: "Pulcinella Suite" Excerpts (1920)

Schumann: Symphony No. 2 (1845-46)

Here's what the symphony has to say about the program:

"The music of Robert Schumann and Igor Stravinsky are stylistically worlds apart, but they do have things in common. Both were quick-witted Geminis, and both were in the vanguard of musical revolutions.

"For Schumann,…

Los Angeles Magazine's "Power-Ranking" of new L.A. restaurants serves as a guide to the hottest eateries in the city -- and its rare when a 5-year-old (!!) restaurant makes the last. But thanks to chef Roy Choi's decision to rethink the menu to emphasize the Hawaiian-ness that Choi says was always part of the menu's charm, that's exactly what happened to A-Frame.

Here's what the Los Angeles article had to say about the restaurant:

Inspired by recent trips to Hawaii, Roy Choi decided to flip the concept of his Culver City restaurant A-Frame. The menu now features classic island fare like spicy tuna poke, curry gravy loco moco, Spam musubi, and marinated…

Turning Point School's Level 8 Community Leadership team, along with advisor Mr. Matt Kline, will be visiting Dana Point’s renowned Ocean Institute on February 27th, for an intensive three-day Plastic Ocean Pollution Solutions (POPS) Leadership Summit.

They will join 90 youth leaders from all over the U.S, as far afield as the Caribbean, India, and Africa. Each team won a place at the Summit based on their innovative ideas on how best to monitor and publicize ocean plastic trash, and also reduce this non-biodegradable waste.

The Algalita POPS Youth Summit offers students a chance to learn about current scientific research on plastic pollution, share their action projects with their peers, and work…

If you've been waiting for the right time to spend a Saturday evening in the Culver City Art District, this weekend (February 21) is it. George Billis Gallery, Western Project, and Luis De Jesus Gallery are all having openings. And in my experience, that means there'll be a lot of activity at all the galleries on La Cienega and on Washington. Great art is likely and great people-watching is guaranteed. Openings are (always) free and open to the public and generally last from 6 to 8 pm. 

George Billis Gallery LA (at 2716 S. La Cienega Blvd) will feature works by Anne Seidman and Karen Woods. Here's an example of Seidman's work:…

Architectural writer Thomas Aujero Small will moderate a lively discussion with renowned architect and founding partner of Ehrlich Architects, Steven Ehrlich -- with an emphasis on how firm renovated Culver City's Kirk Douglas Theatre. The talk will take place at the Kirk Douglas Theatre on Monday, February 23 from 7 to 9 pm.

The discussion is part of Culver City Cultural Affairs Foundation's "architectureTALKS" series, and the proceeds will benefit the technical enhancement of Veterans Memorial Building Auditorium, with the intent of increasing public performances and film screenings in that venue.

Ehrlich Architects has earned an international reputation for design excellence and was awarded the prestigious 2015 AIA Architecture Firm Award. Ehrlich will be joined by…

Just go ahead and dub Culver City the Dive Bar Capital of the City. Evidence? When Thrillist assembled its look at the finest dive bars in Los Angeles, a full 16 percent of the bars were located in our fair burg. 

Scarlet Lady was called "The best dive for free homemade food," and the article added:

The Scarlet Lady tempts you with many of the usual trappings of a genuine dive bar: cheap and strong drinks, colorful clientele, unpolished karaoke, and well-worn pool tables. But where it really comes through strong is with regular appearances of homemade food (chili, hot dogs, nachos, breakfast burritos...), often times for free, or at least all you…

Artist Curtis Kulig has given his iconic "Love Wall" on Hayden Ave. in the Culver City a well-deserved make-over.

The above phone shows it's new look, and here's the "before" pic.

The mural is painted on the northwest corner of Smashbox Studios -- located at 8549 Higurera…

Culver City Middle School student Cooper Komatsu, 12, a two-time winner of the Culver City Unified School District Spelling Bee is now taking his talents to the national level.

The road to the Scripps title is different from the CCUSD event, which is for fourth-, fifth- and sixth-graders, while the Scripps National Spelling Bee is open to those 15 and under and in eighth-grade or lower.

Cooper finished first in the Los Angeles County Scripps Regional Spelling Bee on February 8 at Walter Reed Middle School in North Hollywood and will represent the county at the Scripps National Spelling Bee, the nation's largest and longest running educational program. The competition is administered on a not-for-profit basis by Scripps in Cincinnati and each year, involves more than 11…