Daytime

As the second-largest city in the United States, Los Angeles is home to immigrants from more than 140 countries. New Americans Initiative is working with our community partners to bring important immigration and citizenship information to you. Do you want to make an appointment or have questions? Call us and leave a message in English or Spanish at 213.228.7390. A library staff member will return your call within two days.

 

New Americans Centers are located at the following libraries: Central Library,
Echo Park Branch Library, Junipero Serra Branch Library, Pacoima Branch Library,
Pio Pico – Koreatown Branch Library, Wilmington Branch Library

Productions and workshops from the festival touch on diverse subjects, from political to personal, love to loss, sensuality to spiritual, and hierarchy to hope. All bets are off, limits on boundaries and form wide open, with shows that range in style from classic comedy to poignant drama, from Shakespearian to one-woman-shows, from slam poetry to stand-up comedy and improv, from parody to fairytale – something for everyone. Inclusive theatre arts workshops for youth and adults are available throughout the festival.

 

Event times vary.

Reservations are required at the website.

As Vladimir and Estragon wait and wait for the arrival of the elusive Godot, a cast of mysterious misfits interrupt their endless vigil in Samuel Beckett’s tragi-comic masterpiece that has captivated audiences for decades. Timeless and multi-layered, Waiting for Godot changed the course of contemporary drama and remains as resonant and riveting as ever.

 

Tuesdays – Fridays, 8:00 p.m.
Saturdays, 3:00 p.m. and 8:00 p.m.
Sundays, 2:00 and 7:00 p.m.

Sangre de Nopal/Blood of the Nopal is a multi-site project offering an expanded understanding of cochineal’s scientific and Indigenous origins, a red dye developed by the Zapotec people. This multivocal exhibition will center ancestral knowledge and technical experimentation and bring a special focus to issues of immigration and labor justice.

Desert Forest focuses on the plight of the iconic Joshua tree and the vital and sensitive Mojave Desert ecosystem that supports it. The tree’s survival is threatened by climate change as well as development, wind and solar energy industries, and wildfires.    In August 2020, a lightning strike ignited a fire that destroyed more than 1.3 million trees, prompting the California Fish and Game Commission to consider granting western Joshua trees protection under the California Endangered Species Act. This multidisciplinary project brings together natural history, Indigenous knowledge, public policy, conservation science, and creative works by historic and contemporary artists to spotlight the threatened tree and preservation efforts around it. From the first known photograph of a Joshua tree by Carleton Watkins to recent photographs by Cara Romero, the exhibition brings attention to the Joshua tree, current pressures on its fragile desert ecosystem, and its future viability.

In 2019, Lawson answered more than 1,000 questions in his Story File so that future generations can continue conversing with him to learn about his legacy. What would you like to ask Lawson?

Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday, 11:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.,
Thursday, 12:00 noon – 8:00 p.m.
Adults – $16, Seniors and Youth – $9, Members and Children under 5 – Free

The exhibition brings together artists Michael Massenburg, Aiseborn, and Mr. B Baby to explore the intersections of family,
culture, and community. Curated by Guillermo Aviles-Rodriguez, PhD., the works will be on view Wednesday to Saturday, 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., from April 13 to August 2024, with a reception/artist talk and performance by Nedra Wheeler Trio taking place Sunday, June 9 at 1:00 p.m. Admission is free.

Cover image: Helping Families Grow, by Michael Massenburg, Aiseborn, and Mr. B Baby located at Kaiser Permanente Watts Counseling and Learning Center

Mark Bradford’s 150 Portrait Tone, a mural-size composition that contains elements of both abstraction and realism, is based on an idea for a work that the artist conceived after the fatal shooting of Philando Castile by a police officer in Saint Paul, Minnesota, in July 2016. Castile, a nutrition services supervisor at an elementary school, was shot after being pulled over in his car—an incident that was livestreamed on Facebook by Castile’s girlfriend, Diamond Reynolds, who was sitting in the passenger seat next to him.

The painting features excerpts of Reynolds’s dialogue from the video. The title, 150 Portrait Tone, refers to the name and color code of the pink acrylic used throughout the painting. Like the now-obsolete “flesh” crayon in the Crayola 64 box (renamed “peach” in 1962), the color “portrait tone” carries inherent assumptions about who, exactly, is being depicted. In the context of Bradford’s painting, the title presents a sobering commentary on power and representation.