5 design things to do this week

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This week you can: learn about the history of women in car culture; discuss the big ideas that will shape our city and transform the way we live and work; consider what it means to make art in times of irreconcilable alternative truths; celebrate a downtown park’s grand opening; and indulge your love of ice cream.

Thelma and Louise took the automobile to a whole new level of freedom for women. But it wasn’t always that way… (The original image is no longer available, please contact KCRW if you need access to the original image.)

1 ) Motoring Women 

Thelma and Louise took the automobile to a whole new level of freedom for women. But it wasn’t always that way. The automobile culture at the turn of the 20th century ushered in social and economic opportunity for men. Highly gendered from their inception, cars were considered masculine, and women were too fragile to manage them. Despite such perceptions, women were quick to join the craze and push the limits of respectability to gain the freedom offered by the automobile. The Petersen Automotive Museum hosts a talk discussing how female motorists carved their space within American automotive culture.

When: Tuesday, April 18, 7 pm

Where: Petersen Automotive Museum, 6060 Wilshire Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90036

Tickets: Free and open to the public (does not include museum gallery access). More information here.

Is there a green-light path forward for Los Angeles’ housing and traffic management? (The original image is no longer available, please contact KCRW if you need access to the original image.)

2 )  AIGA: Making Over Los Angeles

As the tech industry is booming and LA’s population is growing, the city needs sustainable development and insightful city planning.  There’s pressure for more affordable and denser housing, and for alternative transportation to escape all the traffic. Join this discussion about the visionary projects and big ideas that will shape our city and transform the way we live and work.  Speakers include: Michael Lejeune, Creative Director, Metro; Erin Williams, Experiential Graphic Designer, Rios Clementi Hale Studios; Melanie Freeland, Associate, Gensler; Aaron Paley, President and Co-Founder of Community Arts Resources (CAR).    

When: Wednesday, April 19, 6:45 – 9 pm

Where: Helms Bakery District – Design Center, 8745 Washington Blvd., Culver City, CA 90232

Tickets: Non members $25.  Get tickets here.  Members sign-in here.

Bill Ferehawk’s work renders images of everyday collisions of contexts that make Los Angeles endlessly surprising and challenging, and draws out new perceptions and interpretations of the urban experience. (The original image is no longer available, please contact KCRW if you need access to the original image.)

3 ) Art-Past-Present: Filmmaker Bill Ferehawk and Writer Katya Tylevich

This is the second installment of The Wende Museum discussion series, Art-Past-Present. On this episode of DnA, Joes Segal, Chief Curator at the Wende Museum of the Cold War, suggested that artists protesting the Trump administration might have more impact if they reach across the cultural aisle. With this series Segal is trying to do exactly that. The idea is to create a space for artists and designers to “be in contact with people with other realities and other convictions,” and discuss their ideas about how the past gives meaning to the present.  In this second gathering in the series, filmmaker Bill Ferehawk and writer Katya Tylevich consider what it means to make art in times of irreconcilable alternative truths.

When: Thursday, April 20, 6 – 8 pm

Where: The Wende Museum, 5741 Buckingham Pkwy, Ste E, Culver City, CA 90230

Tickets: Please RSVP to rsvp@wendemuseum.org.

The Los Angeles State Historic Park near Chinatown will have a Grand Opening, fittingly on Earth Day. (The original image is no longer available, please contact KCRW if you need access to the original image.)

4 ) LA State Historic Park GRAND OPENING

Los Angeles State Historic Park sits on the eastern edge of Chinatown and just south of Dodger Stadium. When community members fought a proposal to build industrial sheds on the site, the state acquired the dusty 32-acre site in 2001.They held a design competition that was initially won by a team led by landscape architect George Hargreaves. But the park service didn’t have the funds to build his ambitious scheme; then the 2007 economic downturn prompted them to simplify the design. “The ultimate design was the result of a distillation of over 65 public meetings, which is really unprecedented,” park superintendent Sean Woods told DnA. Celebrate the Grand Opening with musical performances, family-friendly activities and food trucks.  The park is easily accessible by the Chinatown Gold Line Station or by bicycle.  Limited parking in the park. 

Note: This event coincides with the March For Science (which we are covering on this week’s episode of DnA), taking place in nearby Pershing Square the same day.

When: Saturday, April 22

Where: Los Angeles State Historic Park, 1245 N Spring St, Los Angeles, CA 90012

Tickets: Free and open to the public

Also downtown…Catch the Festival M.A.R.S. (Music and Arts ReSound) with never-before-seen pairings of music, art, technology, fashion, and dance.  Daily installations and activities are curated by art critic Shana Nys Dambrot.  Festival M.A.R.S. runs April 14-23 at Art Share L.A. and Angel City Brewery.

A swimming pool filled with sprinkles, an ice cream sandwich swing, and sugar cone hanging lights: the Museum of Ice Cream brings a new perspective to everyone’s favorite food. Oh yeah, and there are free tastings. (The original image is no longer available, please contact KCRW if you need access to the original image.)

5 )  The Museum of Ice Cream

If Willy Wonka made ice cream, his factory might look like this.  Or perhaps the creators of this novelty museum got inspiration from the stops along the Candy Land trail to King Kandy’s Castle.  However this crazy idea started, it’s a good one.  Childhood dreams are brought to life at The Museum of Ice Cream.  From a swimming pool filled with (a hundred-million) sprinkles and the melted-Popsicle jungle, to an ice cream sandwich swing and sugar cone hanging lights, the museum brings new perspective and experiences to everyone’s favorite food. Part ice cream parlor, part Pop Art gallery, the museum is now in a space four times larger than the original space for its wildly successful debut in New York.  With re-imagined installations designed to provoke your imagination and bring out your playful side, the museum is for kids of all ages.  Most importantly, the price of admission includes two free tastings from rotating selection of scoops from the likes of McConnell’s, Salt & Straw, Coolhaus and CREAM.

When: April 22 – May 29, every day except Tuesday from 11am to 10pm

Where: 2018 E 7th Place, Los Angeles, CA 90021

Tickets: $29 Adults / $18 Children.  Get tickets here.  All tickets must be purchased in advance, tickets are not available for purchase onsite.