The new show at the Getty Villa, The Last Days of Pompeii, refers variously to an event, a book, and a rich history of mythmaking. The event, of course, is the A.D. 79 eruption of Mount Vesuvius outside Naples that buried the prosperous Roman town. But if you come expecting to see a display of [...]

Do you know a high school performer or visual artist who wants to Step Into the Spotlight?
Now in its 25th year, The Music Center Spotlight program is so much more than a competition. Spotlight is a nationally acclaimed scholarship and arts-training program for high school students in the performing and visual arts. It’s free to [...]

Gustav Klimt’s paintings, like his ornate and gilded “The Kiss,” are seemingly ubiquitous, printed on posters, mugs, notebooks, T-shirts. But we don’t really know his work, said Lee Hendrix, senior curator of drawings at the Getty Museum, where “Gustav Klimt: The Magic of Line” opened on July 3 and continues through Sept. 23.
We can best [...]

ARENA 1 presents “Refocus: Multicultural Focus”, a photography exhibition organized by Sheila Pinkel. The exhibit, which opens on Jan. 7 with a reception from 5 to 7 p.m. and continues through Jan. 28, is part of the Pacific Standard Time cultural collaboration. Here are the details from Santa Monica Art Studios:
In 1981, the exhibition “Multicultural [...]

You may not know it, but most people are informally aware of Charles and Bernice “Ray” Eames’ aesthetic impact on the world. In “Eames: The Architect and the Painter,” producers Jason Cohn and Bill Jersey recount the lives and creative output of the Eameses, who are best known for their modern furniture (such as the [...]

The A x S Festival 2011 runs Oct. 1 through 16, continuing the Pasadena Arts Council’s biennial celebration of Pasadena’s unique heritage as a city of art and science. The festival, focused on the theme of fire and water, features two weeks of art, dance, music, theater, performance and conversation at venues throughout the city. [...]

Beginning on Oct. 1, “Pacific Standard Time: Art in L.A., 1945-1980” brings together more than 60 cultural institutions throughout Southern California to tell the story of the rise of the L.A. art scene and its impact on the art world. This colossal collaboration was initiated by the Getty Foundation, and the Getty Center has organized [...]

Austrian composer Joseph Haydn’s walking stick (c. 1800), an afternoon dress by Gabrielle “Coco” Chanel (c. 1937), Mae West’s platform heels (c. 1945-50), and the “Peacock Dress” by Alexander McQueen (commissioned by FIDM in 2010) are among the varied objects covering more than 200 years of fashion history currently on display at the FIDM Museum [...]

Here is yet another way to support the arts and help people in our community. The Armory Center for the Arts in Pasadena presents “Artful Solutions: Pathways from Homelessness,” an exhibit of work created by men, women and children in Armory art workshops, coordinated with the Pasadena Police Department’s HOPE Team, the Armory Center [...]

The Norton Simon Museum’s “Surface Truths: Abstract Painting in the Sixties” features work by artists such as Larry Bell, Thomas Downing, Helen Frankenthaler, Ellsworth Kelly, Frank Stella and Jack Youngerman. This exhibit, on display through Aug. 15, provides a rare chance to view 17 large-scale pieces from the Museum’s vaults.
The size of the canvases and [...]