WE WENT BACK TO HOLLYWOOD
& Sparkletts heads to PLUM, oil in the LA River, and the interview we've been waiting for
SANCTUARIES LA EXPLORES THE QUIETER SIDE OF LOS ANGELES THROUGH DESIGN.
ROOTED IN THE BELIEF THAT SANCTUARY EXISTS EVERYWHERE, OFTEN HIDDEN IN PLAIN SIGHT.
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From the Field is an occasional Wednesday dispatch from Sanctuaries LA — what I saw, what’s worth knowing, and what’s coming up in the city.
Volume 004
The 89-year-old neighbor who invited us inside on the day of the MAK tour — who has lived in his Hollywood Hills home since 1969 — sat down with us for a proper interview last Friday.
The May gray sky came with us. That soft glow through his windows turned out to be the best light in the house. We got the photos. We got the stories. This one is going to take a minute to do right.
The overcast has been welcome. After last week's fires, the gloom feels like a reprieve. Apocalypse-era LA is never far.
Here’s what else has been on my radar.
UPCOMING
The Sparkletts Bottling Plant is headed to PLUM on June 9th — a story I’ve been following since April. The Cultural Heritage Commission voted unanimously to recommend Historic-Cultural Monument designation in April. Now it goes to the Planning & Land Use Management Committee, and if it clears, on to full City Council. The meeting is open to the public and public comment is welcome. We’ll have more details on logistics as the date gets closer.
Maceo Paisley is hosting another session of his Philosophy Club this Thursday at Vita Abstracta Gallery. The topic: the Philosophy of Interior Design. What does "good" design actually mean — and who gets to decide? Wine and snacks provided. 6:30 PM. RSVP. Spots are limited. I’ll be there.
Yoko Ono at The Broad, Music of the Mind opened May 23 at The Broad, presenting over 200 works across seven decades — her first solo museum exhibition in Southern California. The Broad’s olive trees on East West Bank Plaza have become Wish Trees for Los Angeles, inviting audiences to tie their own wishes to the branches. The participatory ethos and the “art lives in the mind” framing is very Sanctuaries coded. Free every Thursday evening from 5-8PM starting May 28.
Star Party Silverlake is partnering with Lauren Halsey's Summaheverythang Community Center for their next gathering. May 31 at 8:30 PM at Sunset Triangle Plaza. Telescopes, Don Brown Collective on music, and the particular relief of being reminded there's a sky above all of this. Go look up.
WORTH KNOWING
Last Friday, a telecommunications crew struck an underground crude oil pipeline near East Cesar Chavez and North Eastern Avenue. Oil entered the storm drains and the LA River. 2,400 gallons of crude oil spilled, and oiled birds were collected from the river by Saturday. A reminder that the apocalypse era doesn't only announce itself with fire. The land needs us to pay attention — always, not just in crisis.
Robin Jones has been posting about the OE parasite moving through LA’s monarch butterfly population. Healthy infection rates sit around 10%. LA is currently at 28%. The fix is simple: cut back a quarter of the milkweed in your yard and leave the cuttings on the ground — monarch caterpillars are often still on those shorn leaves.
Mouthwash Studio — the LA creative firm behind Café Tondo in Chinatown and brand work for Nike, Fender, The North Face — went back to their origins and released an updated Mouthwash Magazine this week. The studio started as a magazine before it became one of the more interesting multidisciplinary agencies in the city. The launch party was at Iconic Magazines in New York. Wish it had been here in LA instead.
Another sold-out Glass Hill show this Saturday — this one for the album launch of iTMRW by Arc Iris, the band that moved from Providence to LA in 2020 and built Glass Hill into one of the more essential outdoor music gatherings in the city. A recurring series, the same hillside, a community that keeps showing up. Very much on my list to feature.
NY Design Week wrapped last week. Several LA brands showed out — including Ceramicah launching their new collection. Alexandra Cadiz is on my list for a future profile.
Usal opened their wine bar, Annex House, this past Saturday with a cumbia night. I will be going soon.
Shelby x