California, by design

The living room of the Eames House is on display at LACMA.

Lots of art isn’t found in museums, galleries or collections, but in things we see and use in our daily lives. Learn how California artists helped shape our world as the Los Angeles County Museum of Art presents “The Legacy of the California Design Exhibitions: Creating a Forum for Craft and Design” on Saturday, November 12.

The free, day-long program features documentary screenings, interviews and panel discussions with artists and curators of the influential California Design exhibitions, held at the Pasadena Art Museum from the 1950s to 1970s. These exhibitions are being revisited now in LACMA’s California Design, 1930-1965: “Living in a Modern Way.”  It’s part of the massive “Pacific Standard Time” initiative taking place in many venues around the county.

One of those venues is the Craft and Folk Art Museum, just down the block from LACMA, which offers a peek at California artists’ influence on crafts in a companion exhibit, The Golden State of Craft: California 1960–1980. Also on Saturday, the museum is hosting “Wired Up,” an educational event where participants can see how wire was used in the objects on exhibit, and try their hand at creating wire sculpture themselves. Admission is $5.

The LACMA design forum runs from 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m., and Wired Up is from 12:30 to 2:30 p.m. LACMA is located at 5905 Wilshire Boulevard, and the Craft and Folk Art Museum is at 5814 Wilshire Boulevard.

Posted 11/8/11