5 design things to do this week: April 29 - May 5, 2019

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This week you can: help create green uses for underused public space; glimpse future fashions and support art students; celebrate the unveiling of Obama Boulevard; see films about art and architecture; and learn about Disneyland's colorful past.

1) AIA Los Angeles | small talks: LA - REIMAGINE. REUSE. RECLAIM.

The third installment of the small talks:LA series centers around the idea of communities as urban designers of their own neighborhoods. You can join small talks:LA for an interactive design workshop focused on rescuing and repurposing vacant or poorly-used city lots and the transformation of urban land into community green space. Located in LA State Historic Park - once the site of an old Southern Pacific train station and its own stellar example of repurposed space - this participatory workshop will invite attendees to share ideas, creativity and imagination towards designing a plan that not only can transform vacant lots into community green space but also potentially help solve pressing environmental problems. Everyone is welcome - this is a great opportunity for the whole family to get involved.

This event is leading up to the May 8th opening of the exhibition 2 X 8 Exchange at Helms Design Center in Culver City.

When: Saturday, May 4, 4 - 6 pm. You can stick around after the event for a gathering across the street at Highland Park Brewery.

Where: Los Angeles State Historic Park, 1315 North Spring Street, Los Angeles 90012

Tickets: Free

2) Otis College of Art and Design: Centennial Scholarship Benefit and Fashion Show

This signature black tie fundraiser offers a glimpse of the future of fashion as designed by Otis College fashion design students. Featuring more than 70 professional models in 125+ designs for men, women and juniors, the show is Los Angeles' largest fashion runway event.  You can join a creative crowd of leaders in fashion and entertainment and help raise money for vital scholarship funding for students of all departments, 80 percent of whom require some financial aid to achieve their educational goals.

When: Saturday, May 4, twilight show and dinner: 6:30 - 8:30 or evening show and party: 8:30 - 11:30 pm

Where:  Otis College of Art and Design,  9045 Lincoln Blvd, Los Angeles 90045

Tickets: General Admission $250+.  You can see ticket and sponsorship options and buy tickets here.

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3) Obama Blvd Naming Ceremony & Street Festival

Angelenos from all over our expansive city (and beyond) can come together in celebration of the official unveiling of Obama Boulevard. A 3 1/2 mile stretch of Rodeo Road (see image) - not to be confused with Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills - will be renamed in honor of the 44th president of the United States, joining neighboring presidential boulevards Washington, Adams and Jefferson. The all day festival of music, vendors and foods trucks will culminate with the 5 pm unveiling lead by civic leaders including LA City Council President Herb Wesson, LA Urban League President Michael Lawson, LA Mayor Eric Garcetti and more.

When: Saturday, May 4, 12 - 6 pm (unveiling at 5 pm)

Where:  Intersection of Rodeo Rd. & King Blvd.,  5001 Rodeo Rd, Los Angeles 90016

Tickets: Free

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4) UCBS's Arts and Lectures presents: Art | Architecture on Film

This new film festival on art and architecture features nine films that span distances both physical and ideological.  From Shepard Fairey's street art to Rem Koolhaas' skyscrapers, from contemplative Japanese architecture to Yayoi Kusama's hallucinatory polka dots, from the Bauhaus' utopian philosophy to Chris Burden's bodily assaults and much more, the festival explores people and projects at the forefront of human creativity, redefining boundaries and expanding the limits of what is possible.

The lineup includes: Bauhaus Spirit100 Years of BauhausBurdenKusama: InfinityObey Giant: The Art and Dissent of Shepard Fairey; double feature: Kochuu and Great ExpectationsLeaning Into the WindAndy Goldsworthy REM (with a special guest appearance by filmmaker Tomas Koolhaas); and Faces PlacesYou can find more information and showtimes here.

When: Saturday and Sunday May 4 and 5

Where: Paseo Nuevo Cinemas, 8 W De La Guerra St, Santa Barbara, CA 93101

Tickets: $8 per film (except Obey Giant, which is FREE); All Access Festival Pass $40. You can buy a pass here.  

5) Walt Disney's Disneyland by Chris Nichols

You may already be lining up to get an early view of "Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge," the highly-anticipated theme park area coming to Disneyland. As we look to Disneyland's future, let's take a trip back in time with local writer and historian Chris Nichols to remember how Walt Disney's dream came to change the entertainment world.

Nichols' new book Walt Disney's Disneyland recounts the period in the early 1950s when that dream came to life, thanks to a handpicked team of artists, architects, and engineers that transformed Anaheim's orange groves into an entertainment destination that has received more than 800 million visitors.

When: Sunday, May 5 from 4 - 6 pm

Where: The Valley Relics Museum, 7900 Balboa Blvd. Lake Balboa, CA 91406, Hangar C 3 & 4 (Entrance on Stagg St.)

Tickets: $10. More information here.