https://singforhope.org 

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“We are excited to bring the Art Show back to Beverly Gardens Park this fall, but as we continue to monitor COVID-19 and the Delta variant, a smaller, more intimate event will allow us to manage the safety of our guests and staff,” said Brooke Putich, Community Services recreation supervisor and art show coordinator.  

Now in its 48th year, the Beverly Hills Art Show was reinvented in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The show took on a hybrid format in an effort to stay connected to the community and continue to offer the much-anticipated annual event that community members have come to expect and enjoy.  

“We offered an online art gallery exhibiting the artwork of 240 artists who provided pieces for sale; we had virtual Zoom interviews and chats with artists; and we provided small-pod master-class workshops held at Greystone Mansion & Gardens,” said Putich. “While live events were temporarily canceled to reduce the spread of COVID-19, we knew somehow the show must go on and we didn’t want to lose our Art Show followers so that when we did come back, they would still be with us, and we can’t wait to see everyone in person next month.” 

In addition to the 125 artist displays, guests will be able to enjoy food and beverages from several gastro-worthy food trucks.

The free show is produced by the City of Beverly Hills Community Services Department. Parking is available in city lots just south of Santa Monica Boulevard, adjacent to the show site.  For more information, visit www.beverlyhills.org/artshow or call 310.285.6836.  

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Beverly Hills currently hosts 16 upright pianos hand-painted by artists including Guest. Following their month-long stay in Beverly Hills, the pianos will go to underserved schools throughout the county, including Jordan High School in Watts, Vanalden Early Education Center in Tarzana, Montebello Gardens Elementary School in Pico Rivera, Dorris Place Elementary School in Elysian Park, View Park Preparatory High School in Hyde Park, and George Washington Carver Middle School in South Park.

The Sing for Hope Piano program began in New York City over 10 years ago and describes itself as the “country’s largest annual recurring public arts project” with the goal of democratizing music. The public can enjoy the pianos at Beverly Hills City Hall, Beverly Gardens Park, the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts, Will Rogers Memorial Park, La Cienega Park, and Roxbury Park.

Guest’s own piano shows characters and scenes from Buffalo Warrior’s story. In an interview with the Courier, Guest recounted the origin of Buffalo Warrior. Born into slavery and freed following the Civil War, protagonist Booker Cooper finds purpose by enlisting with the Buffalo Soldiers, the Black regiments formed after the war. Out on duty one day, Booker gets separated from his group, winding up at the bottom of an open grave of buffalo. There, the spirit of a sacred buffalo saves his life and gives him the power to fight evil.

Apart from his son’s request, Buffalo Warrior comes out of Guest’s prior work, his celebrated “Cotton Series” of paintings depicting enslaved Black men, women, and children. Guest painted the series on American flags spun from pure Georgia cotton. The resulting portraits are searing indictments by virtue of the deep humanity of the subjects. 

While Guest has never shied away from the thorns of American history, he has found that viewing slavery and its legacy through the lens of the superhero genre makes the subject more accessible. “It allows me to gently have a real conversation about what humanity is,” he said.

Guest loved superheroes growing up in the inner city of Philadelphia. But with decades to go before Hollywood broke ground with Black Panther, “the closest one to me was Hulk, because he was green.” After he left behind Philadelphia, Guest made his way to New York City, where he studied fashion illustration and design at the Fashion Institute of Technology. After that, he hopped across the Atlantic and worked in Paris as an illustrator for the haute couture magazine, Joyce. 

Guest had established himself as an illustrator by the time he discovered his idiosyncratic style of painting with the help of his good friend and legendary alto saxophonist Kenny Garrett. Garrett invited Guest to paint on stage at a show in Japan in 1997 as Garrett and his band played.

“The music started weaving together and I didn’t think anymore, I just started moving,” he said. In that moment, Guest began developing his characteristic style of long, gestural lines dancing across richly textured surfaces. 

Guest’s work now lives in the homes of Barack Obama, who owns a portrait of trailblazing Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall and himself, Oprah Winfrey, Angelina Jolie, jazz legend Herbie Hancock and filmmaker Tyler Perry. 

Guest saw an opportunity in Sing for Hope to enrich the lives of children that, like when he was growing up, make do with less.  “The thing that really got me in here was the fact that when I was in the inner city of Philadelphia, I was the only one of the three boys that enjoyed music and art. I had to witness the government snatching those programs out of my school at the time,” he said.

“I actually postponed my trip to New York to do this piano because I think it’s very important that this piano winds up in school and they see this superhero coming from this little boy that was in the cotton fields. That’s going to start to teach them their true narrative, not from a European perspective, but from an African perspective–the perspective of our true history that’s not so often told correctly.” 

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As protests roiled the city last summer, Sharona Nazarian was fascinated by the city’s installation of automated LED lights. Nazarian joined the Public Works Commission in January, inspired to help a department she said “supports the city’s backbone” and “interfaces with every component in the city.” 

Beverly Hills citizens are always looking around and asking how to make their city more efficient, beautiful, fun, and safe. Seventy-two of them have chosen to join one of the city’s 12 commissions as one way to accomplish that. Commission terms, which start off at two years and then extend to four pending Council approval, begin on either Jan. 1 or July 1, so a total of six new commissioners have been appointed since the start of the summer. The City Council has recognized new and departing commissioners at the beginning of each of its formal sessions.

With so much shuffling around, city residents may wonder who these commissioners are, what they do, and how to join their ranks. 

Commissioners are volunteers appointed by the City Council to “help bring about important decisions that can shape the future of the City, often using their impressive talents and expertise,” according to the 56-page City of Beverly Hills Commissioners’ Handbook. Commissions act as an “intermediary body between the public, city staff, and the City Council” by conducting meetings, public outreach, providing recommendations to the Council on pertinent policies, and, in the case of some Commissions, ruling on matters themselves. 

Not all commissioners go on to become council members, but almost all council members began as commissioners. Vice Mayor Lili Bosse served on the Planning, Traffic and Parking, and Arts and Culture commissions; Councilmember Lester Friedman served on the Traffic and Parking Commission; and Councilmember Julian Gold served on the Traffic and Parking and Recreation and Parks Commissions. Mayor Robert Wunderlich served as the city’s representative to the Metropolitan Water District, a one-person role that is included on the full list of Commissions, while Councilmember John Mirisch helped form the Cultural Heritage Commission and the Sunshine Task Force.

In recent weeks, Planning Commission Chair Andy Licht and Nazarian have announced they will run for City Council in 2022. 

Commissioners combine staff reports, public input, and their own expertise to offer the Council recommendations on everything from whether to extend the eviction moratorium (the Rent Stabilization Commission), allow rooftop dining in the Business Triangle (Planning Commission), or whether to recommend the comprehensive “Meet Me at Wilshire and La Cienega” development plan for the future Metro station (Traffic and Parking.) 

“For me it’s what some people call the greater good – I make my decisions based on what I think is best for the city,” Licht told the Courier. Licht was appointed as Chair in July, when it was his turn in a rotation that works similarly to that of the City Council. 

Licht has been part of the Planning Commision since July 1, 2016. Before that, he was part of the Traffic and Planning Commission, which he joined as the “next logical step” after years of work on various city committees and graduating Team Beverly Hills, a program educating residents on the inner workings of city government and services. 

For 18 months, Licht’s work on Traffic and Parking overlapped with the beginning of his term on the Planning Commission, which is unusual given that the current handbook says that commissioners must wait at least a year before serving on another commission. Other than that, there aren’t many barriers to apply. With the exception of the Architectural and Human Relations, all it takes to apply is at least two years of residence in Beverly Hills, and eligibility to vote in municipal elections, though registration isn’t required. After the city publicizes the openings through e-notices, social media, local newspapers, and at meetings, eligible residents fill out commission-specific applications, and then sit for an interview with the commission’s two Council liaisons, current Commissioners, and city staff. 

“I think the application process is amazing,” Schwartz said. “The application is supposed to be very detailed – you’re really supposed to give all your answers in that application so they can read it at their leisure and really understand where the candidate’s coming from, what they’re going to bring to the table, what they see as problems, what they see as great.” 

Generally the applications ask about ten questions, including reasons for applying, previous experience in the city, potential conflicts of interest, other time commitments, previous experience in the Commission’s area of interest, and opinions on issues pertinent to their Commission. 

The Traffic and Parking Commission, for example, asks about technical expertise on transportation issues, and major parking issues in the city, while the Planning Commission asks for familiarity with the city’s General Plan and how applicants “view the balance between the rights of property owners (business and residential) to develop their property versus the rights of neighbors who may be impacted by such development.”

During in-person interviews, each of the four interviewers ask only one question, and then deliberate after the interviews until a consensus is reached. Selection is competitive: during the most recent selections made in the summer of 2020, the Planning Commission selected one out of six applicants; Traffic and Parking Commission selected one out of five applicants; Public Works, one out of three. The Recreation and Parks Commission received fifteen applications for just one spot. 

Applicants are selected several months before their terms begin. During this time, Commissioners receive training on the Brown Act and the terms of the Commissioner Handbook. Any specific training on the subject matter is up to the Commissioner, though they are encouraged to watch all meetings and read through past minutes and agendas.

And then the real work can begin. Meetings are mostly once a month, and run similarly to Council meetings. They are moderated by the Commission Chair, and feature staff and guest presentations, public comment, and questions and comments from Commissioners. Commissioners typically receive staff reports about a week before meetings, and generally spend anywhere from 10 to 20 hours a month on Commission duties, according to those interviewed by the Courier. 

Commissioners can submit their own agenda items, or review items recommended by City Council or city staff (each Commission has two designated Council Liaisons and city staff person.) Often, Commissions meet before December to discuss their major initiatives for the next fiscal year. For the Planning, Design Review, and Architectural Commissions, most of the items that come before them are applications to be approved or denied, because these Commissions, unlike the others, are vested with “quasi-judicial” powers to render decisions that can later be appealed.) 

Nazarian said she helped suggest the recent Disposable Foodware Accessories Ordinance at her first meeting in January. On Aug. 12, the Public Works Commission voted to recommend to the Council an expansion of an existing limit on plastic utensils to include napkins, straws, condiment packets, and more. The Council will consider the Commission’s recommendation later in the fall.

Other initiatives are Council-led. “The commissions are really in place and tasked to have City Council give us projects and research things so they don’t have to do all of that legwork,” Schwartz said, before describing the anti-smoking ordinance she helped research while on the Health and Safety Commission. “We were commissioned by City Council to research making the smoking laws tighter and to possibly eliminate smoking in apartments and condominiums. And so we set out and did that for a very long time. And we unanimously recommended to City Council that smoking be prohibited in both apartments and condominiums. Even though for me personally it was a lot of research, and a lot of people came to our Commission and told us the reasons they didn’t think that was fair, we all had to come to our conclusions.”

Schwartz cites the smoking ban as one of her proudest accomplishments because she feels it made the city safer and healthier. Nazarian, a former Human Services Commissioner and Chair, is proud of helping to draft the Civility Statement that is now read before each Commission meeting and is hung in every room of City Hall, as well as helping start the intercultural Community Cultural Dialogue series. Licht is proud of the Planning Department’s 2020 mixed-use ordinance, which allows mixed residential and commercial uses in a new overlay zone, and the Hillside Development Ordinance regulating developments on hills.

“We are the eyes and ears of our community,” Nazarian said. “We are here to serve as its representatives.” 

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In a special performance at the Wallis, Sing for Hope co-founders and celebrated sopranos Monica Yunus and Camille Zamora sang “The Flower Duet” (“Sous le dôme épais”) from the opera Lakmé by Léo Delibes. The ceremony at the Wallis also saw actor and activist Monique Coleman receive Sing for Hope’s annual Art for All Award for her work advocating for youths across the world.

The Sing for Hope Piano program began in New York City over 10 years ago. The program describes itself as the “country’s largest annual recurring public arts project” with the goal of democratizing music. The public can find its pianos at Beverly Hills City Hall, Beverly Gardens Park, the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts, Will Rogers Memorial Park, La Cienega Park, and Roxbury Park. 

Following the month-long residency of the pianos in Beverly Hills, they will go to underserved schools throughout the county, including Jordan High School in Watts, Vanalden Early Education Center in Tarzana, Montebello Gardens Elementary School in Pico Rivera, Dorris Place Elementary School in Elysian Park, View Park Preparatory High School in Hyde Park, and George Washington Carver Middle School in South Park.

Each of the 16 pianos has been hand painted by a diverse group of artists, including established figures like Chaz Guest and younger talents like Yalda Sepahpour. Other artists include Adam Rodgers, Alexandra Nechita, Bendow, Çi?dem Akbay, Gooey, Helena Faitelson, Laishan Mui Ito, Laurie Tsou, Marisabel Bazan, The Miracle Project with GRoW @ The Wallis (a performing arts program for young people across the autism spectrum), Mireille Fournier, Ms. Yellow, Punk Me Tender, and Sheila Darcey. 

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Working primarily in oil, Sepahpour’s work exalts the feminine form and interrogates the female condition in rich, warm tones of ochre, peacock blue, and saffron sometimes juxtaposed with darker, heavier reds and blacks. Her line work is at times delicate and precise, and at others frenetic and bold, and appears on expansive canvasses standing 9 feet tall. 

She draws from her childhood in Iran, depicting nude and partially clothed women amid the natural and historical elements of her birth country. The women of her work often appear beside endemic animals such as Arabian horses, camels, and local endangered species like the Arabian Oryx and the Asiatic Cheetah.

Her particular piano will be at home in Beverly Hills, which has a large Iranian immigrant community. 

“Being so far away from home, it’s such a warm feeling to come here and see that the Iranian community is also here,” she said. 

While she has loved the opportunity to share Iran’s history and culture with audiences in the United States, Europe, and China, she feels excited to share her art with a community with a similar background. “It’s just nice to touch base with my home and my culture,” she said.

“You see stuff on the news and it’s just not everything. Until you go and see it, until you live there [and] you see the beauty of the country, as well.”

The Sing for Hope Piano program places artist-designed upright pianos throughout public spaces to encourage community engagement. The project will begin on Aug. 5 and run until Sept. 6, at which point the organization will donate the pianos to underserved public schools throughout the greater Los Angeles area. Beverly Hills will be home to 16 pianos located in areas including Beverly Hills City Hall, Beverly Gardens Park, the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts, Will Rogers Memorial Park, La Cienega Park, and Roxbury Park.

Sepahpour has lived an international life, growing up in Iran, going to school in Switzerland, and then moving to the United States in 2014. She speaks English, French, and Farsi. In 2015, she enrolled in Laguna College of Art and Design, and before finishing her studies, she was discovered by the French Canadian gallery Simard Bilodeau Contemporary and began painting professionally.  

A stroke of kismet put her on the gallery’s radar. Her studio at the time in Laguna Beach sat right across the street from the gallery. The owners, Eve-Marie Bilodeau and Guy Simard, visited Sepahpour one day as she modeled for another one of their artists. After seeing a 9 ft. mural-in-progress, Bilodeau asked if she could have it finished in time for the LA Art Show. One week and many late nights later, the piece appeared in the show under the gallery’s auspices and sold to the well-known street artist RETNA within 30 minutes.

A waiting list soon formed for Sepahpour’s work, which sold nearly as fast as she could paint it. Her pieces adorn the walls of Cult Gaia founder Jasmin Larian, “The Avengers” director Joe Russo, and an unnamed Eastern European president.(Sepahpour could not disclose their name). Her work lives across the world in the United Arab Emirates, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, Iran, and Canada.

About her success, she said, “You work hard, you put in the time, and just put it out there. And if it sells, it sells.” 

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“Our hearts break for the loss of our beloved Theresa Velasquez, her parents Angela and Julio, and everyone taken far too soon in the tragic accident in Surfside, FL,” a statement from Live Nation released on Saturday read. “Theresa was an impassioned leader at Live Nation, who elevated every project she was part of, at the same time breaking down barriers for women, and the LGBTQIA+ community. We will always remember and honor the impact she made and will miss her dearly.”

Prior to her time at Live Nation, Theresa charted a successful career as a musician in her own right, deejaying at large stages across the world. She started off deejaying at clubs in her native Miami before her natural charisma and musicality brought her to larger audiences and venues like Miami Beach’s White Party and Aqua Girl Miami. She spun for New York’s Electric Zoo and Mysteryland USA and performed at Barcelona’s Circuit Festival and Madrid’s SuperMartxe. 

“She was just so musically gifted, with an incredible ear and the ability to lift up a crowd with her sets and original tracks,” Rosslyn Luke, Theresa’s partner, told the Courier. “Her magnetic personality shone brightly from the DJ booth.”

Theresa founded her own music label in 2013, alongside Grammy-nominated DJ Hector Fonseca, named Audio4Play. The record label specializes in House music and features LGBTQ artists.

Theresa brought this same passion for representation into her work on the business side of the music industry. After earning a master’s degree in the music business from New York University, she went on to work at labels including Sony Music and SFX Entertainment. She eventually settled at Live Nation, where she worked as an executive for six years, championing projects by gender and sexual minorities. 

“She was also so proud of the multiple sponsorship deals she secured for Live Nation, which were massive, unique and extremely complex in structure,” Rosslyn said. 

For all of Theresa’s career accomplishments, Rosslyn described her partner as prouder of her relationships than anything else. “She was proud of every win, big or small, by the people she loved, and supported them unconditionally.  She never missed an opportunity to help, support, or champion someone and the incredible relationships she maintained are a testament to that,” she said. 

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Starting Aug. 5, painted pianos will be placed in iconic locations throughout the city for anyone to play or admire. While all the artists have been determined, the city is still finalizing a list of locations for the pianos, Community Services Communications and Marketing Coordinator Dana Beesen told the Courier.

After Sep. 6, the pianos will move from Beverly Hills to permanent homes in underserved public schools, hospitals, and community organizations across greater Los Angeles. 

In May, Sing for Hope, the Wallis, and the City put out an open call for local artists to submit proposals on the Sing for Hope website. Artists were selected in June by a volunteer panel of California-based art professionals and community leaders.

The selected artists are:  Adam Rodgers, Alexandra Nechita,Benow, Chaz Guest, Çi?dem Akbay, Gooey, Helena Faitelson, Laishan Mui Ito, Laurie Tsou, Marisabel Bazan, The Miracle Project with GRoW @ The Wallis (a performing arts program for young people across the autism spectrum), Mireille Fournier, Ms. Yellow, Punk Me Tender, Sheila Darcey and Yalda Sepahpour.

The 16 pianos will be revealed in an official Aug. 5 unveiling at The Wallis that will include a public performance. 

After a month of impromptu concerts all around town, the painted pianos will be distributed to participating institutions, such as Jordan High School in Watts, Vanalden Early Education Center in Tarzana, Montebello Gardens Elementary School in Pico Rivera, Dorris Place Elementary School in Elysian Park, View Park Preparatory High School in Hyde Park, and George Washington Carver Middle School in South Park. More participating schools and organizations will be announced soon. Some of these schools are already partnered with the Wallis on various projects, according to the Beverly Hills Community Services Department.

Sing For Hope, which has placed over 500 artist-designed pianos on the streets of cities across the world, has also donated many of those pianos to underserved schools and community organizations after their popup installation. 

“The arts play a key role in uplifting and inspiring people of all ages,” Camille Zamora, Sing For Hope co-founder, said in a statement. “As our cities seek to ‘build back better’ in the months ahead, human-centered solutions like the Sing for Hope Pianos reinvigorate our public spaces and remind us of our shared humanity. We’re honored to partner with The Wallis, the City of Beverly Hills, and the amazing LA-area artist community to bring joy to the streets this summer.”

“We couldn’t be more excited to welcome these wonderful works of art to our public spaces for all to enjoy,” Beverly Hills Mayor Bob Wunderlich said in a statement. “Sing for Hope Pianos innovatively brings together culture and community, two of the hallmarks of our city. We invite all to enjoy these creative works while celebrating incredible artistic talent in a world-class environment. We are delighted that these one-of-a-kind piano artworks will continue to be an artistic resource and source of joy when they are moved to schools and other community-based permanent homes following their public display.” 

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After eight months of “unplanning” and another six months of creatively staged virtual performances, coronavirus has now compelled the Wallis to build an entire outdoor theater that was completed in about two weeks, just in time for the first live performances in early June. Earlier this month,  the Courier was fortunate enough to attend one of its late-evening shows.

“We had a space in the Promenade Terrace there that in my mind was perfect for us to create and design an outdoor theater,” Artistic Director Paul Crewes told the Courier. “It was designed specifically for the COVID world. We produced a new play, ‘Tevye in New York,’ which was a one-person show, because rehearsing a company of six, or more than one person, was obviously going to be problematic. We obviously put these plans in place at a point when we didn’t really know what the world was going to look like in June, and we started to plan in December of last year of producing an outdoor theater space, and producing a piece of work for that space specifically.”

The stage is 36 feet wide, 20 feet deep, and cost the Wallis approximately $40,000 to build and maintain through Sept. 2, according to Crewes. Crewes came up with the concept of the stage and its surroundings, and worked with the Wallis’ in-house production team and Technical Director Matt Waldron on the final designs. 

Different theater and dance performances will continue in the outdoor space until Sept. 2, and in October, The Wallis will return inside for a full, uninterrupted season, following whatever COVID protocols are in place at the time. Crewes also said he’d like to bring the stage back next summer, though it might interfere with the many outdoor fundraisers and shows the theater normally holds in the Promenade Event Terrace. 

It’s been a long, hard road for The Wallis this past International Year of Unplanning. In March 2020, Al Pacino performed to a sold-out crowd at the indoor Goldsmith Stage. The very next day, they canceled all future performances, and two days after that, Crewes remembers stopping an international theater crew from getting on a plane.

The long, bleak road of “dismantling the season” had begun. The Wallis went dark from March until November, with only a skeleton crew keeping up the building. With no new revenue coming in, the theater relied on emergency grants, and cut half its expenses, which included furloughing half the staff.

But leave it to a team of creatives to get, well, creative. Once Crewes and his crews could go back inside, they staged a number of online performances filmed all over the building. “We tried to create theatrical events that were filmed, rather than films or TV,” Crewes said. “It was trying to capture the theatrical style, and remind people of the venue.”

In November, the theater hosted a virtual gala, which featured different works of art filmed all over its resplendent campus to “get people excited to see the building again.” That same month, they started a series of virtual “Sorting Room Sessions” concerts, filmed HD in a theater decked out like a nightclub. Virtual classes also started up again. Throughout the course of the rehearsals, actors and musicians were required to take weekly COVID tests, Crewes said. 

Crewes said his team is considering livestreaming performances in the future, because it can reach so many more people. But ultimately, before anything else, the Wallis is about live art, not live streaming. 

“It was very exciting to see people coming back people in the building,” Crewes said. “It felt like we were able to do what we’re supposed to do, which is create live performance, and let people see it.”

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Pictured from L to R: Liliana Filipovic, Arts and Culture Commission; Noelle Freeman, Next Beverly Hills Committee; Stephanie Vahn, Arts and Culture Commission; Councilmember Julian Gold; Mayor Robert Wunderlich; Vice Mayor Lili Bosse; James Goldcrown; Annette Saleh, Human Relations Commission; Kipton Cronkite, Next Beverly Hills Committee and  Councilmember Lester Friedman

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The Courier obtained an early preview, sitting down with artist Chaz Guest as he began painting a piano with his comic book character Buffalo Warrior, the first superhero “born in the cotton fields.” Guest explained that he got involved with Sing for Hope when he learned that the pianos would be given to under-resourced schools like those he attended in inner-city Philadelphia. He hopes that students see themselves and their potential reflected back at them in the fierce image of the Buffalo Warrior. “That’s going to start to teach them about their true narrative,” he said. 

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“I’ve always been drawn to projects that shake things up and look at physical spaces in a new way, which is where this idea began,” said Crewes. “We have this beautiful open space which gave us so much opportunity and possibility. Our own production team designed the outdoor performance space, which has a larger footprint than our Lovelace Studio Theater, and in two weeks we’ll have a fully staged piece of theater to share, followed by a month of dance and music programming in August.” For more information and tickets, visit www.TheWallis.org. 

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The June 16 conversation with Batalion was co-presented by Writers Bloc, the USC Shoah Foundation, and the Holocaust Museum LA. Writer and producer Nancy Spielberg conducted a question-and-answer session with Batalion, where she asked how Batalion first came up with the idea for the book.

“This book started 14 years ago, and honestly, it started by accident,” Batalion said. At the time, Batalion was living in London and reflecting on her Jewish identity as the granddaughter of Holocaust survivors and the connection between the Holocaust and intergenerational trauma. That curiosity and inquiry led her to the stories of Jewish resilience during the Nazi campaign of extermination–specifically, female resilience.

She first turned to the story of Hannah Szenes (pronounced Senesh), a Hungarian Jew who escaped the antisemitism of Budapest only to join the Allied Forces as a paratrooper to rescue Jews in Nazi-occupied Hungary. She was eventually arrested, tortured, and executed, but as Batalion recounted, “legend had it, she looked her executioners in the eye when they shot her.”

Szenes’s story left Batalion with even more questions, most pressingly, “Who chooses to go fight the Nazis? What is the psychology behind that? What motivates that kind of audacity, that boldness?”

Batalion offers her 576-page book as an answer to those questions–an answer that Grossman described as “one of the most inspiring and astonishing chronicles of collective courage I’ve ever read.”

“It talks about resilience, our humanity, it talks about overcoming the odds and being present in the world, defending what is right and yours to defend, but also being human and being very present in the world,” said USC Shoah Foundation Executive Director Dr. Stephen Smith. “And that’s demanded of us today in many different ways.”

Batalion said she relied primarily on personal testimonies like written memoirs, oral recordings, video recordings, and interviews with family members. “I was very, very conscious of accuracy and that is why I have all these footnotes, because I wanted to explain [that] I had to make a judgment as the writer, as the historian that…I’m going to go with this version of the events, which seems the most plausible to me, but there are other versions,” she said.

Many of the stories in the book possess a distinctly cinematic quality and, in the case of one of Batalion’s favorites, Bela Hazan, very well could have inspired a plotline in “Inglorious Basterds.” At 19-years-old, Hazan’s Poland came under Nazi occupation. Hazan, however, did not look like what the Nazis expected in a Jew; she was tall and blonde and could pass as Aryan. Working with the underground resistance, Hazan moved to a new city and adopted an identity as a young Polish Catholic woman. Hazan’s life, like others in the resistance, was a “life or death performance.”

“Every element of their life was performed,” Batalion said. “They were afraid to fall asleep on trains in public. What if they mumbled in Yiddish in their sleep? There was no moment where they could break character.”

Hazan secured a job working as a receptionist for the Gestapo, furtively stealing documents and passing them over to the resistance to make forgeries. But along the way, a Gestapo officer developed a crush on Hazan, which eventually lead to her capture.

Even in the Auschwitz death camp, “she maintains this fictional performance that she’s Catholic,” Batalion said. “The desire to be known for her real name is overwhelming for her but she cannot break character.”

The cinematic potential of the stories was not lost on one reader. “It screams movie,” Spielberg said. “Then I found out this guy with my last name is working on the film.”

She was referring to her brother, Steven Spielberg, who directed “Schindler’s List,” founded the USC Shoah Foundation and bought the film rights to the book in 2018. Batalion is currently co-writing the screenplay. 

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The city and The Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts have each contributed $50,000 to fund the Sing for Hope project. “We’re looking for donations and people that are interested in helping us with this project,” Commissioner Stephanie Vahn said. “Even if you gave $100 or $1,000, all of that accumulates into one piano. The more people that give, the more pianos we can have.”

After conducting site visits, Lester Vrtiak, Director of the Sing for Hope Pianos, and Adrine Ovasapyan, the city’s Recreation Supervisor, identified the following as potential locations: City Hall, the Beverly Hills sign, Beverly Gardens Park, Will Rogers Park, La Cienega Park, near the community center at Roxbury Park, Two Rodeo, and the Wallis Annenberg Center for Performing Arts. For Beverly Gardens Park, two options were presented: one to the right of Ringo Starr’s “Peace and Love” on Santa Monica Boulevard and Canon Drive, and a second option shaded under a tree near Tom Friedman’s “Takeaway” on Santa Monica Boulevard and Rodeo Drive. For Will Rogers Park, staff suggested that one piano be placed in a shaded area near a large palm tree, and the other near the steps of the Sunset Boulevard entrance.

“I know the business community is very eager for us to help welcome Beverly Hills back with a lot of vibrancy,” Rogers said. “I think the arts play a vital role in bringing this economy back. It’s one of the reasons why people want to come to Beverly Hills.” Rogers also underscored how the Sing for Hope piano program hopes to support performance artists who have been unable to work for a year. Her team is working on scheduling concerts with surprise guests as part of the arts programming.  

While commissioners endorsed the proposed locations, some hoped to see a larger piano presence in the business triangle. 

“This is our first pilot in Beverly Hills,” Vrtiak said, citing his years of experience with the program in New York City. “These are a lot of great ideas and I’m really enjoying hearing all of your suggestions. The goal is that this is our pilot, and in the future, when we return, we can learn from our locations and definitely expand and try new places.”

On June 22, the Recreation and Parks Commission will review the proposed locations. To learn more about Sing for Hope Beverly Hills, visit https://singforhope.org/beverlyhills/.

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This iconic community initiative originated in New York City. Since 2010, more than 500 artist-designed pianos have been placed on the streets of New York City and beyond. Participants in the project have included luminaries such as Julian Schnabel, Diane von Furstenberg, and Lance Johnson, as well as rising stars from Sing for Hope’s partner schools and community centers. 

A dozen (or more) acoustic, upright pianos designed by emerging and established Los Angeles based artists will be placed in locations throughout Beverly Hills, including the Beverly Hills City Hall, The Wallis, Beverly Gardens Lily Pond, Rodeo Drive and more. 

After the public installation, the “Sing for Hope Beverly Hills” pianos will be moved to underserved Los Angeles area schools, hospitals and community centers, where they will serve ongoing generators of dynamic arts programming. For more information and updates on the Sing for Hope Beverly Hills art installation and kickoff event, visit www.singforhope/beverlyhills. 

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The City of Beverly Hills will make its debut as a new member of “Make Music Day,” by hosting a number of activities:

Drum Circle at Roxbury Park 11 a.m.- 2 p.m.

Alan Bruni & The Drum Circle Facilitators Guild will facilitate the program and anyone can come and go and play as they please during this time. Some instruments will be provided and the public is invited to bring their own. A limited number of free drumsticks will be given out at Roxbury Park from 10 -11 a.m. 

Pianist at Beverly Gardens Park  3-6 p.m. 

A sing-along, play-along free flow piano event invites people to gather and sing/play-along. The public is invited to bring their own instruments as well as their voices!

Live-stream concert with singer-songwriter Bill Rotella 6-7 p.m. 

This Los Angeles area musician has played at the city’s Concerts on Canon. Visit www.beverlyhills.org/makemusicday to get access on June 21.

If anyone needs instruments on June 21, the city will distribute a limited number of harmonicas to those who register on the website. 

To honor the global music celebration, the Beverly Hills City Hall will be lit on the evening of June 21 with “Make Music Beverly Hills” artwork.  

The post June 21 is “Make Music Day” in Beverly Hills appeared first on Beverly Hills Courier.

Beverly Hills certainly understands the power of art, its ability to stimulate, entertain, and enhance. Long known for its public and private support for the arts, Beverly Hills is committed to providing access to diverse public artworks. “Throughout the years the city has established different committees and commissions to provide recommendations on the best way to advocate and support the Arts,” Director of Community Services Jenny Rogers told the Courier. 

“In the early 80’s, the Beverly Hills Fine Art Committee was established to support art exhibitions, performances and to formalize the installation of art and ornamentation throughout the city. In 1992, the City Council renamed the Fine Art Committee the Fine Art Commission. The Fine Art Commission developed, expanded, and promoted a notable public Fine Arts Collection to enhance the city’s cultural image and to provide a dynamic and enriching experience for residents, visitors and businesses in the city. The Commission helped acquire all the artworks that comprise the existing Fine Art Collection,” added Rogers. 

In 2019, the Fine Art Commission was expanded to include cultural arts and was renamed the Arts and Culture Commission. This Commission presently has the responsibility for acquiring and/or accepting donations or loans of fine art. Despite the setbacks of a tumultuous year, the city’s commitment to the arts has never wavered. The Arts and Culture Commission is currently “moving into projects that are artistically and culturally diverse to expose them in more temporary ways than before” to allow for a “truly fantastic summer of art,” Commissioner Stephanie Blackmore Vahn told the Courier.

The Arts and Culture Commission has created “Fine Art Walking Tours” that provide different walking routes throughout the city. Residents and visitors can partake in a self-guided tour of the Fine Art Collection, utilizing a downloadable map available at https://lovebeverlyhills.com/walking-tours.

This summer is the perfect time to experience the more than 50 notable works in the city. For those interested in more in-depth exploration, the Courier has compiled a guide to 13 of the most notable pieces. 

“Iron Root,” 2015, Ai Weiwei (1957-)

The orange-rust patina of “Iron Root” provides a natural appearance on first impression. But, the beauty and craftsmanship of the piece, modeled from the roots of the Pequi Vinagreiro tree from Brazil, soon gives way to a sense of uprootedness.

After spending time with local artisans and communities in Brazil’s Bahian rainforest, Chinese artist Ai Weiwei, internationally renowned and appreciated for his advocacy and artistic genius, became unsettled by the largely bygone way of life usurped by industrialization and modernization. He responded with “Iron Root” in various iterations. Ai’s artworks fuse an appreciation for the natural world with a purposeful political conviction, one so sharp that he was arrested by the Chinese government in 2011 amid a campaign against dissent. (Government officials raided his studio, detained him for 81 days, and held his passport captive for nearly four years.) “Iron Root” exemplifies Ai’s ability to create a poignant visual cue, luring one in through surface level appreciation and fascination then disclosing an intentional deeper message. The spontaneous nature of the roots placed within the polished city exudes a sense of displacement and ignites questions on the extent that progress creates environmental degradation.

“Iron Root” arrived in Los Angeles in August 2020 with a donation by Andy Cohen in honor of Richard M. Cohen. It is located at the corner of Santa Monica Boulevard and Crescent Drive. The Arts and Culture Commission hopes to host an in-person dedication later this summer when public gatherings are allowed.

“Endless V,” 2012, Juame Plensa (1955-)

Gleaming in the sunlight at seven feet tall, “Endless V” exemplifies internationally acclaimed Spanish artist Juame Plensa’s ability to weave together an intriguing idea of collective memory while alluding to the duality between the concrete and the intangible. In recent years, Plensa’s works have become increasingly abstract, as he unites characters from diverse lexicons to suggest a rich multiculturalism of society. “Endless V” empathetically appears lost in thought, yet his muscles are coiled and tensed as if ready to spring into motion, embodying both a dream and desire for future action. The figure in the work sits draped in a blanket of symbols and characters from various languages, providing visual dimension and texture through the conflicting shapes, which, despite their contrasting histories, are all made from the same material–a source of relation for all. “Endless V”, a work that could be endlessly pondered for its contemporary portrayal of humanity, creates a scene of solidarity and reflection amid the traffic on Santa Monica Boulevard. 

“Endless V” was acquired by the Fine Art Commission in 2012 for $350,000 and dedicated to the city in January of 2013. The work is in Beverly Gardens Park on Santa Monica Boulevard between Beverly Drive and Rodeo Drive. 

“Erratic,” 2007, Roxy Paine (1966-)

East of the Beverly Hills sign and Lily Pond, one can find New York born painter and sculptor Roxy Paine’s 7′ x 15′ stainless steel sculpture of a swollen, bulbous rock “Erratic.” To Paine, humans are an extension of nature, yet their impact on the natural world is one of transformation. In geology, “erratic” refers to stones and rocks that were carried by a glacier then left behind once the glacier melted, often used by scientists to determine ancient glacier movement. The Beverly Hills “Erratic,” created with the most contradicting material to the rock’s organic form, juxtaposes nature through the lens of the industrial process. “Erratic’s” glistening exterior creates an ominous visual interruption, reinforced as one realizes the rock is devoid of natural history like its geological inspiration. “Erratic” is a bit awkward, much like its message: society struggles to find balance between the natural and the artificial. 

“Erratic” has been situated in in Madison Square Park and Brooklyn Prospect Park before being purchased by the city in 2010. The sculpture is located in Beverly Gardens Park, North Santa Monica Boulevard and Rodeo Drive.

“Folded Square–Alphabet G,” 1980, Fletcher Benton (1931-)

Resting between motion and collapse in the middle of Beverly Hills, one can stumble upon “Folded Square–Alphabet G” by Fletcher Benton, one of the country’s most inventive and consistently challenging artists. Is it stable? Is it moving? The steel, royal blue sculpture boldly demands inspection as it creates its own language through sculpture with a sense of dynamism and ambiguity. Through a creative artistic evolution of the letter G, Benton addresses language and abstraction in an eye-catching way. The piece can be viewed from all angles, defining new constructivism through a fluid adaption of geometric form, while its unstable position abstractly reveals forms of nature, geometry, and human activity with a hint of humorous confusion.

“Folded Square–Alphabet G” was donated to the city of Beverly Hills by the Louchheim Family. The piece is located at the intersection of North Alpine Drive and Burton Way.  

“Indeterminate Line,” 1979, Bernar Venet (1941-)

 “Indeterminate Line,” resting south of Wilshire Boulevard on S. Beverly Drive, continues Bernar Venet’s, one of the most internationally recognized French artists, lifelong investigation into the mathematical and philosophical implications of the line. Visual tensions echo off the steel sculpture as it begins to coil in real space then abruptly stops, giving off a subtle notion that it could spiral at any point. Its neutral color makes the work possible to overlook, but, once acknowledged, the lively form starkly contrasts the angular, linear forms of the surrounding buildings, as if to bring a sense of unpredictability to the presumed stability of Beverly Hills. “Indeterminate Line,” a symbol of future potential, “opens a doorway to fundamental principles such as indeterminacy, chance, accident, unpredictability, chaos and, even, incompleteness,” shares the artist. 

“Indeterminate Line” was acquired by the city in 2015. The sculpture is located at 122 South Beverly Drive. 

“New Piece,”1966, Tony Smith (1912-1980)

Often cited as a pioneering figure in American minimalist sculpture, Tony Smith’s work is created with a mathematical precision. Though, his artworks are not as simple as they appear. Smith incorporates slight geometric discrepancies that forces the viewer to look beyond the object’s literal nature. “New Piece,” placed outside the entrance to Gucci on Rodeo Drive, appears as a simple, uninteresting, hexahedron–unproblematic by name and form. Most viewers would not think to take a second look. When viewed head on, “New Piece,” a bronze work painted in black patina, appears a non-threatening form, slightly tipped, shorter than most viewers, and tilted backward as if to avoid confrontation. Once viewed intentionally, the work possesses a potential energy, potentially preparing to pounce. The assumed simplicity of “New Piece” is its great illusion, not demanding anything and not calling unwanted attention. But, to those willing to investigate, “New Piece” creates a surprising sense of urgency as the brave viewer questions the work’s increasingly disquieting sensation.

“New Piece” is number four of six editions and was acquired by the city in 2018. It is located at 347 North Rodeo Drive. 

“Playground,” 1962, Tony Smith (1912-1980)

 “Playground,” the first Smith sculpture acquired by the city, is united to “New Piece” through the concept of a deceptively simple form representing complex decisions that demand examination. “Playground” steers away from the daunting visual complexity of “New Piece,” though. Instead, it toys with the concept of negative space to ignite a playful nature. At first, the five-foot tall, painted black, welded steel “Playground” is cold, as it appears hard, firm, and reminiscent of the integrity and strength of ancient architectural buildings. Yet, the irony of the piece rests in its use of simple, geometric negative space and its ironic name, requiring more than a passerby glance. “Playground” calls upon the child-like detective and participant in all viewers. Can I climb on this? Am I going to get in trouble? The scale, form, and name of this sculpture invites its unrestricted audience to explore by crawling through its tunnel and peeking over the top. “Playground” evokes the inner child, the curiosity and excitement, in all onlookers. 

“Playground” was acquired by the city in 2004. It is located in Beverly Gardens Park at the intersection of Santa Monica Boulevard and Crescent Drive. 

“Sisyphus,” 1985, Alexander Liberman (1912-1999)

Russian American legendary creative Alexander Liberman’s extensive eye for detail repeatedly defined and redefined contemporary magazine culture through his commercial experience at Conde Nast, Vogue, and Vanity Fair. Not wanting to limit himself to a single form of expression, Liberman created minimalist paintings and sculptures, predating the minimalist movement by more than a decade. 

Liberman’s monumental “Sisyphus,” facing the municipal court building, disrupts the median on Burton Way with its fiery, red-painted steel, profound size, and swirling points of tension against its urban backdrop. The title refers to a king of Ephyra, in Ancient Greek Mythology, who, punished by the gods for his deceitfulness, was fated to endlessly roll a boulder up a mountainside. Ironically juxtaposed by a nearby “no parking any time” sign, “Sisyphus” serves as a culmination of Russian Constructivism and American Industrialization through an avant-garde lens, which slyly offers an unspoken exploration of Greek mythology. Impossible to ignore, Liberman visually explores Sisyphus’ never-ending story through an arresting presence that makes viewers pause at its detail, hesitate at its shape, feel a bit confused, and think through its possible intention.

Liberman’s public sculptures can be seen in over 40 cities around the world, including three in Los Angeles. “Sisyphus” was donated by Murray Pepper, the husband of the city’s former mayor, Vicki Reynolds. The work is located on the median Intersection of Burton Way and Civic Center Drive.

“Takeaway,” 2018, Tom Friedman (1965-)

In a playful and empathetic manner, “Takeaway,” matches the hustle and bustle of Santa Monica Boulevard as a lively symbol of the strenuous demands many are defined by today. Since the early 1990’s, Contemporary American sculptor Tom Friedman has created a whimsical, heterogeneous body of work that playfully explores the relationship between reality and illusion. Using strenuous, labor-intensive methods, Friedman pushes the envelope of what is art, what is reality, what is satire and what is truth.

The nearly 14-foot stainless steel “Takeaway” portrays an individual running while precariously balancing an overload of take-out containers in equilibrium on his head. An ode to the click-culture of food delivery, the work uses a sense of excess to acknowledge aspects of the gig-economy prevalent in modern society. The figure’s urgency recalls a rushed yet determined mindset that’s seemingly become norm. “Takeaway” is easily enjoyed by anyone, both intellectually and aesthetically, and easily entertains viewers through its simple beauty and craftmanship, yet it leaves a possibility to dive into a deeper discourse about life and art. Perhaps an appreciation, perhaps a critique, the ambiguity of the work allows viewers to decide their own takeaway.

“Takeaway” was dedicated to the city on January 3, 2019. It is located in Beverly Gardens Park at the intersection of Santa Monica Boulevard and Rodeo Drive. 

“Torso of a Walking Man,” 1879, Auguste Rodin (1840-1917)

“Torso of a Walking Man” could easily be defined as a work in progress–a missing head, missing limbs, missing personality. But that is conceivably its strength. And a hallmark of its creator, widely considered the father of Modern sculpture, Auguste Rodin. The torso’s artistic details are incontestable, the rippling muscles that create dynamism, the strength of the form exuding a sense of potential, the opportunity it leaves for the viewer to define its purpose. Through reflection, “Torso of a Walking Man” becomes a man in progress, one of vulnerability with capability, though incomplete. Through this, debatably unfinished, masterpiece, one is reminded that criticism is, simply, an opinion and that no one defines an unfinished work of art apart from the artist himself. 

“Torso of a Walking Man” is displayed in Beverly Hills through a donation from the Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Foundation. The sculpture is located in City Hall at 455 N. Rexford Drive. 

“Unconscious,” 2010, Franz West (1947-2012)

Demanding you pause and take a seat, the towering, lacquered-aluminum sculpture “Unconscious” waves attention as it spirals out of Wilshire Boulevard. Inspired by Actionist and Performance Art of the 1960’s and 1970’s, Austrian artist Franz West’s artwork eradicates the divide between viewer and artwork by allowing viewers an opportunity to involve themselves within his work. Friendly and endearing, “Unconscious” is like a neighbor, as its three built in seats invite the passersby to rest, contemplate, enjoy. The sculpture’s impulsive, ribbon-like shape was created with unrestricted intention, as it seems to mirror the freedom of the unconscious mind, while its muted, blush-color and quiet motion creates a perfect space for singular or shared thought. The welcoming sculpture redefines artistic engagement and allows viewers a space to explore what minds do when thoughts navigate without bounds. 

“Unconscious” was commissioned by George Comfort & Sons and installed in 2010. It is located at the Northwest Corner of Wilshire Boulevard and Beverly Drive, at 9465 Wilshire Blvd.  

“Peace and Love,” 2019, Ringo Starr (1940-)

The impact of “Peace and Love” lies heavily in its artist. A giant peace sign sculpture could be considered cliché or redundant, but Ringo Starr is the epitome of a peaceful and loving artist. His artistic titles include singer, songwriter, drummer, collaborator, producer, actor, author, photographer, painter, and sculptor, and through each endeavor lies a single message: peace and love. 

Forever associated with unity and endlessly donned by Starr, the peace sign is to the idea of peace and love as Ringo Starr is to music: symbolic. Starr arguably personifies peace and love, as all his public actions exude positivity, enthusiasm, and playfulness, and are often closed with a verbal “peace and love” along with a flash of the hand sign. Standing eight feet tall and weighing over 800 pounds, Starr’s polished stainless-steel sculpture replicates the hand gesture he first adopted in the 60’s. Through its simple yet historic form, “Peace and Love,” endearing and approachable, makes one feel nostalgic about  the past and optimistic for the future. Its form shines amidst Beverly Gardens Park in a subtle yet unignorable message of positivity to passersby. “Peace and Love” plants a light-hearted reminder of hope and harmony within Starr’s home of Beverly Hills as a reminder that there can never be too much peace and love. 

“Peace and Love” was donated to Beverly Hills by Ringo Starr and installed in 2019. It is located in Beverly Gardens Park across from City Hall. 

“Love Anatomy,” Alexandra Nechita

 “Love Anatomy” calls upon admiration for the protecting, the disciplining, and the stable women in everyone’s lives. World famous Romanian American artist Alexandra Nechita, whose works have been collected by Oprah Winfrey, Ellen DeGeneres, Alec Baldwin, Whoopi Goldberg, Calvin Klein, and more, creates a unique artistic style as a source of storytelling. “Love Anatomy” reflects the love and appreciation she holds for the women in her own life as it inspires all to appreciate their own. The 8-foot-tall, thousand-pound, bronze sculpture is stylized through Nechita’s signature neo-modernist manner and abstractly creates a female form that simultaneously ignites appreciation and, lighthearted, familial fear. The figure’s strong stance and independent placing exudes an imposing sense of female authority, while the viewer feels a need to check if their shirt is tucked in. “Love Anatomy” seems to transform, to broaden and deepen, the whole idea of power; a woman no longer must disregard her femininity to portray strength but is instead empowered by her female nature that unites all. Having been so many years defined by bodies, Nechita’s work stands as an inspiring symbol of unity as it symbolizes female power and the love, expectation, and progress that it brings. 

“Love Anatomy” was installed on April 29, 2021. The work stands on the west side of the Burton Way median, facing three other existing sculptures (“Sisyphus” by Alexander Liberman, “World On Its Hind Legs” by William Kentridge and “Folded Square – Alphabet G” by Fletcher Benton). The Arts and Culture Commission hopes to host an in-person dedication later this summer when public gatherings are allowed.

Notable Art Exhibits This Summer:

“Ai Weiwei: Trace,” Now through Aug. 1

“Ai Weiwei: Trace” at the Skirball Center seeks to illuminate the power of resistance. Created in 2014, when Ai Weiwei was on house arrest in China, the exhibition highlights activists, prisoners of conscience, and global free speech advocates.  The exhibition is made up of portraits that were hand assembled from thousands of LEGO bricks. 

https://www.skirball.org/exhibitions/ai-weiwei-trace

“Banksy: Genius or Vandal” Sept. 22

Celebrate Banksy, the master of the streets, in Los Angeles. A world-renowned mystery man, the graffiti artist, painter, activist, filmmaker, and all-purpose provocateur was listed as one of Time’s 100 most influential people in 2010.   

https://feverup.com/m/98070

Additional reporting by Kathy Silverman

The post City of Style: Beverly Hills Shows Off its Public Art appeared first on Beverly Hills Courier.

Hello!?… It’s Lionel I’m looking for… Is that you?” The door to the trailer swung open and Lionel’s support staff, his stylist, hair and make-up artists, photographers, and assistants marched in, purposely focused, in anticipation of Lionel’s live national telecast of “American Idol.” Bruce Eskowitz, Lionel’s manager, who had been visiting with me, began to introduce me to Lionel’s team. And in that instant, the man I was looking for, the legendary Lionel Richie, walked in. 

Brandishing his beautiful bright smile, Lionel held out his arms for my hug as Bruce quickly introduced me to him and his fiancé, Lisa. The interview had been set weeks ago, but something instantly told me my greeting was authentic Lionel. His warmth and charisma come naturally. As if we were friends from the neighborhood, the comfortable conversation began to gush. Or was it “me” gushing over him. 

Lionel Brockman Richie, Jr. was born in Tuskegee, Alabama on June 20, 1949 to school teacher Alberta Foster Richie and retired army captain and Army System Analyst Lionel Brockman Richie Sr. Raised with his sister, Deborah, in the house across the street from Tuskegee University, music, religion, and academics were a big part of the Richie home. Lionel’s maternal grandmother, Adelaide M. Foster, a classically trained pianist and the choir director for Tuskegee University, sat regularly with Lionel at the piano, and encouraged him to attend the university’s musical events. His uncle, a big band player and arranger, stirred Lionel’s interests in jazz and provided Lionel with his first saxophone. 

Once becoming a student at Tuskegee University, Lionel focused his energies, beyond his academics, on music. During his freshman year, he entered a talent show in a group called the Mystics. They had great success and were a big surprise to the upperclassmen. A well-known group made up of seniors, called the Jays, took notice. When they graduated, the two groups decided to merge. The Jays and Mystics became one, calling themselves the Commodores. In their travels they played a great deal of the venues referred to as the “chitlin circuit”.

In 1969, while Lionel was still in college, the Commodores traveled to New York for their first studio recording with Atlantic Records. While there, the group’s manager arranged for the Commodores to play at a black lawyers’ convention where Suzanne De Passe of Motown Records happened to be. Immediately impressed, she brought the group to Motown and signed them to open for the Jackson Five in venues and stadiums around the United States. 

The Commodores’ first big hits, such as “Machine Gun” and “Brick House,” were known for their funky, danceable sound. Their first album debuted in 1974, the same year Lionel achieved his first success as a songwriter with “Happy People,” recorded by The Temptations. Lionel graduated Tuskegee University, that same year, with a Bachelor’s of Science in Economics. He married Brenda Harvey, his college sweetheart, the following year. 

Thanks to Lionel’s song writing and lead vocals on love ballads, the Commodores amassed hits such as “Just to Be Close to You,” “Easy,” “Three Times a Lady,” “Still,” and “Sail on.” In 1980 Lionel wrote and produced “Lady” for country singer Kenny Rogers, and the title song for the film “Endless Love,” which was recorded with Diana Ross. It earned Lionel an Academy Award nomination, five Grammy nominations, an American Music Award and a People’s Choice Award. 

In 1982, Lionel ended his association with the Commodores in a heartfelt break-up and released his first solo album, “Lionel Richie.” It sold more than two million copies, and featured the single “Truly.” His second album, “Can’t Slow Down” released in 1983 featured the “chart-popping” singles “Hello,” “Penny Lover,” “Stuck on You” and “All Night Long,” which he memorably sang at the closing ceremony of the XXIII Olympic Games. More success followed in 1986, with an Oscar win for his song “Say You, Say Me” for the film “White Knights,” and a nomination for “Miss Celie’s Blues” from the film “The Color Purple.” Another album followed that year, as did one of his most notable accomplishments. He co-wrote “We Are the World” with Michael Jackson. The single sold over 20 million copies, and the event Lionel mobilized raised more than $60 million for African famine relief. 

In the late 1980’s, Lionel slowed down for a desperately needed break during difficult times. His father passed away, and Lionel’s marriage to Brenda (with whom he shared their adopted daughter, Nicole) ended. The “king of love” pushed forward. He married Diane Alexander two years later, and together they had two children, Miles Brockman and Sofia, who were raised in Beverly Hills. The couple divorced in 2004. 

In the subsequent years, Lionel continued to write music, release albums and dazzle audiences globally. His tenth studio album, “Tuskegee,” in 2012, a compilation of 13 hit songs performed with country stars, brought him back to the top of the Billboard 200 chart. In 2015, his performance before 150,000 screaming fans at the Glastonbury Festival in England was hailed as “triumphant” by the BBC.

Accolades for Lionel have come outside the entertainment arena, as well. Three prestigious universities have awarded him with honorary Doctorates in music: Boston College, Tuskegee University and in 2017 the Berklee College of Music. He received the Kennedy Center Honors Award for his lifetime contributions to American culture in 2017. Lionel has been an advocate for Breast Cancer Research over the years. And in 2019, The Prince of Wales selected Lionel as the First Chairman of the Global Ambassador Group for the Prince’s Trust. 

It’s no surprise that Lionel has said that he’s “addicted to exhaustion.” As a businessman, in 2018, while on “Idol,” he said “Hello” to home décor, launching his “home collection” business. He has invested in “Heal,” a service that provides home-based medical care. Lionel thinks of it as an “Uber doctor” in the privacy of one’s own home. And his perfumery business, aptly named “Hello,” uses his creative sensory talents. Lionel’s newly-released scent has been recognized as the 2020 Fragrance of the Year, top five finalist, by the Fragrance Foundation.

Success in these new endeavors is hardly surprising, given Lionel’s accomplishments thus far. He has won four Grammy awards as well as being named the 2016 MusiCares Person of the Year. He has one Academy Award, 17 American Music Awards, a Golden Globe Award, the 2014 BET Lifetime Achievement Award, and the NAACP Image Award for Entertainer of the Year. He is executive producing “The Sammy Davis Jr. Story” for Paramount Pictures as well as the Robert Johnson movie for the studio, and a film for Disney Pictures that will feature Lionel’s songs. He begins his fifth year-long residency in Las Vegas this fall, at The Wynn. He’s back in the recording studio and has just completed his fourth season as a judge on ABC’s “American Idol.” Lionel is one of the world’s best-selling artists of all time, having sold over 100 million records worldwide. As a global icon, he is truly beloved.

Lionel, what made you fall in love with Beverly Hills?  

Well, I just realized over the years that when people would say, “where are you going on your vacation?” some people would reply, “I’m going to Greece,” or “I’m going to London,” or “I’m going to Tokyo,” or wherever they are going around the world. I discovered something about Beverly Hills; I don’t have to travel anywhere. Everyone is from everywhere here. It’s such a diverse place that if you want Greek food, we’ve got it. Italian food, we have it. We also have the greatest stores. And by the way, you will bump into everyone in the world at every restaurant in town. It’s the greatest place because it has a European vibe but in America. One corner has one vibe; another corner has another vibe. One house has one vibe; another house as another vibe. It’s a melting pot of the entire world, and it’s just the coolest place to live.

Growing up in Tuskegee, your grandmother played Bach throughout the house and spent hours with you at the piano. Can you tell the story of when she discovered you couldn’t read music? 

The first part of my life, I was trying to read music the honest way…the way my grandmother was taught. So, one day, she gave me an assignment in which she would play it for me once, then leave the room so that I could rehearse the piece. When she would walk back in, she would say, “All right, here we go. Let’s play it.” Well on this one particular day, I must tell you, I played the piece from beginning to end, flawlessly, but my grandmother looked at me and said, “You didn’t read the music.” And I said, “Grandma, I read the music.” She said, “You did not read the music.” I said, “Why don’t you think I read the music?” She said because I didn’t turn the page. It was at that point I realized I was not able to read the music. But I could copy whatever I heard. 

When did you realize that playing music by ear was not going to be an impediment?

When I joined Motown, and believe it or not, I realized shortly after that some of the greatest writers in the world – Marvin Gaye, Smokey Robinson – could not read music. Paul McCartney, Michael Jackson, Erroll Garner, the great jazz player wasn’t that good at reading music, but he could really play from his own head.  Once I got my own permission from them, I was able to experiment. Yes, they could play the piano, but they couldn’t do all that orchestration.  That’s when I realized, I can do this. And, of course, hallelujah! It worked.

You were raised in the Deep South during the 1950’s and 60’s where racism was rampant. When did you become aware of the oppression, injustice and inequality around you?
When I was growing up in the South in Tuskegee, Alabama, I was basically living on a college campus. As kids growing up, we called it the bubble because we didn’t really know what was going on outside of our bubble. It wasn’t until probably the March on Washington on Walter Cronkite in New York on TV when I realized it was happening in Montgomery, Alabama, 38 miles away from Tuskegee.

Your parents worked hard to shelter you from the brutal realities. Why?

I have to tell you, I now understand when the Klan was marching through Tuskegee, in my early years. My parents put us to bed early. So, we never knew that they were marching. Anything that happened in terms of racism, they kept it from us. For the longest time we couldn’t figure out why our parents were shielding us from this. As we got older, I asked my mom and dad why they kept us out of that. They said, “because we wanted you to grow up knowing there were no limitations. And if we told you what was happening, and what people thought of us, then it might limit your goals as to what you would pursue in your future.”

Today, 50 plus years later, what advice do you have for all of those out there who are facing obstacles?

The hardest person in the world to get to know is yourself.  The hardest person in the world you have to trust is yourself. The hardest person you have to believe in is yourself. And the most important person to meet, if you meet no one else, is yourself. All the world needs is your special understanding and interpretation of you. 

As a world-famous parent, which has its built-in challenges, you often look back to the lessons you learned from your parents. Your father’s advice and teachings made an indelible mark on your life. Can you share some of his words that still resonate with you today?

He would say to me, over and over again, “aptitude plus attitude determines altitude.” If you are just smart, and you have all the aptitude and nothing else, you go halfway. If you just have the greatest attitude in the world but no aptitude, you go halfway. But if you have both of them together, the sky’s the limit. If you have to have only one, having the right attitude will put you in a higher position because people will like to be around you so much. 

Another one… I kept asking my dad, “I don’t understand why you’re so happy. I’m playing back your life and you’ve had a very difficult life. I don’t understand why you’re just so happy every day?” And he said, “Son, if you lose your sense of humor, they have you.” 

They have you? 

You can lose your house; you can lose your money; you can lose friends and family. But if you lose your mind, it’s over. The only way to really survive in this world is to have a sense of humor. And I have found that over the years, that is the only thing that has gotten me through some very difficult times. In the face of complete disaster, I would think about how my dad would smile through this situation. And the answer is, it’s recoverable. If you understand that life is a challenge, life is painful, you can overcome obstacles. It was George Washington Carver who said, “Great men and women are not born. They were just individuals faced with a problem and overcame it.” I’m using that as my mantra as I go through life. 

Community means everything to the City of Beverly Hills and to the Courier.  Please tell us about the community in Tuskegee.

I refer to my growing up as the village. But really, it was a university campus where it was a melting pot. We had German professors, Czech professors, French professors, and it was just every imaginable kind of doctor and lawyer, etc. Segregation was all around us. Still, it was a melting pot. I use that association when thinking about Beverly Hills. In Beverly Hills, we have almost that same sense of community where we have just about every imaginable walk of life. It’s all religions and all cultures. It’s this incredible community of people. The world is in conflict, but we live in Beverly Hills where everyone is from wherever. You can actually come to Beverly Hills and get the best education of your life in terms of what the world is like.

The people in our community share a love for our city and enjoy its connectivity. My bet is you know your neighbors. 

I do know my neighbors, and the people across the street. Especially during the pandemic, it’s become a really fun thing.  I’ve gotten closer to my neighbors than I’ve ever gotten before because I’ve never been home for a year and four months. So, I mean, we’ve had all kinds of behind the mask kind of conversations, and I’ve gotten to know them even better. We have different views on things, but also, we have so much in common. 

Who were your mentors? Who have you ‘idol’-ized along the way? 

Tuskegee, Alabama had some very famous people. I was very blessed. I didn’t realize that. Those guys walking around in those Airforce uniforms…those were the Tuskegee Airmen. As time went on, I realized, oh my God, Chief Anderson. Well, that was Charles Anderson’s father. He was the one who flew Eleanor Roosevelt in the first flight to see whether black pilots could actually fly a plane. She went up with Chief Anderson, Charles Anderson’s father. But he was Chief Anderson to us. 
Even my grandmother and Mel Dawson, who wrote the Negro Symphony. He was just an amazing arranger, conductor, writer, and composer. He would come by the house talking about music with my grandmother. She also knew Booker T. Washington and George Washington Carver. 

My family was a member of the Episcopal Church, and Father Vernon Jones had a huge influence on my life. He managed to get all of us to be interested in the lessons of the church by putting a ping pong table and a pool table in the undercroft of the church. Every Saturday we would go by the church, and he would teach us how to be altar boys and at the same time, we tried to beat him at ping pong and pool. It’s how he mentored us in terms of paying attention to certain things in life. I was very blessed. 

And once you left Tuskegee?

Outside of Tuskegee I must tell you, Quincy Jones, Sidney Poitier, and Gregory Peck [have been my mentors]. I happened to run into some wonderful, wonderful people when I first came to Beverly Hills, and they gave me solid advice on how to maneuver, and how to navigate the world of entertainment and the world of celebrity. Clarence Avant, Dick Clark, I can call off so many wonderful people. They were just there for me. And then of course, there’s a grandeur to have been able to have known Nelson Mandela. 

Did you meet him in South Africa or in America?

I met him in America. When we first got word that he was coming to America, (a group of us) were all given assignments and it was funny – my assignment was to make sure that he had suits. So, I went shopping at Neiman Marcus with Winnie Mandela. I remember we were running around the store and this was the first time I ever met her. This sounds like a dream. But at the same time, it was such an amazing moment to know that this man just spent all this time in prison, and he came out, reunited with his family, and then came to L.A. and to New York for the first time. And we had something to do with it. 

He whispered something in your ear that brought you to tears. What did that teach you about humanity and humility?

First I was in awe of being in his presence. It just fascinated me to know that a man can spend that much time in prison and come out and have his sense of humor…and have the wherewithal to say that it was a teachable moment, instead of a bitter moment.

He whispered to me, “I want to thank you for your lyrics, because it got me through many years of isolation in prison.” The fact that he had heard my music, that he knew my music, and then for him to tell me that I contributed something to his health, mental health, whatever the case may be, just made me feel so worthy of being a human being and a songwriter. I was reduced to tears. I just didn’t realize I touched somebody so isolated from the world for so long.

On “Idol” you have said, “Singing is singing. Moving people to evoke an emotion is everything.” Did you make a conscious decision at one point that you were going to sing about love? Or did it naturally evolve from the hopeless romantic that you are?

Let me just establish the fact that I am a hopeless romantic. I am in love with love. There is nothing else that matters or survives. We come to this planet in search of love. We only feel good when we are loved, or we are in love with something or someone. It is just a natural thing of life. “I Love You” are the only three words that never go out of style. And so, it doesn’t matter whether you are a rock star, or a stoner or a gangster, or a politician, not to put that in the same light [laughs], but the point is sooner or later, you’re going to tell someone “I love you.” Three corny words. The simplicity of writing about things that matter, matters of the heart…it’s timeless. I miss you; I want you; I need you. I’m lonely. I lost you. I want you forever. I always figured if I could get my music played at a wedding, I’m halfway there.

“Life begins after you step out of your comfort zone” is another one of your wise quotes, and one that truly resonates with me. Tell us about that shy young band member who was coerced to kiss a strange girl.

Well, I was unlike the guy you see and know now. I was painfully shy when I was younger, and I wanted desperately to be in this band, the Commodores. Everything was going along very well as the horn player, until I found out I was going to be a lead singer. I was writing the songs so I started spending more time up front as a lead singer. It was just Clyde, the drummer, and myself. The keyboard player was Milan Williams. I was the saxophone player. I prefer to say I was the best saxophone holder that ever lived. 

When I got up to the front, remember very shy, I kept ignoring the girls. And so, members of the band kept screaming at me, “Kiss the girl in the front row!” And I kept saying, “I don’t know the girl in the front row.” Remember now, in Tuskegee, Alabama, you don’t just grab girls and kiss them. The guys in my band were older than me and had been in other bands before…I’ve never been in a band before. So, I’m up front, and finally, I bend over and I kiss the girl in the front row. The entire room screamed. And then the next problem they had after that was “Lionel, stop kissing the girl in the front row and sing the song” [laughs]. 

What about the unexpected pairing of you and Kenny Rogers? You were a saxophonist in a funk band and a budding song writer, and he was a country singer? Your power ballad, “Lady” became a record-breaking hit for him. It also helped launch your solo career. Please tell us more about this “gruesome twosome” and about this lifelong friendship.

It was the most unlikely friendship, but now that I look back, probably the most divinely orchestrated brotherhood that could ever happen in life is the story of Kenny Rogers and Lionel Richie.
I got a phone call from Kenny saying, “I would like to have one of your ballots.”  21 million copies later, it was just the greatest thing that ever happened since sliced bread. From there, we became buddies.  But he lived here and I lived in Alabama. He kept trying to convince me to move out here and I kept saying “No, I like living in Alabama.” So finally, I was in his guest house in the Knoll, (an iconic property in Beverly Hills) and I said “I’ll just stay in the guest house here in Beverly Hills.” I was as happy as can be paying little money and making a lot of money, and writing “Hello,” “All Night Long,” etc.  That was a magical house. Then Kenny sold the house to Marvin Davis, after I was the one who showed Marvin the house because I was in the guest house working on the songs. So I made a deal with Marvin Davis, “I get to stay in the guest house; I come with the house.” That was our joke. Marvin bought the house and I stayed in the [guest] house until finally one day he said, “I think it’s time for you to buy your wife a house…I think you need to basically get out” [laughs]. 

Kenny and I, from that point on, became this gruesome twosome. I was there when his kids were born. He was a brother that I never had. Every kind of experience that I was about to go through in my life, he had been through the same thing. When I was leaving the Commodores, he left the group, The First Edition. Every time I would go through a certain period of my life, he would sit down and tell me that this is what it’s going to feel like, this is how you should deal with it, etc. He basically was a mentor through that whole period of my life. I must tell you, there has never been a person that was more suited for my Southern roots. He’s from Houston, Texas; I’m from Tuskegee, Alabama. And for some weird reason, I’m still going back to look at my family history, because I know we were related somewhere along the line. He was just the perfect friend and we had so many years of laughter to the point where, no matter where we were, I would walk on stage and we had the greatest impromptu show of life. I miss him to this day; I really do miss him. 

The Commodores were described as the “Black Beatles” from Tuskegee, but eventually the family broke up. You have described it as a challenging period. How do you reflect on it now?

Well, you just touched on a lot of things. The Black Beatles, we didn’t give ourselves the name. We played a show in Germany and in that show was the likes of AC DC, Queen was closing, and the Commodores were the opening act. Now, of course, what the heck are we doing on this show? But anyway, it was a disastrous show and just before we went out on stage, we did an interview backstage. In the interview they said, “who are you guys?” and we said “we want to be the Black Beatles. We’re going to take over the world.” When the article came out it said, “Look out world, the Black Beatles are coming.” That’s the greatest thing you could ever write. We only had two hit records. So, it was just hilarious. 

But the break-up was very difficult because everyone saw us as a group. These were brothers I never had. In fact, I was saying every day “Thank God for the Commodores because then there would be no Lionel Richie.” And that’s the truth, because they gave me the opportunity to sit in this little cocoon, and just take it all in and grow and discover. From that little quiet kid who was shy on that university campus in that first talent show together to then going to Madison Square Garden.

You took a break from the entertainment industry in the late 1980’s. What did you learn during that time off? 

That break was not a break I was expecting. Truthfully, I didn’t take that break because I said I think I need to take a break. That break was like a divine guidance break.

My father called me on the phone and said, “I’m going for a doctor’s exam and I want you to come and go with me to check this out.” You know, my dad was a military guy; I never saw him sick a day in my life. So, for him to ask me to do this and to be with him, I thought, oh, this is pretty serious. From that moment, I found that it was a slippery slope. 

And what I thought was going to be a short period of time for him to recover and to go back, it ended up being two and a half years to his death. And then from there, I didn’t want to start the album and miss that opportunity to be with him. During this period, I also went through a divorce and throat surgery and everything else. It was a terrible period of my life. But it was very interesting…it gave me an opportunity to do something I’d never done before, which is stop and reflect. I look back on it now as probably the best thing that could have ever happened because if I had kept going at the speed I was going, I would have probably crashed and burned. There’s just no way to keep up that kind of pace and not hurt someone whether it be mentally, physically, or emotionally. Something was going to break. 

But I got to learn from my parents a lot more. I found out that I had great friends not only in Beverly Hills and in Los Angeles, but also in Alabama, because everyone was reaching out. And so, it gave me a sense of community again. People that knew me in Beverly Hills, but I didn’t think they thought enough of me that we were friends…they came forward and helped me through a very, very painful period. And so, it was one of those moments that I look back on. Yes, it was not pleasant in terms of what I was going through, but yet,
I think it did a great deal to mold me into who I am today. 

“We Are the World,” was one of your crowning achievements. You co-wrote the song for more than 40 of the biggest musical stars of the day for African Famine Relief. Please share the challenges leading up to this once in a lifetime accomplishment. 

This question right here could probably take three volumes of books; I am going to try to consolidate it as best I can. This was a monumental task of really not knowing what we were biting off. 

Harry Belafonte called on the phone and said, “we have a situation…I go to Africa every year, and we have a crisis. We need a

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In connection with the program, Sing for Hope has announced an open call for visual artists to design and create the pianos artwork. Local artists are encouraged to submit their proposals at singforhope.org for consideration by the volunteer adjudication panel of California-based art world luminaries and community leaders. 

The Sing for Hope Pianos will be displayed throughout parks and public spaces in Beverly Hills. Locations will include the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts, Beverly Hills City Hall, Beverly Gardens Park and Rodeo Drive. 

Since 2010, more than 500 artist-designed Sing for Hope Pianos have been placed on the streets of New York City and other locations. Leading figures such as Julian Schnabel, Diane von Furstenberg, and Lance Johnson have participated. After the public installation, the Sing for Hope Pianos are moved to permanent homes in underserved local schools, hospitals, and community centers, where they serve as ongoing generators of dynamic arts programming. Future homes of these Sing for Hope Pianos in Beverly Hills will include some of The Wallis’ school partners in the Greater Los Angeles region. 

For more information on Sing for Hope Pianos, visit https://www.singforhope.org/pianos/. 

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The galleries have been redesigned in collaboration with Frank O. Gehry and Associates, and the presentation includes new interpretive texts, six thematic audio tours, a 30-minute film drawn from LACMA’s exhibition archives, and a collection soundtrack. The new presentation is curated by Stephanie Barron, Senior Curator and Department Head of Modern Art, and Katia Zavistovski, Assistant Curator of Modern Art.

The installation is an opportunity to rethink how we display our collection and bring together longtime favorites with works that have never been on view, and we have a rare chance to incorporate works from other departments while we are in the construction phase for the David Geffen galleries,” said Barron. 

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Both Shim sisters will perform in newly choreographed numbers. Sixth-grader Elle will dance in “Les Petites Étoiles,” Mozart’s charming piano composition of “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star,” a new piece choreographed by Associate Artistic Director Caprice Walker and featuring the pre-professional performance company’s younger dancers, to be accompanied by live piano. 

Jenne Shim, in the 8th grade, will perform in the classic “Dance of the Fairies” from “Sleeping Beauty.” The “Dance of the Fairies” is based on Marius Pepita’s choreography, staged by Aimée Gaudio, and supported by Tchaikovsky’s melodic score. Jenne is also performing in Michele Bachar Mendicelli’s lively jazz piece, “Swing!” featuring the stylings of The Glenn Miller Orchestra, Tony Bennett, Lady Gaga, Bette Midler, and Big Bad Voodoo Daddy. 

Westside Ballet has persevered throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, holding both online and limited in-person classes. An outdoor dance studio was constructed in early Fall 2020. The school’s indoor studios offer classes at 50% occupancy, with plans of 100% occupancy come June. 

The Shim sisters will take part in intensive programs with special New York City Ballet guest teachers this summer. For more information visit westsideballet.com.  

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With Ai Weiwei’s “Iron Root” sculpture fully installed, staff has begun looking through the gathering and safety guidelines, to plan and coordinate the dedication ceremony with UTA, Ai Weiwei, and the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts. 

“I’ve got some great news for Tom Friedman,” Patty Acuna, Interim Assistant Director of Community Services, said. Friedman’s piece, “Takeaway,” is a 12-foot-tall stainless-steel sculpture of a man with takeout food boxes balanced on his head in Beverly Gardens Park.

“We received a final bid or quote, and it’s been approved for the landscape work for the Friedman. Work is scheduled to begin on May 15 and be completed by the third week of June.”

On April 22, the Arts and Culture liaisons met with Commissioners regarding the request to remove and replace the existing ceiling lobby mural at 9242 Beverly Boulevard. The existing mural by Terry Schoonhoven will be replaced by “Whistleblower” by artist Pae White.

 “Representatives requested for the amendment of the Beverly Hills municipal code to authorize the installation of Pae White’s new art in lieu of making a removal payment to the city’s public art fund,” Aida Thau, library clerk for the city, said at the meeting. “This amendment would be only applying in situations where there is an architectural feature in the building that is triggering also a new fine art obligation.”

“They also asked for the property owner to indemnify the city for any possible claims that they may arise from removal of the mural,” Thau added.

Council liaisons, Vice Mayor Lili Bosse, Councilmember John Mirisch, recommended to move forward with the request, and the item has been added to the June 1 City Council meeting. The next Arts and Culture meeting will be held on June 8 at 10 a. m. 

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Eight highly skilled artists will lead intimate Master Class workshops in watercolor, drawing, mixed media, architectural and landscape photography, ceramics and jewelry making. Space is limited, so early registration is encouraged. Artists will have artwork on display for purchase as well. 

“We are excited to showcase a few amazing Art Show artists in Master Class workshops,” said Brooke Putich, Art Show Coordinator and Arts & Culture Recreation Supervisor for the City of Beverly Hills.  “The public will also have a chance to wander through various booths featuring art from local artists.”

In addition, beginning Monday, May 10, Beverly Hills Art Show Online will feature interviews with artists, painting instruction and more. The online gallery will give people an opportunity to view artwork from over 200 artists from around the country. The gallery will feature artwork in painting, sculpture, watercolor, photography, mixed media, ceramics, glass, jewelry, drawing and printmaking.  Artists will have artwork for purchase.  To access Beverly Hills Art Show Online, visit www.beverlyhills.org/artshow.   

For questions about the workshops or for more information, call the Community Service Department’s Arts & Culture Division at 310-285-6830. 

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When live-audience concerts can be safely resumed, the winners will be awarded performances in the 2021-2022 concert season. Individual musicians and ensembles are encouraged to apply. Eligibility requirements and an online application is available at www.beverlyhills.org/auditions. 

Audition Requirements:

Auditions are open to professional musicians from age 16. Each candidate must be able to present a one-hour recital program without intermission.

At least two contrasting pieces are required for the audition; for example Classical & Romantic periods. Must include a short virtuoso selection (if the virtuoso selection is from the Romantic period that satisfies both requirements). It is recommended to offer 4-5 compositions for the audition (including some from the applicant’s proposed recital program), as the committee prefers to see a wide selection and may request short “samplings.”

Applications must include a separate repertoire list, a suggested recital program and a biography.

Selected artists will be notified by e-mail/phone with confirmation/venue of the recital dates by May 1.

Applications are due by April 19.  In consideration of the hardship musicians are facing due to COVID-19, the application fee is waived. 

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Born in Romania, Nechita began drawing at age two and held her first exhibit at age eight at the Los Angeles Public Library. Dubbed the “Petite Picasso” for her mastery of color and form, she has exhibited worldwide and amassed an international following. In 2008, Nechita graduated from UCLA with a degree in Fine Arts. She now lives in Los Angeles. 

One of five towering figure sculptures produced by Nechita, “Love Anatomy” depicts a stylized female figure in the artist’s signature neo-modernist manner. 

“Love Anatomy,” said Art Critic Peter Frank, is a “splendid example of Nechita’s human optimism.”

Work on the installation site commenced this week and coincides with the redesign of the Burton Way median. When completed, the location will incorporate drought-tolerant vegetation, bioswales and a storm water retention site. From now through April 30, “Love Anatomy” will cause minimal noise and traffic impact from equipment and crew working Monday through Friday, from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. On April 22, between 7 a.m. and 4 p.m., the city will implement traffic control on the east bound side of Burton Way between North Crescent Drive and Foothill Road for the installation of the sculpture. 

Once installed, “Love Anatomy” will be viewable until landscape redesign takes place. Thereafter, all the sculptures will be covered for the approximately one-year construction period. For more information about Public Art in Beverly Hills, visit www.beverlyhills.org/publicart. 

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The event included remarks by Academy Museum Director and President Bill Kramer, Academy Museum Chief Artistic and Programming Officer Jacqueline Stewart and the celebrated, Pritzker Prize-winning architect Renzo Piano, who designed the structure. Academy Award-winning actress and Academy Museum Trustee Laura Dern led much of the virtual tour, with guests such as Guillermo del Toro and Spike Lee appearing as well. 

New Landmark, New Mission

The country’s largest institution devoted to the arts, sciences, and artists of moviemaking makes its formal debut on Sept. 30, 2021. Piano’s design has restored and revitalized the iconic Saban Building – formerly known as the May Company building (1939) – at the corner of Wilshire Boulevard and Fairfax Avenue. Together with a soaring spherical addition, the new museum will contain 50,000 square feet of exhibition spaces, two state-of-the-art theaters, an education studio, restaurant, retail store, and public spaces. 

Movies will come home to the new museum. And they will do so in an immersive, dynamic format befitting a medium that has captured the world’s imagination since the latter part of the 19th century. The collections and expertise of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences serve as the building blocks of exhibitions and programs. As moviemakers tell stories, so will the museum. The history, technology, artistry, social impact and even controversy surrounding films and filmmaking is on display. Cinematic icons, such as the sole surviving full-scale model of a shark (“Bruce”) from Jaws (1975) will undoubtedly appeal to the masses.

Pre-Opening Virtual Programming

During the presentation, the museum announced a series of virtual conversations, screenings and educational programs to coincide with the 93rd Academy Awards on April 25. They are meant to be prologues to the museum’s core exhibition, “Stories of Cinema.” Shared voices of renowned film artists will explore the art, technology, history, and social impact of the movies. When the museum opens formally, it will offer a vibrant roster of programs, screenings, discussions and events designed to incorporate its facilities and the shared experience of the cinema. For additional information about plans for the Academy Museum and its inaugural exhibits, visit the website at academymuseum.org. 

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“Philanthropic investments of this magnitude speak to the dedication of our Wallis Family members and the priority they give The Wallis as a cornerstone institution of our community and a bright hope for our future,” said Wallis Executive Director and CEO Rachel Fine in a statement. “These two tremendous and significant funds, the first endowment gifts we have received since before The Wallis’s 2013 opening, fortify our mission and vision, as well as underscore our core values at a critical moment in time.”

According to The Wallis, the Grauman Fellowship in Music is not only the Center’s first fellowship program, but also the first of its kind in Los Angeles County. The fellowship, which will last a season, will go to a classical pianist or string player transitioning from formal training to the professional world. 

Director of Education Mark Slavkin, who oversees GRoW, said the fellowship is not just another competition. “We didn’t feel the world needed one more competition,” he told the Courier. In addition to the annual $15,000 stipend, the fellow will receive mentorship from The Wallis, including live performance opportunities, audition help, and opportunities designed to prepare them for a career as a classical musician.  

“Walter and I have made a special effort over the last 50 years to help advance the training and talent opportunities of so many outstanding young musicians here in Los Angeles County,” Grauman said in a statement. “I am excited that now The Wallis will have the ability to provide opportunities to talented, young string musicians and pianists through a mix of performance and professional learning opportunities during their fellowship year at The Wallis.”

The fellowship also includes an element of public service. “Obviously artistic excellence is an important value to us,” Slavkin said. “But so is relevance and the idea of making a difference in the world–that the issues that you’re raising, the stories that you’re telling, the themes that you’re addressing are relevant to the world as it exists.” 

In applying for the fellowship, musicians must submit plans for a community-based project to expose and educate new audiences in Los Angeles to classical music. The program will focus on communities without regular access to the arts, from underprivileged school children, to adults living in long term care facilities. 

The Wallis has not opened up the application process yet, but hopes to select its first Grauman Fellow in time for next fall’s season. If live performances have not reopened by then, though, Slavkin says that they will defer the fellowship to the following season. He encourages prospective applicants to check www.thewallis.org for updates.  

In addition to the Grauman Endowment Fund, the Wallis also announced the creation of the Steven D. Cochran Memorial Fund, a more general purpose endowment similarly dedicated to educating and inspiring young music listeners. The Cochran Memorial Fund honors former Wallis Board member Steve Cochran, who passed due to illness in 2019. Cochran was passionate about sharing his love of classical music and served as Chair of the Education Committee at the Wallis. 

Even through his battle with illness, Cochran continued to attend matinee performances held for school groups–something that long made him smile. “That same smile would come to his face,” Slavkin recalled. Following his memorial, Cochran’s husband and Wallis Ambassador Dan Clivner solicited donations from friends and family and made a sizable donation of his own. The $500,000 endowment will generate about $25,000 in interest each year, which will go to support different programs and projects each year. 

“The Wallis is the cultural heart of Beverly Hills and the greater Los Angeles region,” Clivner said in a statement, “and these funds will help bring youthful vitality to The Wallis and ensure the beat goes on for a long, long time.” 

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Founding director Adrenrele Sonariwo saw opening the gallery as an opportunity to harness and facilitate social change while allowing African artists a space of validation and potential growth within the ivory towered art world. Sonariwo has a long history in the art world, with experience running numerous galleries and curating exhibitions internationally for the past decade. After returning to her hometown of Lagos in 2015 following stints in the U.K. and U.S., Sonariwo opened the first Rele Gallery in Lagos: the word ‘rele’ is Yoruba for ‘coming home.’ 

Since its inception, Rele has served as a critical interface between the art world in Africa and the international sphere. The original gallery in Lagos has become the leading space for contemporary art and artist development in Nigeria. Its expansion overseas is another step in the long-term goal of continuously developing, advocating for and representing today’s most talented African artists. Though Rele Los Angeles is more than 7,500 miles from Lagos, the two locations are united in their mission to bring Nigerian art to the forefront of the art scene. 

Los Angeles was Sonariwo’s first choice for international expansion because of its diversity and welcoming response to her previous L.A.-based work. “I’m an art lover who has run galleries in Africa and curated exhibitions internationally. I have worked in the art space for years and have always wanted to open a space in Los Angeles, which is such an important center of global multicultural art and culture. The love and support that the gallery has found within the L.A. community is at the core of why we chose to open our first international space here. L.A. is such a beautiful city with a truly multicultural population that cares deeply about the arts and culture. I’ve lived in different parts of the U.S., but always felt the most welcome and happy in LA. We exhibited at the 2020 L.A. Art Show and we found really strong levels of interest,” said Sonariwo. 

In its white walled, one room space on Melrose, Rele Gallery presents a blank canvas for Contemporary African artists to share their stories and engage with a new kind of audience, and vice versa. “Traditional African art is mainstream and well understood the world over. It has been for decades, maybe even centuries. Contemporary African art however is coming into its own at this moment and we are seeing so much work being created by artists whose influences are at once local and global. Their voices are being shaped by events and experiences both deeply personal but also public and international. It’s a unique perspective of storytelling that might otherwise not be available to an international audience were it not for our efforts,” explains Sonariwo.

Rele Gallery’s debut exhibition presents Orita Meta-Crossroads. Loosely translated as “a junction where three roads meet,” Orita Meta references a book and painting by Nigerian artist and writer Peju Alatise. Like Alatise’s work, the exhibition explores the dialogue on gender and femininity between three exciting women artists presently working in Nigeria: Marcellina Akpojotor, Tonia Nneji and Chidinma Nnoli. The featured artists utilize their own unique experiences through varying artistic methods to explore pre-existing Nigerian notions that contrast and inform perspectives held by an American audience. 

The exhibition’s strength lies in its powerful female Nigerian context, one that has been seldom explored in recognized art. Nenji’s works explore a culture of suppression and silence on issues surrounding women’s mental and physical health, bodily autonomy and sexual harassment through intimate scenes embellished with bold colors and intricate patterns. Nnoli’s series “A Poetry of Discarded Feelings” contrasts the idea of purity culture by conveying the hidden against the visible to draw attention to the overwhelming silencing of female sexuality within Nigerian societies. Akpojotor’s work from her “Conversation” series incorporates pieces of Ankara fabric to build up her intricately layered scenes that emphasize the importance of communal discourse as a tool for driving change and interrogating existing narratives. The exhibition ignites an emotional response by demanding consideration of the hegemonic forces at play in both Nigerian and international societies, while simultaneously offering a sense of solace through images of female communion, solidarity and empowerment. Vibrant color schemes and large canvas’ artistically lure the viewer in, then forces them to confront the heavy topics existing behind the beautifully adorned scenes. 

As for the future of Rele Gallery, Sonariwo intends the space to be a continual opportunity for intimate encounters with the works of Africa’s finest. “We are delighted to join the thriving community of multi-cultural artistic encounters that already exist in an established international hub such as Los Angeles,” she said. Rele Gallery’s upcoming full year of programming will include waves of African artists working in diverse mediums. Sonariwo hopes they will trigger a newfound followership and engagement with arts from Africa. She looks forward to welcoming and enlightening lovers of art and Africa alike. 

Orita Meta – Crossroads is now open at Rele Gallery, 8215 Melrose Avenue, through March 28th. Due to COVID-19 restrictions, the gallery is open by appointment. www.rele.co/

Cameron Crews is a freelance writer for numerous L.A.-based galleries, fashion houses, and publications. Originally from Texas, Crews moved to Southern California after earning a distinguished degree in joint honors Art History and Modern History at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland in 2019. Her book, “To the Monsters of My Past,” was published in November and reads as an unconventional autobiography, written in verse, of the heartbreaks, struggles, triumphs, and epiphanies she experienced over an eight-year period.

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Despite the full agenda, much of the meeting was spent on one topic: the installation of Alexandra Nephite’s sculpture entitled “Love Anatomy” this spring on the Burton Way median. The well-known Romanian American cubist painter first donated the piece to the city in 2018. The shapely 100-pound bronze sculpture is a stylized rendering of the female figure that exemplifies why Nechita is known as “Petite Picasso.” According to the artist, the piece is appraised at between $350,000 and $450,000. 

Nechita moved from Romania to the United States as a child and was soon celebrated as a prodigious talent. She held her first exhibition at a public library in Los Angeles at the age of eight. By age 11, she had completed 16 exhibitions and sold more than $1 million in artwork. She has led global arts initiatives on behalf of the United Nations and has work on display at museums throughout the world. She graduated with a degree in Fine Arts from UCLA in 2008 and lives in Los Angeles. 

“I’ve tried to make great efforts in my pursuit as an artist to advocate for the arts and to remind people how incredibly powerful they are and what an incredible gift it is,” Nechita said during the Feb. 9 meeting. “Not only an aesthetic gift, but an emotional gift. Public art in particular has the capacity to make a city and a geography better, so I am exceedingly proud to be part of that messaging in my hometown.”

The Burton Way median is currently home to three other sculptures–Alexander Liberman’s “Sisyphus,” William Kentridge’s “World On Its Hind Legs” and Fletcher Benton’s “Folded Square – Alphabet G.” The median is being redesigned to incorporate drought-tolerant plants, two infiltration bioswales and an underground reservoir for a storm water retention. California native and Mediterranean vegetation will replace the 3.7 acres of median turf as part of the city’s ongoing stormwater pollution and prevention efforts. Work on the Burton Way Median Project will officially start work in June. 

The “Love Anatomy” sculpture will reside on the west side of the median between the palm trees and the “Sisyphus.” For scale, the new sculpture is slightly shorter than “Sisyphus” by two feet, measuring nearly eight feet tall. The front of the sculpture would be slanted and slightly turned east, facing the other pieces already there. The sculptures will remain in their current juxtaposition with the addition of “Love Anatomy.”

“I’m also super proud to be part of the Burton Way Median project. I think it parallels so much of the messaging of this piece. We kind of assign this idea of love to people and to humans, but really, that’s exactly a fraction of it. And that’s what the sculpture represents. Love for your space, love for your city and love for your community. It’s greater and bigger than just love shared between two people.”

In the coming weeks, Arts and Culture commissioners and Public Works staff will meet with the artist on site to talk about the installation. 

“Love Anatomy” is expected to be installed by the end of April or early in May of this year.

“I know this has been a project that has been in the works for years,” Director of Community Services Jenny Rogers told the Courier. “There’s been a lot of support from the community and from the artists herself, so we’re just really thrilled to be at this point and we’re excited to have people come and see the piece.” 

To learn more about the Beverly Hills fine art program, visit http://www.beverlyhills.org/departments/communityservices/artsandculturecommission/fineartprogram/.  

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Bestselling author, member of our community and the Senior Rabbi of Wilshire Boulevard Temple, Steve Leder’s new book, “The Beauty of What Remains, How Our Greatest Fear Becomes Our Greatest Gift,” was recently published by Penguin Random House.

Written exquisitely, this book is ultimately not about death, but about leading a more beautiful life because of it. The timing of the book’s release is especially relevant today, as there is no better event than a pandemic to prove to each of us that life is temporary and precious.

“Death is the great teacher of life,” says Rabbi Leder. The pandemic has forced us to change, to slow down, to eliminate so much, and in so doing, it has revealed the beauty that was there all along. It inspires us to live a more meaningful life, filled with love, devoid of excess and replete with essentials.

In this new book, which became a bestseller on its first day, Rabbi Leder takes us on parallel journeys, one that he experienced as a rabbi and one as a son. After 30 years of guiding thousands of congregants through loss and grief, he is forced to grapple with and confront his own feelings with the passing of his father. Rabbi Leder’s message could not be more welcome, healing and inspiring.

As a member of Wilshire Boulevard Temple for the past 25 years, I have witnessed Rabbi Leder’s profound teachings and experienced his immeasurable compassion. This latest book is one of his “greatest gifts” as he shares his wisdom and his life experiences while guiding us to live a beautiful and meaningful life. I was deeply and positively affected by it.

Rabbi Leder graciously granted the Courier the first print interview about the book. This is the second of two parts.

What is “God time?”

God time is my way of saying that certain things cannot be rushed nor can they be slowed down. Grief is like that.  There is no wrong way to grieve. And grief is a nonlinear process. Anyone who thinks the shortest distance between two points is a straight line doesn’t understand grief. You can’t rush healing. You have to allow the experience to unfold in its own way and at its own pace. Now, there are things you can do during that experience to help garner insights. I hope reading the book will be helpful to people who are grieving, for example. But when it comes to being ready to move on, whatever that means, you’re on God’s time. You’re not in your own dimension of time.

You speak beautifully about memory; memory is light. This touched my heart. If we remember, nothing can ever take our sunshine away.

Only human beings were granted a gift, the ability to summon the past willfully, into the present, and carry it with us into the future. That’s not like a squirrel remembering where the acorns are, which is instinct. You can literally decide I’m going to stop for a moment and think about my mom right now, and you can do it. And that’s an extraordinary treasure given only to human beings.

As you know, my father had Alzheimer’s and so I saw it up close. When we no longer have memory, in a sense, we’re no longer ourselves. Memory is the most gracious and beautiful gift bestowed upon human beings by God. Without it, we’re nothing more than an animal.

The other beautiful thing about memory is that it enables us to round the sharp edges and leave behind what we choose to forget. This is where the book title comes from. We can choose to embrace the beauty of what remains, not just the loss.

In the book, you share a magnificent story about a Stradivarius violin, written as if the violin was playing while the words of the story unfold. The message is about caring for those who have died, but who have not left us.

It was such a profound moment when I learned that even though it’s an inanimate object, if you don’t play a violin, it dies.  The finish and the tone are ruined if it is ignored and not played. It takes us back to this earlier point. Judaism is constructed in a way that requires us to remember the loss of a loved one, at least five times in the year. And of course, there are all the others, the birthdays, the anniversaries, and the ordinary moments during the ordinary days. I often advise people who are grieving that they need to create a daily ritual. I don’t care what it is. Look at a picture, read a poem, light a candle to remember your loved one, but create a ritual as a vessel to contain it all. The willful act of memory is healing.

You advise us to live our lives as a good ancestor we will never know. What do you mean by this?

We don’t think of ourselves as ancestors, but we are, just not yet. And one of the ways to think about leading a worthy life, a noble life, a meaningful life, a beautiful life is to consciously live as a good ancestor. The Seventh Generation Principle, the law of the great Iroquois Nation, mandated that when the elders deliberated, they had to consider the effect their decision would have on the seventh generation to follow. In other words, live as a good ancestor. That’s what it takes to be a good human being. To think beyond yourself.

You talk in the book about a block of stone, and we turn that stone into a statue of our lives. Please elaborate.

I think during the pandemic, it’s a particularly helpful way of thinking. There are many beautiful things hiding in plain sight, but we have to stop in order to notice and appreciate them. If you think about Shabbat for a minute, it’s mostly a list of rules about what we can’t do, not what we have to do, but what we may not do. And that creates the negative space for beautiful things to flourish. For example, during the pandemic, look at what happens when we stop driving all over town on the freeways. When we stop waiting in line to buy and buy some more, when we stop an aggressive social life, when we stop being away from our children and our spouses, think of all the beautiful things that emerge. It’s like a block of marble. You chip away until this beautiful sculpture remains. The sculpture was always in there. The beauty was always in there, but it took removing things chip by chip for it to be revealed. That’s another reason why I called the book, “The Beauty of What Remains.” I am not for a moment dismissing the terrible pain caused by the pandemic.  That being said, the cessation of our frenetic lives, where the centrifuge of life was just spinning us apart, to this hunkered down, home centered, tiny handful of people who really matter in our life right now, is very beautiful.

You say, “It is a simple fact that we do not have forever that makes our love for each other so profound.” You use the analogy of a flower.   

That’s what Wallace Stevens said, “Death is the mother of beauty. Only the perishable can be beautiful, which is why we are unmoved by artificial flowers.”

You appreciate a flower when it’s in full bloom, in beautiful colors.

Because, you know, it’s temporary. It’s a rare moment when you smell that rose. And you also know that its death is required in order for life to go on. Nature is replete with metaphors for the importance and value of death. Nothing would live without it. The lifecycle of a forest is dependent upon death.

In the prologue you explain that this book is your apology. You wanted to set the record straight for the way in which your most popular sermon given the year before your father died, a sermon on death, was shy of the real truth. This revelation was a result of you experiencing death, upfront, at the very core of your being, with your father’s passing. What is that deeper truth you learned?

Before my father died I had already been a rabbi helping people through death and loss and pain for 30 years. I thought I had been doing a pretty good job. I would have given myself maybe an A minus, having officiated more than 1,000 funerals. But when my father died, I realized that what I was saying wasn’t the deepest truth. First of all, I rethought my understanding of memory. I have a much better, I think, understanding of the duality of memory.  While it’s such a gift, it’s also a burden. Memory can be beautiful and it can hurt. There’s a duality to memory. And that’s the deepest truth.

The other thing that I talk about in the book is I used to say to people in the early days of their grief, “It won’t always hurt so much.” And I learned that’s false. The truth is it won’t always hurt so often. But when it hurts, it hurts every bit as much. I learned that grief is like waves. The waves do grow further apart and they do diminish. But every once in a while, when your back is turned, you get hit by a rogue wave. And it turns you upside down, gasping for air, at the loss. That’s the truth of grief. It is not that it doesn’t always hurt so much. It just doesn’t always hurt so often. Because no matter how long it has been, when loss hurts, it still really hurts. These are just a couple of the things that my father’s death forced me to rethink and rearticulate for the people I am caring for.

Your honest, heartfelt admission after experiencing your father’s passing serves as a guiding light and an inspiration for all of us about life.

My father’s death has made me a better rabbi. It’s made me a better man. It’s made me a better father, made me a better husband. It’s made me a more humane human being.  Death and loss can ennoble all of us to live more meaningful lives.

We have all gone through one of the most trying years, and now we have turned the page to a new year. Please provide us with some words of reflection, optimism, and encouragement for 2021.

There are a number of things I would say. I learned one from a friend of mine who had three different cancers; the third cancer was lethal. When I asked, ‘what did the first two cancers teach you?’ He said, ‘Time flies, even when you’re not having fun.’

The pandemic is going to end. This experience has been scarring and formative for many of us, and ultimately, it’s going to end.  Sometimes after certain surgeries, when people are depressed, I’m able to say to them, ‘Everyone gets better from this. You’re going to get better.’ So, as simple as it sounds, I think remembering that time flies, even when you’re not having fun, and that we’re going to get through it, is helpful.

I’m grateful for the year that has passed as it has really tested my capacity for gratitude. It’s hard to be depressed if you’re grateful. But I think this has been a year-long lesson in gratitude for the simplest of things. Look back on the past nine months. Are you not amazed at how you have adapted and found ways to flourish and live and love? Be proud of what we have been through together and apart. Be proud of what you have done, and how you have done it. Know that going forward, no matter what life puts in front of you, you will be a resilient person who will find beauty.

It’s true that anyone reading the Beverly Hills Courier newspaper pretty much is on the lucky side of the pandemic. They have a driveway that the paper could land on. Yes, from a Maslow’s hierarchy of needs perspective, we are the lucky ones. But we’ve also done an amazing job. Amazing. Every one of us has gotten to this point through this pandemic. And there is no reason to believe that we are not capable of doing the same and then some in the year to come.

There is a point I made in the previous book, “More Beautiful Than Before” about going through difficult times. We’ve all been through hell these past nine months. And when thinking about the new year, the important thing about going through hell is not to come out of it empty handed. Ask yourself, “What am I going to carry with me from this experience? What am I coming out of this hell with that I’m going to make positive use of for the rest of my life?”

Let’s think about this new year as the opportunity not to come out of hell empty handed.  Loss hurts, but there’s a lot of beauty that remains, and you can hold that for the rest of your life.

This is what growing older is. It’s loss after loss, and then a gain, and then a loss. Life is ultimately about holding on and appreciating the beauty of what remains.  It really is.

After graduating Northwestern University, and studying  at Trinity College, Oxford University, Rabbi Leder received a Master’s Degree in Hebrew Letters and Rabbinical Ordination from Hebrew Union College. He is a regular contributor and guest on “The Today Show” and writes often for TIME, Foxnews.com, and Maria Shriver’s Sunday Paper. His published essays have appeared in Town and Country, the Los Angeles Times, USA Today and the Los Angeles Jewish Journal, where his Torah commentaries were read weekly by over 50,000 people.

The New York Times called Rabbi Leder’s first book, “The Extraordinary Nature of Ordinary Things,” “uplifting.” His second book, “More Money Than God: Living a Rich Life Without Losing Your Soul,” received high honors as did his third book, “More Beautiful Than Before; How Suffering Transforms Us,” which reached #4 on Amazon’s overall best sellers list in its first week. Newsweek Magazine has twice named Rabbi Leder one of the ten most influential rabbis in America.

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“We are proud of our students and the artwork they have created,” said Rebecca Stone-Danahy, Director of AP Art and Design. “The AP Art and Design exhibit showcases the course focus on inquiry and the resulting individual student responses to the world around them. This is especially critical as students navigate the changing landscape of our contemporary times.”

Abrahams’ painting chosen by the AP Art and Design Board is titled “Adam and Eve,” inspired by the creation narrative in the Book of Genesis.

“My entire concentration was deeply rooted in the concepts that were available in the Bible from Adam and Eve to the creation of Adam to Noah’s Ark,” Abrahams said in a video statement. “A lot of those concepts were embedded in my art, but for this specific piece, I wanted to play with the idea of gender, especially gender nonconformity and androgyny. So, I wanted to play with the form specifically.”

This piece sets out to answer a question posed by Abrahams: how can I illustrate the structure of religion using the human form?

“I wanted you to see that there’s a female leg or a male arm, but they all intertwine and mesh into one form. And then on top of it, I superimposed the androgyny symbol, which means it’s all encompassing of both genders. It’s expressive without hindrance.”

During the AP Art and Design Exam adjudication, over 400 readers graded student portfolios submitted for review. The 51 students selected for the AP Art and Design Digital Exhibit represent high-quality examples of the Sustained Investigation and Selected Works sections of the portfolio. The digital exhibit is designed to showcase the rigor and excellence of the AP Art and Design portfolio and be used as an exemplar teaching tool shared with AP art and design students around the world. The AP Art and Design program was founded in 1972, and as of 1978, 4500 students had completed portfolios for submission to the program. Today, over 60,000 students participate annually.

To view the 2020 College Board AP Art and Design Digital exhibit, visit https://2020artanddesignexhibit.collegeboard.org/2020-digital-exhibit.

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Some local residents, on the other hand, are less than thrilled with the idea of the live outdoor concert. The Courier has received calls and letters complaining about the sound levels generated by Bieber, et. al during a Dec. 30 rehearsal. One letter received to our newsroom stated: 

“It is now 3.30 pm on Wednesday afternoon but for the past one and half hours, music emanating from the Hilton hotel is so UNBELIEVABLY loud that I cannot have a conversation in my apartment, let alone actually do any work. My windows are rattling and the pens on my desk are vibrating even though I live 2 blocks away.

I have called the police non-emergency number incessantly but it seems they have taken their phone off the hook. I have called code enforcement numerous times but alas they don’t answer. Miraculously, when my wife eventually reached a clerk, she was told that the noise was the result of a special event rehearsal and to please call the Special Events number to complain. I tried but they are only taking messages.”

The Courier reached out to the Beverly Hills Police Department, which responded with this statement:

“There were no calls for service today. Any noise complaints were referred to the film/permit office. This is an independent production that has obtained proper permitting. It is not City sponsored so we don’t have any additional detail to provide.”

Check back with BeverlyHillsCourier.com for additional details about the concert, as well as exclusive photos.

Justin Bieber NYE Concert Shoot in Beverly Hills appeared first on Beverly Hills Courier.

“While Beverly Hills has always been a place welcoming people from all over the world to come to reside, visit and work, it is not enough to just accept people, rather it’s crucial to celebrate and find meaning in what makes us different and unique,” said Jenny Rogers, Director of Community Services. “The new program will feature the arts, lectures and community engagement as a way to manifest a community of
kindness and love, and to stand in opposition of hatred, violence, racial intolerance and injustice.”

Arts & Culture Commissioner Deborah Frank pointed out the groundbreaking nature of the new collaboration.

“This joint venture between our two commissions is groundbreaking and has never been done before. Through our
collaborative programs, we hope to cultivate a sense of community amid a cultural awakening.  In upcoming art programs, we will showcase artwork from emerging and L.A.-based artists and people of color, hoping to offer inclusion and belonging by drawing attention to social issues and the talent of artists across all cultures. Art is essential in that it can unite us and heal us,” said Frank.

Human Relations Commissioner Annette Saleh noted that the “Human Relations Commission recognizes the benefits inherent in a diverse community, fosters understanding and acceptance of all its citizens, and promotes civil discourse and conduct.”

She added, “Our hope is the upcoming events will highlight the Human Relations Commission’s primary objective to actively establish our city as a model of a just and equitable society. And by aligning with the mission of the Arts & Culture Commission, we saw a path to bringing into existence a relevant celebration of cultural diversity and spreading a message of inclusion through the arts and other forms.”

Programs are still in the development stage. But, current proposals include the following:

An art installation created by TZ Projects in collaboration with The Wallis Annenberg Center for Performing Arts. Slated for Nov. 19-29, artwork from emerging voices and Los Angeles-based artists of color will be projected on window activations along the façade of The Wallis on Santa Monica Boulevard;

A collaboration between the City of Beverly Hills and United Talent Agency will activate empty storefronts in Beverly Hills with art installations in an exhibit entitled: “Beyond 2020: A Cultural Experience Like No Other.” The intent of the exhibit is to look forward in a positive way by creating wonder and meaning during challenging times. The art installations are proposed for December;

A quarterly literary event featuring individuals of interest who are artists, academics, educators and experts in their fields of study with emphasis on prominent figures in the history of cultural diversity, tolerance and inclusion. Dates and times to be determined.

All programs are being developed with social distancing in mind in order to ensure public safety. For more information on the Embrace and Celebrate Culture Initiative, visit www.beverlyhills.org/embraceandcelebrateculture.

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Now, the most famous shopping street in the world is the subject of its own dedicated podcast. The bi-monthly “Rodeo Drive- The Podcast: Untold Stories of Fashion, Art and Entertainment,” debuted May 29. This coincides with the 95th birthday of the “Godfather of Rodeo Drive,” retailer Fred Hayman whose trendsetting Giorgio boutique is the subject of the first episode. 

The podcast is presented by the Rodeo Drive Committee with the support of the City of Beverly Hills. Hosted by fashion author and broadcaster Bronwyn Cosgrave, the eight-part series dives into the history and personalities of the street’s famous designers. It also touches upon the future, as retailers reemerge during a period of continued social distancing. 

The program will take listeners behind the scenes as it explores how a former bridle path was transformed by pioneering entrepreneurs, hoteliers, designers, architects and visionary retailers to rival New York’s Fifth Avenue. Guests include Rose Apodaca, Nicolas Bijan, Michael Chow, Robert Hayman, Stephen Jones OBE, Dame Zandra Rhodes, Cameron Silver, and others. Subjects include Howard Greer, Paramount Pictures’ chief costume designer, who is credited for bringing the spirit of Paris couture to Rodeo Drive. 

Cosgrave became familiar with the other side of Rodeo Drive when researching her book “Made for Each Other: Fashion and the Academy Awards.” 

“I experienced Rodeo for the first time not as a shopper but what went on behind the scenes,” Cosgrave told the Courier. “My experience was with the people that built it and less about walking into a store and acquiring things. It’s about craftsmanship and relationships and this beautiful village that grew into a lifestyle.” 

Cosgrave, who also hosts “A Different Tweed” podcast exploring the creative process in fashion, noted, “When one talks about fashion it really triggers the imagination, but these places are about more than shopping. It’s a community and it’s global. We will be hearing from up-and-comers and legends. From 25 to 85-years-old, they all have compelling stories to tell.”

The podcast is part of the Rodeo Drive Committee’s expanding digital offering and follows the recent launch of Rodeo Drive Recommends, a new online vertical created to connect international visitors, residents, customers and businesses with news and stories about Rodeo Drive. 

Current Vice President of Rodeo Drive Committee and past president, Kathy Davoudi-Gohari, has spent three decades in the City, and is Director of Client Engagement West Coast at Valentino. “Obviously, podcasts have become a very strong force. It not only gave us an opportunity to reach out to local people, but also someone across the world who plans to visit us one day. It allows a little window into what they are in for,” Gohari told the Courier. 

“Like in fashion there is a constant reinvention – looking back and forward,” said podcast Executive Producer Lyn Winter. “The pandemic has created a moment of global reflection. Whether it will ever be the same, nobody knows. It’s been a moment to reassess and reinvent and that is really what this is about.” 

The program will examine luxury today and how it intersects with fashion, art, design and architecture. “The podcast can connect with people in a way that I believe luxury is today – personal, in your own time and a direct communication,” said Winter. 

“There is a lot of positive thinking about where fashion can go and do better and where Rodeo Drive goes next,” said Cosgrave. 

rodeodrive-bh.com. 

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