LC Miracle Mile 03 2024

MIRACLE MILE 2024

LACMA Geffen Galleries construction on schedule

By Suzan Filipek

The money has been raised — the $750 million goal, plus more — and construction is moving along at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art Building LACMA, as the ambitious building project is called, will culminate by the end of the year with completion of the expansive reinforced concrete David Geffen Galleries building designed by Pritzker prize-winning Swiss architect Peter Zumthor. The building is named for its principal donor, the record executive, entrepreneur and DreamWorks co-founder.

The two-level building (plus basement), will house the museum’s permanent collection. It reaches across Wilshire Boulevard in a bold statement for art and culture in a city known for innovation. The plaza level will feature a restaurant, cafés, educational facilities, a museum store and a theater. The upper level is a collection of interior gallery rooms surrounded by a meandering set of sunlit galleries and passageways with views of the surrounding park and city.

LACMA had humble beginnings, as almost an afterthought in the Los Angeles County Museum of History, Science and

Art in 1913. In 1965, the County Art Museum moved to its own, dedicated space at its present site in the county’s Hancock Park between Wilshire Boulevard and Sixth Street, just east of Fairfax Avenue. LACMA has continued to grow and change ever since. The Broad Contemporary Art Museum (BCAM) and the Resnick Exhibition Pavilion (opening in 2008 and 2010, respectively) were designed for the LACMA campus by Pritzker Prize winner Renzo Piano and his Renzo Piano Building Workshop. This latest, 347,500-square-foot project by

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MULLIONS (the vertical uprights between the floor and ceiling that will support the tall window wall exterior of the David Geffen Galleries) are being installed at the west end of the new building. In the far distance on the right, scaffolding surrounding the new theater space glistens at the building’s eastern end on the south side of Wilshire Boulevard. Adjoining the plaza at this western end will be the museum’s main restaurant. To get a sense of scale, note — just over the fence and at the bottom of the rectangular building base — the full-height doorways into the base.

Photo by Gary Leonard

Miracle Mile is a place to live, work, and play

By John Welborne

For more than 100 years, the Miracle Mile and surrounding areas have been in the heart of Los Angeles. Primarily residential neighborhoods, the Mile vicinity includes several Historic Preservation Overlay Zones plus the largest mul-

tifamily residential complex west of the Mississippi (Park La Brea).

The spine of the community, Wilshire Boulevard, has evolved from just being a shopping destination to being one of the most important commercial/office

Living in the Mile, resident enjoys roller skating, jazz and dog walks

By Nona Sue Friedman Miracle Mile resident Thao

Tran bought a home in the area in 2014, drawn by the museums along Wilshire Boulevard. She loves being so close to such an impressive concentration of cultural institutions.

Tran relates that, as a kid in school in Torrance, if you received good grades, you were invited to go on a field trip to these same museums. She came on the trip multiple times. As she says, “Living here now has a romantic feeling. I’ve reached my aspirational neighborhood.”

She’s often exploring her neighborhood. “It’s an incredible area to walk in. The homes are historic, and the landscaping is beautiful,” recounts Tran.

She adopted a dog during COVID-19, which has connected her with locals. Apparently, there’s an enormous number of dog owners in the area. So much so that they have a dedicated chat named Paw Patrol. This group creates camaraderie, plans meet-ups and promotes public safety while walking their pooches.

The dog owners congregate

at either Wilshire Green Park, also known as Turtle Park, on Eighth Street at Sierra Bonita Avenue, or at Hancock Park around the Tar Pits. “It’s a great opportunity to engage with the community,” she says.

When she moved into her new home, Tran roller-skated at World on Wheels roller rink. After it closed, she decided to challenge herself by taking to the streets and sidewalks on her skates. She now says, “It’s a valid form of transportation in addition to its recreational aspects.” She

MIRACLE MILE 2024

Published by the Larchmont Chronicle 323-462-2241

larchmontchronicle.com

This annual special section is delivered to residents, businesses and employees in the greater Miracle Mile area. It also is delivered to residents in Hancock Park, Windsor Square, Fremont Place, Park La Brea and Larchmont Village, bringing the total readership to 100,000.

districts in Los Angeles. Businesses vary, from banks to the headquarters of SAG-AFTRA (in the building originally constructed as the western headquarters of Prudential Life Insurance Company).

And, with the soon-to-open Metro D Line subway stations

does errands on her skates and has learned how hostile our city streets are.

After engaging in her community for years, Tran became the field deputy for the Miracle Mile area of Council District 5 in 2023. She says of the city’s 15 council districts, “I have one of the best areas.”

When asked what are some of her favorite evening out-

at La Brea Avenue and at Fairfax Avenue, the high-rise office buildings will be joined by new high-rise residential buildings.

But the Miracle Mile is not just a place to live and work, it is a place to play as well. There are museums to visit,

ings, she’s overwhelmed. “There are just so many.” With her office being close to Tom Bergin’s restaurant and pub on Fairfax Avenue, that’s a common hang on Fridays with co-workers. Or if the season is right, it’s listening to jazz at LACMA. The restaurants at Eighth Street and La Brea Avenue are another common spot to enjoy the Miracle Mile.

restaurants to enjoy and places, old and new, to shop. In this, the 37th edition of our special Miracle Mile section of the  Larchmont Chronicle, we offer some up-to-date observations about how some people live, work and play in and around the Miracle Mile.

Brewing coffee, meeting people while at work in Mile

By Nona Sue Friedman

Working in the Miracle Mile, Chris Chicas, manager of Starbucks at the corner of Wilshire Boulevard and Detroit Street, says of his Miracle Mile workplace, “It feels like home.”

(Please turn to Page 4)

WALKING DOGS in the Miracle Mile is resident Thao Tran with her dog, Kobe, right, and dog friend, Alfred.

Front page photo by Gary Leonard

Live, work, play

(Continued from Page 3)

After working at the Starbucks on Larchmont Boulevard for five years, then moving to the Miracle Mile location two years ago, Chicas says the relocation has been a good experience. It also gave him the opportunity to become a manager.

This Starbucks has a lot of regulars who walk over, according to Chicas. He has amassed a consistent staff that customers know. Some even connect with each other on social media. It all adds to the homey feel at this Miracle Mile coffee outpost.

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Recently one of the regulars had a birthday. The Starbucks crew celebrated the day by lighting a candle and singing “Happy Birthday” to her. Chicas said it was very sweet.

With construction of the subway station just a block away, Chicas’ team got to know many of the construction workers on a first-name basis. The Starbucks workers

even get to hear some of the inside scoop about the work being done. “I think after the subway opens and construction is finished, this store will get even busier,” says Chicas. Currently his store has the highest number of online orders in the district, which consists of 11 stores from the USC area to the Miracle Mile.

Not long ago, says Chicas, he had a hankering for a sandwich from Larchmont Village Wine, Spirits & Cheese. While on the Boulevard, he ran into former customers from the Larchmont store. The reverse happens too, where someone from his Larchmont days strolls into his current Starbucks. It’s always a pleasant surprise, concludes Chicas.

Playing in the Mile; enjoying music, museums, eateries and more

By Casey Russell

There are certain people who just seem to know how to play — how to experience all the recreation and education available in a neighborhood. Francelle Jones is one of them. She and her husband, Zacerous LaRue Jones, have lived within walking distance of area museums for a little more than six years, and she told us she loves the Miracle Mile because there’s so much to offer.

“We love to go to LACMA,” said Jones. In the fall and winter months, the couple has early date nights at the museum. On weekdays, it’s free for Los Angeles County residents after 3 p.m. Before heading into the museum, Francelle and Zacerous enjoy grabbing a quick drink or a coffee at Ray’s and Stark Bar, just north of artist Chris Burden’s “Urban Light,” the 202 restored antique street lamps. In the summer, the two savor Friday night jazz on the plaza.

Also in the summer, the couple enjoys LACMA’s live Latin Sounds concerts on Saturdays. “People bring food and drinks, and they dance. It’s great fun,” she said.

Jones told us that when the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures first opened, she and her hubby went quite a bit. The two would take advantage of the exhibits or see a movie, or they’d go to “the impressive dome area” (the Dolby Terrace atop the museum). “[Once} we went up there and it was just the two of us,” she said. “I sang ‘Fly Me to the Moon.’ The acoustics are great!”

Jones told us she’s been to

the Petersen Automotive Museum and enjoys the car exhibits. She walks the grounds of the La Brea Tar Pits and especially loves to climb the outer museum stairs to look out at the park’s trees and lawn. “I’ve made that my spot to recuperate and meditate.”

The rich history of the Miracle Mile area is not lost on Jones. When she looks out at the area sometimes, she told us, she thinks to herself, “This used to be just a stretch of dirt road. And before that, there were sloths! We’re walking on earth that has been here so long. You have to respect that.”

Clearly, this local, who is

an office clerk at Larchmont Charter Hollygrove @ Selma, knows how to play in the Miracle Mile — truly taking advantage of the myriad opportunities the area provides.

visit us at wilshirerotary.org

People of Action "doing good and having fun" serving our community since 1932

Jason Kboudi DDS

AT LACMA, Francelle Jones with her husband Zacerous LaRue Jones (at left).

STARBUCKS store manager Chris Chicas prepares a customer’s drink.

FIREHOUSE LAUNDRY ROOM at Station 61 was the scene to celebrate new washers and dryers secured in time for Valentine’s Day by First-In Fire Foundation from donors Park La Brea and the company WASH. From left to right: Firefighter Sammy Cardona; Capt. II David Eugenio; Firefighter Jacob Pudwell; Elsa Laufer, district sales manager, WASH; Aryn Thomez, VP, Property Management, Park La Brea; Fire Station 61 Apparatus Operator Christopher Donahue; Lyn MacEwen Cohen, President, First-In Fire Foundation and Fire Station 61 Engineer Michael Correy.

Passions and pastimes bind us to each other in Miracle Mile

The Larchmont Chronicle asked local resident Greg Goldin if we could publish his introductory remarks given at the recent Miracle Mile Residential Association annual meeting. He graciously agreed. The following is modified slightly for space.

By Greg Goldin

I could carry on [about modern Miracle Mile challenges like high-rise construction, traffic, crime and the desperate states of street dwellers]. Instead, I want to tell you a story that I think is an allegory for the true state of our neighborhood.

Back in 1983, our former neighbor Lyn MacEwen Cohen, who was then living on Masselin Avenue, became concerned about a proposed development spanning from Wilshire to Eighth Street, Mas-

MIRACLE MILE RESIDENTIAL ASSOCIATION PRESIDENT, author and historian Greg Goldin spoke at the neighborhood group’s annual meeting.

selin to Curson. In those days, Sierra Bonita ran through to Wilshire. Those blocks that had largely been cleared and graded were once lined with duplexes and multi-family residences, much like the other blocks below Wilshire. The

east side of Curson still had those rentals.

Cohen started going house to house, gathering the names of her fellow residents to build block clubs dedicated to addressing the largest proposed development in the

I’m proud to represent our communities in the State Assembly. Together, we’re tackling our homelessness crisis, taking bold action to combat climate change, fighting against hate and antisemitism, protecting civil rights, creating safer communities, and investing in good jobs.

citizens should: Making our voices and concerns known, literally knocking on doors, canvassing, to work together to build the kind of place we want our neighborhood to be.

And, I know this very much firsthand, since like so many others, that little park was the place my wife and I took our infant daughter to get some fresh air, where she played with other kids from the surrounding streets, where she banged her chin on one of the concrete walls and had to be rushed to now shuttered Midway Hospital for her first stitches!

Miracle Mile up to that time. We, of course, know it today as the red-granite Wilshire Courtyard. One million square feet of office space — more than one third the floor space of the Empire State Building.

Those block clubs, which originally consisted of nothing more than long lists of names and addresses — no emails back then! — accomplished something remarkable:

They got the developer to agree to push his buildings to the east, west, and north boundaries of his land, to cap the height at six stories, to close Sierra Bonita, which allowed the neighbors’ biggest ask, which they won: Our linear pocket park which spreads across two blocks has a children’s playground, a gazebo, a pond, lush landscaping and meandering paths, and is a true buffer between a huge office complex and the homes just to the south.

So began the Miracle Mile Residential Association.

I say this is an allegory because I believe that, from its very inception, the MMRA’s raison d’être was public spiritedness, a continuous story of the citizens of the Miracle Mile coming together and acting as

And this is only one aspect of the Miracle Mile that gives our neighborhood meaning — and is the kind of thing we try, at the MMRA, to preserve and promote.

Most of the time we don’t think about how much these blocks are our home, in the deepest sense, reflecting our interests, our memories, our hopes. We take it for granted that we can go for an evening stroll, chat with neighbors, have block parties or nap on our front porches.

For each of us, the Miracle Mile is something a bit different. Some of us like to just park ourselves on a bench —when the weather is dry and warm — to enjoy what the Italians call the dolce far niente, the sweetness of doing nothing, sunbathing alongside the turtles in our park!

For others, the neighborhood is about the architecture, from the diminutive but near-perfect eight-story Art Deco Desmond’s building to Rudolph Schindler’s Buck House, from the Norman-style chateau on Burnside between Wilshire and Eighth to the rows of our nearly 100-year-old Spanish Colonial Revival homes.

‘Oscar Night;’ exhibits on Museum Row; Free-For-All March 23

By Suzan Filipek

See art from around the world, crafts made by local artists, Ice Age animals come to life and Oscar-winning movies — all at the world-class museums on the Miracle Mile

Here is a sampling of what’s being offered:

What better way to celebrate Hollywood’s biggest night (Sun., March 10) than at the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures, which will hold its third annual “Oscar Night” in sync with the 96th Oscars at the Dolby Theatre? Formal attire is suggested for your entrance on the red carpet at the Walt Disney Company Piazza followed by an Oscar-worthy viewing party.

Watch screenings of some of the award-winning films March 14-17 in the grand David Geffen Theater.

Upcoming, trace the history of the global epicenter of cinema in the exhibit “Hollywoodland: Jewish Founders and the Making of a Movie Capital,” opening Sun., May 19. Academy Museum of Motion Pictures, 6067 Wilshire Blvd., academymuseum.org.

Fabrics recycled from landfills are remade into works of art in the exhibit “Power in Every Thread: Maria A. Guzmán Capron and Minga

Opazo,” at the Craft Contemporary. The exhibit’s curator explores historic and contemporary associations to textiles in a walk-through on Sun., March 17, at 11:30 a.m.

“Art Iran: Falling into Language” features nine artists’ expressions of the Persian alphabet. Exhibit co-curators will guide a walk-through of the group exhibition on Sun., April 21 at 11:30 a.m.

Both exhibits are on view through May 5.

Craft Contemporary, 5814 Wilshire Blvd. craftcontemporary.org

“To Paint is To Live: Art & Resistance in Theresienstadt” at the Holocaust Museum LA

features the work of four Jewish artists who captured life in a Nazi-run faux “settlement” or “spa town,” through Nov. 30.

Survivor talks are held regularly at the museum. This month, Joe Alexander tells of surviving Auschwitz-Birkenau on Sun., March 10, from 3 to 4 p.m.

Journalist Patt Morrison joins scholar and author Steve Ross to discuss the “History of Antisemitism in Los Angeles” on Wed., March 27, from 6:30 to 8 p.m.

Holocaust Museum LA, 100 The Grove Drive, holocaustmuseumla.org.

Ice Age Encounters returns to the La Brea Tar Pits &

Museum with its 15-minute show featuring a life-size saber-toothed cat puppet, a live performance and film projections that bring the Ice Age to life. Show times are Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays.

See millions of fossils of

mammoths, dire wolves and other animals found at the tar pits inside the museum while, outside, excavation continues of the fossils of animals that were trapped in the sticky tar here eons ago.

La Brea Tar Pits & Museum, 5801 Wilshire Blvd., tarpits.org. Free drop-in workshops are offered at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) in the Boone Children’s Gallery. Visitors of all ages can explore brush painting on Sat., March 9, at 11 a.m.

Also free is Andell Family Sundays “Fancy Feast” on March 3, 10 and 24, from 12:30 to 3:30 p.m. This dropin workshop draws inspiration from the LACMA exhibit “Dining with the Sultan.”

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OSCAR NIGHT is all aglow again this year on Museum Row at the Academy Museum.

©Academy Museum Foundation, Photo by Betsy Youree

RE-WOVEN, 2023, Minga Opazo. Recycled clothing, Oyster mushroom, mycelium. Collection of the artist

ARTIST Erich Lichtblau-Leskly’s depiction of Shabbat in the Theresienstadt Ghetto is at the Holocaust Museum LA.

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CONTACT US

(323)813-5101

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www.5411wilshire.com

‘What are you doing on the LACMA Plaza today?’

That is the question inquiring photographer Casey Russell asked people in the Miracle Mile.

“I’m taking a walk during my lunch break. I love it over here. I go into the galleries sometimes. I love to look at Emil Nolde’s painting “Cows in the Pasture.” One of the things I love over here is the tiny little garden. When the sun hits it just right, there’s a beautiful scent that emanates from one of the plants.”

Cynthia McLean

Santa Monica

“We are just out for a walk letting Kenji scoot around the neighborhood. We do this every week. Sometimes we go see the miniature cars on the track in the museum [Chris Burden’s ‘Metropolis II’]. He loves that.”

Maily and Kenji Birnbaum

Miracle Mile

“Today I’m just passing through. I like to bike in the area. But sometimes I take pictures by the lampposts, and I’m interested in going to the Petersen Automotive Museum.”

Remahn Patterson

“It’s my first day of work as one of the security personnel for the inside of the museum. I knew about the area before, but I had only come to the lamppost area. Now, I’ve taken the tour and know there’s so much beautiful artwork that I’m excited to see.”

Maude Dunn East Los

Angeles

WILSHIRE BOULEVARD

OPERATION SPARKLE. Members of the Miracle Mile Residential Association and Mid-City West Neighborhood Council pose in front of the El Rey Theatre after spending the day spiffing up Wilshire Boulevard from Fairfax Avenue to La Brea Avenue. This photo was taken in June 2023 at the second annual Operation Sparkle. The third Operation Sparkle is slated for Sat., April 13, 9 a.m., at Wilshire Green park. Visit miraclemilela.com for more information.

By Suzan Filipek

La Brea Tar Pits & Museum officials are working to bring an ambitious new vision to the Ice Age fossil site to include the entire 13 areas of the museum and surrounding park including its Lake Pit, home to its iconic mammoth sculptures, at 5801 Wilshire Blvd.

It’s among three ambitious projects underway on Miracle Mile — at the Tar Pits, Holocaust Museum LA and at LACMA (see opposite page).

When the reimagined La Brea Tar Pits opens, visitors will be able to step back in time — way back — to learn about the last major episode of global climate change and to consider possible solutions for our own time, museum officials say. The Final Environmental Impact Report for the remodel is expected to be released this spring or summer.

New York-based architecture and design firm Weiss / Manfredi’s Reimagine La Brea Tar Pits master plan calls for a dramatic expansion of the museum, built in 1977 as the George C. Page Museum. The plan nearly doubles the research and collection space.

A one-kilometer pedestrian walkway, the La Brea Loops, (aka “The Miracle Kilometer in Miracle Mile”) will connect the main areas of the museum on a journey from prehistoric times to today.

The project would renovate an existing 63,200-square-foot building and construct a new, two-story, 40,000-square-foot building northwest of the Page building to include two theaters.

Other key elements of the plan include a new pedestrian bridge to take visitors across the existing Lake Pit along Wilshire Blvd. and 7.3 acres of renovated park space that will feature picnic and play areas and a possible small dog park.

The popular sloped lawn down which children have been rolling for decades will remain.

Inside, visitors will be able to peek into a glass-enclosed Fossil Lab to see ongoing discoveries and the extensive collections. On the new building’s windows, animal images will be projected at night.

Fossil remains of saber-toothed cats, giant sloths, dire wolves and other Ice Age animals who walked

the grounds here 10,000 to 50,000 years ago — before being pulled into the sticky tar below — will be featured in the new exhibition building.

Holocaust Museum LA began as an idea of a group of survivors in an English as a second language class at Hollywood High School in the 1960s.

Since that humble beginning, the museum opened a new home in Pan Pacific Park, and it is on the brink of its Building Truth expansion campaign, which has raised more than $44 million of its $50 million goal.

The money will pay to build the new Jona Goldrich Campus — designed by architect Hagy Belzberg, who designed the current museum — and almost double the existing facility from 28,000 square feet to 50,000 square feet.

While much of the existing museum building, which opened in 2010, is partially underground with a sloping roof to blend into the park, the new adjacent site will be 100 percent aboveground with high ceilings and natural light.

An authentic railroad boxcar that had transported Jews, and others, to death camps in World War II will be parked on the site.

The expansion will allow

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and contact information to Publisher John H. Welborne, either by e-mail to john@larchmontchronicle.com

by mail to Larchmont Chronicle, 606 N. Larchmont Blvd.,

the museum to increase annual visitor capacity to 500,000 by 2030, including 150,000 students.

The additional space also allows for more cutting-edge technology to preserve Holocaust survivor testimonies, a major endeavor at the museum, especially as we enter a “post-survivor world,” when most of those who lived through the Holocaust will be gone, museum officials said.

The new pavilion’s theater, dedicated to serve the USC Shoah Foundation’s “Dimensions in Testimony” exhibit, will allow visitors to have a virtual conversation with a Holocaust survivor using

a holographic capture and voice recognition software.

Outdoor spaces, for reflection and contemplation and designed by Studio-MLA, will be enclosed with transparent fences to give views of the park.

The new campus will also have a 2,500-square-foot gallery and a 200-seat theater for survivor talks, film screenings, concerts, conferences and public programs.

The museum broke ground on the “Building Truth” expansion project in Nov. 2023 and is expected to be open by the end of 2025.

For more information, visit hmla.org.

LA BREA TAR

expansion of the Page Museum

exhibition spaces that bring Pleistocene era artifacts into focus. Image courtesy Weiss / Manfredi

BUILDING TRUTH project at the Holocaust Museum LA will double the museum’s size when it is complete.

VISITORS can see fossil remains of saber-tooth cats, giant sloths and other Ice Age animals that succumbed to the sticky tar at the tar pits.

Photo courtesy of the Natural History Museums of Los Angeles County

LACMA

(Continued from Page 1)

Zumthor, with Skidmore Owings & Merrill (SOM) as executive architects, commenced excavation in 2020. The new structure slowly is emerging as its scaffolding and falsework are gradually being removed,

moving from west to east. Museum officials promise the finished museum will bring a fresh take on a big art museum that will exude openness, accessibility and equity for all.

By sometime next year, after installation of LACMA’s art collection, Angelenos and

visitors will be able to see and decide for themselves.

The two county facilities, the Museum of Art and the Tar Pits of the Natural History Museum, take up a substantial portion of the park. However, with the new Geffen Galleries building, there will a greater “park-like” feel and sense of ground-level openness. With

the exhibition level high above ground, the plaza-level spaces between the giant pedestals holding up the building (all atop giant earthquake-addressing base isolators), there will be clear views to the Page Museum at the La Brea Tar Pits, to the verdant bowers under the mature

trees of Hancock Park and to the Pavilion for Japanese Art designed by Bruce Goff and opened in 1988. Former Larchmont Chronicle columnist Paula Panich wrote about that pavilion (“‘Art is the Client:’ LACMA, the wrecking ball, and surviving jewel box”) in the April 2020 issue.

LACMA UNDER CONSTRUCTION this month (above) and one year ago (below) shows real progress. Today, floors and ceilings have been poured for all the galleries, and insulation (white material) is being staged on the roof. One year ago, the only thing visible was the scaffolding holding up the falsework in preparation for pouring the ceiling above the open areas on the ground. The Pavilion for Japanese Art, visible in the bottom photo, will be visually and physically accessible below the new galleries. Note the main entrance stairway in both photos. Photos by Bill Devlin

INTERIOR of the Pavilion for Japanese Art, circa 2007.

Following is a list of elected officials who serve the Miracle Mile and surrounding areas.

Councilmember

Katy Yaroslavsky

5th District

6380 Wilshire Blvd., Ste. 800 Los Angeles, 90048

323-866-1828

councildistrict5.lacity.gov

Mayor Karen Bass

200 N. Spring St., 13th Flr Los Angeles, 90012

213-978-0600

mayor.lacity.gov

County Supervisor

Holly J. Mitchell

2nd District

500 W. Temple St., Ste. 866 Los Angeles, 90012

213-974-2222

mitchell.lacounty.gov

County Supervisor

Lindsey Horvath

A+D

Miracle Mile Elected Officials

3rd District

500 W. Temple St., Ste. 821 Los Angeles, 90012 213-974-3333 lindseyhorvath.lacounty.gov

Assemblymember

Rick Chavez Zbur 51st District

1445 N. Stanley Ave., 3rd Flr Los Angeles, 90046 a51.asmdc.org

Assemblymember

Miguel Santiago 54th District 320 W. Fourth St., Rm 1050 Los Angeles, 90013 a54.asmdc.org

Assemblymember

Isaac Bryan 55th District 5601 W. Slauson Ave. Ste 200, Culver City, 90230 310-641-5410 a55.asmdc.org

State Sen. Ben Allen 24th District

111 Penn St., Ste. 101 El Segundo, 90245 310-414-8190

sd24.senate.ca.gov

State Sen. María Elena Durazo 26th District

1808 W. Sunset Blvd. Los Angeles, 90026 213-483-9300

sd26.senate.ca.gov

State Sen. Lola Smallwood-Cuevas 28th District

3870 Crenshaw Blvd., Ste. 229-230

Los Angeles, 90008 323-291-0311

sd28.senate.ca.gov

Gov. Gavin Newsom

1021 O St. Sacramento, 95814 916-445-2841

Museum moves to La Brea Avenue

By John Welborne

The Miracle Mile and surrounding communities have yet another new asset. In January, the A+D (architecture and design) Museum set up shop in a storefront space at 170 South La Brea Avenue. An opening reception for the inaugural exhibit, “We Are Here: Imagining Space in the 21st Century,” was on Jan. 19. The exhibit continues to April 7.

A+D was founded in 2001 and first was resident at the historic Bradbury Building in Downtown Los Angeles. Subsequent homes have included the Arts District from

2015 until the museum began a more virtual existence in reaction to the pandemic. In its new location on La Brea, A+D

will continue to “embrace the themes of technology, art, scale and urbanism.” Learn more at aplusd.org.

gov.ca.gov

U.S. Rep. Adam Schiff

30th District

245 E. Olive Ave., Ste. 200 Burbank, 91502 323-315-5555

818-450-2900 schiff.house.gov

Rep. Jimmy Gomez

34th District

350 S. Bixel St., Ste. 120 Los Angeles, 90017 213-481-1425 gomez.house.gov

Rep. Ted Lieu

36th District

1645 Corinth Ave., Ste. 101 Los Angeles, 90025

323-651-1040

lieu.house.gov

Rep. Sydney Kamlager-Dove 37th District

4929 Wilshire Blvd., Ste. 650 Los Angeles, 90010

323-965-1422

kamlager-dove.house.gov

U.S. Sen. Alex Padilla

255 E. Temple St., Ste. 1860 Los Angeles, 90012

310-231-4494

padilla.senate.gov

Art Deco fashion, style on runway at Bullocks Wilshire

By Suzan Filipek

Step back to the Golden Age of Hollywood with the Art Deco Society of Los Angeles at a benefit on Sat., March 9, at the historic Bullocks Wilshire building of Southwestern Law School, 3050 Wilshire Blvd.

Taking place the weekend of the Oscars, the live fashion event, “Hollywood Deco: Art Deco Costumes From Film and Stage” includes a tribute to costume designer Erté.

Artist Erté’s final costume designs for the 1922 stage production of “Stardust” will be modeled, along with other costumes created during the Art Deco period and the Jazz Age.

Costumes worn by Cary Grant, Ginger Rogers, Jean Harlow, Rita Hayworth, Jeanette McDonald, Julie Andrews and others from the personal collection of Greg Schreiner, a curator at Hollywood Museum, will be featured.

Live music and narration about the designers, movies and stars will fill the Louis XVI Room at Bullocks Wilshire. Attendees are encouraged to dress in vintage or vintage-inspired attire.

Tours of the building and a rare opportunity to shop at a vintage marketplace will be available at the event. The venue once was a leading luxury department store where celebrities and high society shopped, and the latest fashions were seen on live models.

The March 9 show includes costumes by Irene, who had a salon at the store, as well as Erté, whose work defined Art Deco style in fashion.

Proceeds from the Art Deco Society event will benefit the Friends of Bullocks Wilshire capital campaign to restore the building’s façade.

For tickets and more information, visit artdecola.org.

A+D MUSEUM opening reception visitors explore new forms of visual expression at new La Brea Avenue home.

The following is a list of apartment buildings in the Miracle Mile neighborhood. All of the zip codes are 90036 unless otherwise noted. If there are any changes, additions or corrections to the list, please contact circulation@larchmontchronicle.com.

Avalon Wilshire 5115 Wilshire Blvd. 323-894-9430

avaloncommunities.com

Babylon Apartments

360 S. Detroit St. 323-930-2213

hpgmanagement.com

Belcrest Apartments

637 S. Hauser Blvd. 323-525-1953

belcrestapartments.com

Boulevard on Wilshire 5353 Wilshire Blvd. 833-268-5984

liveboulevard.com

Brighton Villas 318 S. Detroit St. 323-930-2213

hpgmanagement.com

Broadcast Center Apartments 7660 Beverly Blvd. 424-353-2739

broadcastcenterapts.com

Burnside Apartments 616 S. Burnside Ave. 323-937-4359

hpgmanagement.com

Burnside Villas 649 S. Burnside Ave.

323-940-5213

Miracle Mile Apartments

liveatburnsidelofts.com

Carthay Circle Apartments 6209-6226 Olympic Blvd., 90048

323-936-3793 carthaycircleapartments.com

Cloverdale Apartments 600 S. Cloverdale Ave. 323-965-1565

Cloverdale Properties, LLC 660 S. Cloverdale Ave. 323-658-7990 livesdproperties.com

Cloverdale Towers 340 S. Cloverdale Ave. 323-936-0322 cloverdaletowers.bhprop.com

Cochran Apartments 442 S. Cochran Ave. 323-642-6556 cochranavenue.com

Cochran Island Apartments 342 S. Cochran Ave. 323-932-0450

Cochran House 740 S. Cochran Ave. 310-826-2466 fredleedsproperties.com

Curson Apartments 315-323 N. Curson Ave. 323-289-2374

cursonapts.com

Derek Cusack Rentals 456 S. Cochran Ave. 603 S. Cochran Ave. 657–665 S. Cochran Ave. 607 S. Dunsmuir Ave.

618 S. Dunsmuir Ave. 310-710-9361 derekcusack.com

The Desmond 5520 Wilshire Blvd. 310-683-0677 livedesmond.com

Essex at Miracle Mile

400 S. Detroit St. 323-736-5004 essexapartmenthomes.com

The Fairfax 105 S. Fairfax Ave. 424-317-6749 thefairfaxla.com

Hauser Apartments

625 Hauser Blvd. 323-937-0930 hpgmanagement.com

The Mansfield at Miracle Mile

5100 Wilshire Blvd. 323-634-0290 themansfieldapartments.com

Masselin Park West 5700 6th St. 323-617-4856 masselinparkwestapts.com

mResidences Miracle Mile

5659 W. 8th St. 888-979-7561 mresidencesmm.com

Museum Terrace 600 S. Curson Ave. 323-745-1251 museumterraceapts.com

One Museum Square 640 S. Curson Ave.

833-772-5220 omsapts.com

Palazzo East 348 S. Hauser Blvd. 424-532-8801 palazzo-east.com

Palazzo West 6220 W. 3rd St. 424-532-9123 palazzo-west.com

Palm Court Apartments 740 S. Burnside Ave. 323-930-2564 harrison-properties.net

Park La Brea 6200 W. 3rd St. 323-927-7505 parklabrea.com

The Preston Miracle Mile 630 Masselin Ave. 844-817-3199 theprestonapts.com

Redwood Urban 345 Cloverdale Ave. 435 S. Detroit St. 630 Hauser Blvd. 323-938-5653 redwoodurban.com

Tiffany Court 616 Masselin Ave. 323-498-1224 essexapartmenthomes.com

Villas at Park La Brea 5555 W. 6th St. 424-532-8948 thevillasapts.com

Vinz on Fairfax 950 S. Fairfax Ave. 323-673-2216

vinzonfairfax.com

Vision on Wilshire 6245 Wilshire Blvd., 90048 323-684-3112 udr.com

Wilshire La Brea 5200 Wilshire Blvd. 323-736-2691

essexapartmenthomes.com

162/164 N. Detroit St. rent@detroitla.com detroitla.com

313 N. Genesee Ave. 424-333-1336 optimuspropertiesllc.com

328 S. Cloverdale Ave. 323-936-5071

rentcwp.com

618 S. Detroit St. 323-642-6087

618detroit.com

LA Collection 738 S. Ogden Dr. 323-425-6886

lafusionapts.com

5550 Wilshire at Miracle Mile 5550 Wilshire Blvd. 323-905-7195

5550wilshire.com

5600 Wilshire Apartments 5600 Wilshire Blvd. 323-467-1266

essexapartmenthomes.com

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Museums

(Continued from Page 8)

The “Ed Ruscha / Now Then” exhibit opens at BCAM at LACMA on Sun., April 7, and continues through Oct.

6. The artist drew inspiration from the city of Los Angeles’ landscape, its parking lots, streets and buildings.

LACMA, 5905 Wilshire Blvd., lacma.org

Junior Concours premieres this month at the Petersen Automotive Museum with a design challenge for innovators under 18 who are passionate about cars. Submit entries in the following categories — Dream Machines; The Future, Today;

and Off-Roading Off-Planet — by March 23.

Exhibits, preschool activities and events for all ages are also offered.

Petersen Automotive Museum, 6060 Wilshire Blvd., Petersen.org.

SoCal Free-For-All

SoCal Museums’ Free-forAll Day annual celebration where dozens of museums will offer free admission is on Sat., March 23. Local particpating museums are: the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures, the Craft Contemporary, Holocaust Museum LA, La Brea Tar Pits & Museum and the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA). Visit socalmuseums.org.

STANDARD STATION, 1966, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Museum Acquisition Fund.

Ed Ruscha, photo © Museum Associates/LACMA

Miracle Mile School Directory

ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS

Cathedral Chapel School

755 S. Cochran Ave.

Ph: 323-938-9976

Principal: Donielle Mitchell

Grades: K to 8 cathedralchapelschool.org

Hancock Park Elementary 408 S. Fairfax Ave.

Ph: 323-935-5272

Principal:

Robin Wynne-Davis

Grades: TK to 5 hancockparkes-lausd-ca. schoolloop.com

Third St. Elementary 201 S. June St.

Ph: 323-939-8337

Principal: Hae Lee

Grades: TK to 5 thirdstreetschool.com

Wilshire Crest Elementary 5241 W. Olympic Blvd.

Ph: 323-938-5291

Principal: Gayle Robinson Grades: UTK to 5 wce-lausd-ca.schoolloop.com

Yavneh Hebrew Academy 5353 W. Third St.

Ph: 323-931-5808

Principal: Pavel Lieb Grades: K to 8 yha.org

MIDDLE SCHOOLS

Fusion Miracle Mile

5757 Wilshire Blvd.

Promenade One

Ph: 323-692-0603

Principal: Jason Lions

Grades: 6 to 12

fusionacademy.com

John Burroughs

600 S. McCadden Pl.

Ph: 323-549-5000

Principal: Steve Martinez

Grades: 6 to 8 burroughsms.org

New Los Angeles Charter 1919 S. Burnside Ave.

Ph: 323-939-6400

Principal: Gabrielle Brayton

Grades: 6 to 8

newlamiddle.org

HIGH SCHOOLS

Girls Academic Leadership Academy (GALA) 1067 West Blvd.

Ph: 323-900-4532

Principal: Elizabeth Hicks

Grades: 6 to 12 galacademy.org

Fairfax High School

7850 Melrose Ave.

Ph: 323-370-1200

Principal: Leonard Choi

Grades: 9 to 12 fairfaxhs.org

Los Angeles High School

4650 W. Olympic Blvd.

Ph: 323-900-2700

Principal: Marguerette Gladden

Grades: 9 to 12 lahigh.org

Machon Los Angeles

5870 W. Olympic Blvd.

Ph: 424-274-0955

Principal: Shifra Revah

Grades: 9 to 12 machonla.org

Shalhevet School

910 S. Fairfax Ave.

Ph: 323-930-9333

Principal: Rabbi David Block

Grades: 9 to 12 shalhevet.org

Yeshiva Gedolah of Los Angeles/Michael Diller

High School

5444 W. Olympic Blvd.

Ph: 323-938-2071

Principal:

Rabbi Shmuel Baruch Manne

Grades: 9 to 12 ygla.org

Greg Goldin

(Continued from Page 6)

Some of us will argue for the burritos at Sonoratown, others for El Cartel. Maybe it’s a garlic salmon rice bowl at Yuko Kitchen that hits the spot, a cheeseburger at Irv’s, or a mezcal cocktail at All Season Brewery in the beautifully restored Steamline Moderne Firestore Tire Store at La Brea and Eighth — yes, yes, I know, technically, a few of these are just outside our association’s Miracle Mile boundaries.

Or maybe, like me — I’m a woodworker — you are constantly looking up into the canopy of our street trees, from peppermint to iron bark eucalyptus to holly oak to London plane to aromatic camphors to the burnt umber of our knurled and knobby carobs. Maybe you love the sheltering majesty of the oaks forming that arbor on Hauser between Eighth and Ninth.

I’ve probably already gilded the lily enough here — yet I haven’t even mentioned the great window displays (and gallery installations) at the Craft Contemporary, the Green Hornet-like 1925 Rolls-Royce Phantom I at the Petersen, the slow motion unveiling of LACMA’s new museum, or the disaster film series [that recently concluded] at the

Academy Museum — sorry if you missed “Volcano,” and the lava flowing out of the Tar Pits!

All of these interests, likes, passions, pastimes and histories bind us to each other and give our neighborhood an identity. We share it, we live it together, we build it together — whether we are in the nonagenarian club on Dunsmuir, some of whose members have lived there for more than 60 years, or a newborn baby whose family just moved into an apartment last month.

This, in a nutshell, is why the MMRA is here. To practice sustainability in its truest form: To keep our neighborhood vibrant, thriving with new energy and old, to hold onto traditions while breaking new ground, to tend to each other.

Greg Goldin, the president of the Miracle Mile Residential Association, is co-author of Never Built Los Angeles (Metropolis Books, 2013) and was co-curator of the exhibition “Never Built Los Angeles,” which premiered at the previous home of the A+D Architecture and Design Museum, in July 2013. For more than a decade, he was the architecture critic at Los Angeles magazine, and his work has appeared in dozens of other magazines and newspapers.