Current Exhibition Current Exhibition
Let Me Fix You a Plate Let Me Fix You a Plate
April 18 - June 29 , 2025
In Let Me Fix You a Plate, Keith Magruder invites us to gather around the table not just for a meal, but for a conversation about history, memory, and the power of storytelling. Inspired by the lessons passed down from his grandmother stories often absent from mainstream history Magruder reflects on the ways knowledge is shared within families and communities.
Central to this exhibition is the dining table, a domestic space where food becomes a metaphor for culture, heritage, and the resilience of Black communities. Magruder considers Manhattan Beach’s own history through the lens of Bruce’s Beach, a once-thriving Black-owned resort seized from the Bruce family in the 1920s. This exhibition serves as both a celebration of Black prosperity and a meditation on the Black Renaissance honoring the past while envisioning a future of renewal and success.
Employing trompe-l'œil techniques with paper and watercolor, Magruder recreates everyday objects with striking realism, evoking nostalgia and the warmth of home. Butterflies, delicately incorporated throughout the installation, symbolize both ancestors and migration—drawing parallels between the movement of species, the influence of food, and the global diaspora of Black people.
Through this immersive installation, Magruder offers a space for reflection and reconnection, reminding us that history is not just recorded in textbooks but passed from hand to hand, from plate to plate.
Gallery Tours Gallery Tours
Do you want to learn about our current exhibition through the guidance of our amazing Gallery Attendants? The Manhattan Beach Art Center is proud to start hosting guided gallery tours of our current exhibition on Wednesday nights and Thursday afternoons and evenings. Tours will run until Thursday, June 26th at 3pm.
Each tour will lead you through the gallery, providing context or background information about the artist, their work, or the installation of the piece. After the tour, there will be ample time for you to create your own pieces in the Education Space with the guidance of a Gallery Attendant.
Tours are free! Please RSVP below.
Wednesday Night Tours
Wednesday, May 7 -June 25
7:00pm - 8:00pm
RSVP Here
Thursday Tours
Thursday, May 8 - June 26
1:00pm - 2:00pm RSVP Here 7:00pm-8:00PM
DIGITALDRAWING#45478
Adults
July7-Sept8
Mon6:30PM-9:30PM
INTROTOOILPAINTING#45489
Adults
July9-Sept10,2025
Wed6:30PM-9:30PM
INTROTOCHARCOAL#45488
Adults
July10-Sept11,2025
Thurs6:30PM-9:30PM
FOUNDATIONSDRAWING#45479
Adults
Jul11-Sept12,2025
Fri9:00AM-12:00PM
FOUNDATIONSPAINTING#45479
Adults
Jul11-Sept12,2025
Fri12:00PM-3:00PM
Don’t Forget: Summer Camp Registration Still Open!
With summer right around the corner, get your little artist’s plans sorted for camp today! Allow them to gain hands-on basic pottery learning experience at our Kids’ Clay Intensive camp. Or, join us for Art Lab Camp, where your artist will focus on a different creative process or material every day.
Art Lab Camp
Kid’s Clay Intensive Camp
Upcoming Silver Metal Clay Pendant Workshop with Chris Brooks
Ages 18+
Saturday, August 2nd #45498 9:30am-3:30pm
In these workshops, beginning and returning students will learn several ways to set a 8mm stone in a large faceted stone in silver clay. This small class offers plenty of individual attention in an intimate setting. Fee includes all materials and the use of all tools.
Please bring your own lunch, and glasses for detailed work if you need them. Firing will be done offsite and you will pick up your pieces at the Art Center. The class is located at the Manhattan Beach Art Center.
CULTURAL ARTS CALENDAR
Exhibition: Let Me Fix You A Plate
10:00AM - 5:00PM Glaze Lab
MBAC 2
Digital Drawing
6:30PM - 9:30PM
3
MBAC CLOSED
MBAC 4
Exhibition:LetMeFixYou APlate
10:00AM-9:00PM AdultArtJournaling
11:30AM-1:00PM ArtLab
3:30PM-5:00PM GlazeLab
4:00PM-8:00PM
MBAC CLOSED
Exhibition: Let Me Fix You A Plate
10:00AM - 4:00PM Cultural Arts Commission 4:00 PM
10:00AM - 5:00PM Glaze Lab 10:00AM - 4:00PM
MBAC CLOSED
10:00AM - 4:00PM
MBAC CLOSED
Exhibition:LetMeFix YouAPlate
10:00AM-9:00PM AdultArtJournaling
11:30AM-1:00PM ArtLab
3:30PM-5:00PM GlazeLab
4:00PM-8:00PM
Exhibition:LetMe FixYouAPlate
10:00AM-9:00PM GlazeLab 4:00PM-8:00PM
Exhibition:LetMe FixYouAPlate
10:00AM-9:00PM GlazeLab 4:00PM-8:00PM
Exhibition:LetMe FixYouAPlate
10:00AM-9:00PM GlazeLab 4:00PM-8:00PM
Exhibition: Let Me Fix You A Plate 10:00AM-5:00PM FoundationsDrawing 9:00AM - 12:00PM FoundationsPainting 12:00PM- 3:00PM
Exhibition:Let Me Fix YouAPlate 10:00AM- 5:00PM Foundations Drawing 9:00AM - 12:00PM Foundations Painting 12:00PM - 3:00PM
Fix You A Plate
- 5:00PM Glaze Lab 10:00AM - 4:00PM
10:00AM-5:00PM GlazeLab 10:00AM4:00PM 10thAnnualSaluteto theTroops:Picnicand Concert 5:00PM Exhibition: Let Me Fix You A Plate 10:00AM - 5:00PM Glaze Lab 10:00AM - 4:00PM Exhibition:
Exhibition:LetMe FixYouAPlate
10:00AM-9:00PM GlazeLab 4:00PM-8:00PM
Exhibition: Let Me Fix You A Plate 10:00AM - 5:00PM
MBAC CLOSED
Exhibition: Let Me Fix You A Plate 10:00AM - 5:00PM