The news comes as public broadcasting faces unprecedented challenges to its survival. In July, Congress voted to cut $1.1 billion in federal funding for the Corp. for Public Broadcasting, which was founded in 1968 and helps fund PBS, NPR, as well as 1,500 local radio and television stations. The cuts were encouraged by President Trump, who derided the organization for spreading \u201cwoke\u201d propaganda.<\/p>\n
The private, nonprofit corporation soon after announced that it would close. The majority of its staff was dismissed at the end of last month, and a bare-bones transition team remains through January to wrap up unfinished work.<\/p>\n
Without CPB, educational programming like \u201cThe Joy of Painting\u201d with Bob Ross will have an uphill battle finding the support it needs.<\/p>\n
Known for his cloudlike halo of curly brown hair, soothing voice and infectious love of the art form as shown on his signature show, the artist became a mainstay in American households across 400-plus episodes and more than a decade on the air.<\/p>\n
With its wholesome content and relaxed pace, his was the kind of show that defined PBS. Hopefully, his work can help keep the lights on at the stations that helped gain him a cultlike following.<\/p>\n
I\u2019m arts and culture writer Jessica Gelt, and I\u2019m the proud owner of a Bob Ross Chia Pet head. Here\u2019s your arts and culture news for the week.<\/p>\n
On our radar <\/p>\n
Kai A. Ealy stars in \u201cJoe Turner\u2019s Come and Gone\u201d at A Noise Within<\/p>\n
(Daniel Reichert)<\/p>\n
Joe Turner\u2019s Come And Gone<\/b> Tavares Strachan, \u201cSix Thousand Years,\u201d and \u201cThe Encyclopedia of Invisibility,\u201d 2018, mixed media<\/p>\n (Johnna Arnold \/ \u00a9 Tavares Strachan)<\/p>\n Tavares Strachan: The Day Tomorrow Began<\/b> Alexander Shelley conducts the Pacific Symphony Friday-Sunday in Costa Mesa.<\/p>\n (Curtis Perry)<\/p>\n Alexander Shelley conducts the Pacific Symphony<\/b> You\u2019re reading Essential Arts The week ahead: A curated calendar<\/p>\n FRIDAY<\/b><\/p>\n The American Contemporary Ballet dances to Shubert\u2019s score for \u201cDeath & the Maiden.\u201d<\/p>\n (Victor Demarchelier)<\/p>\n Death and the Maiden<\/b> Installation view, Derek Fordjour: \u201cNightsong,\u201d Sept. 13-Oct. 11, 2025.<\/p>\n (Jeff McLane \/ David Kordansky Gallery)<\/p>\n Nightsong<\/b> Mexican singer Luc\u00eda performs Friday at the Nimoy.<\/p>\n (Shervin Lainez)<\/p>\n Luc\u00eda<\/b> Mascogos<\/b> People in the Dark: An Immersive Ghost Story<\/b> Grand Kyiv Ballet performs \u201cSwan Lake\u201d Friday at the Ebell Wilshire.<\/p>\n Grand Kyiv Ballet<\/b> SATURDAY<\/b> Vicky Chow<\/b> Gracias Gustavo Community Block Party<\/b> Institute of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles<\/b> 4-8 p.m. Friday. Noon-6 p.m. Wednesday; Noon-7 p.m. Thursday; Noon-6 p.m. Friday; 11 a.m.-6 p.m. Saturday-Sunday; closed Mondays, Tuesdays and public holidays. Institute of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, 1717 E. 7th St., Arts District, downtown L.A. theicala.org<\/a> <\/p>\n Sleep Token performs at the Reading Music Festival, England, in 2023. <\/p>\n (Scott Garfitt \/ Invision \/ Associated Press)<\/p>\n Sleep Token<\/b> SUNDAY<\/b> Julie Andrews, Christopher Plummer and the Von Trapp family in a scene from the 1965 film \u201cThe Sound of Music.\u201d<\/p>\n (20th Century Fox)<\/p>\n The Sound of Music<\/b> TUESDAY<\/b> THURSDAY<\/b> Yunchan Lim<\/b> San Cha, photographed in 2020, performs Thursday-Saturday at REDCAT. <\/p>\n (Mel Melcon \/ Los Angeles Times)<\/p>\n San Cha <\/b> Culture news and the SoCal scene Bisserat Tseggai, Claudia Logan, Victoire Charles and Jordan Rice, clockwise from top left, of \u201cJaja\u2019s African Hair Braiding.\u201d<\/p>\n (Christina House \/ Los Angeles Times)<\/p>\n Jaja\u2019s African Hair Braiding<\/b> Times theater critic Charles McNulty caught the opening Sunday night and wrote a glowing review<\/a> of the touring production, which he noted was \u201cbursting with gossip, petty fights, audacious fashion, dazzling hair styles, full-body dancing and uncensored truth about the vulnerable lives of immigrant workers.\u201d<\/p>\n Hammer biennial<\/b> Artist Alake Shilling stands in front of a 25-foot inflatable psychedelic bear driving a convertible titled \u201cBuggy Bear Crashes Made in L.A,\u201d at the Hammer Museum in Westwood. <\/p>\n (Genaro Molina \/ Los Angeles Times)<\/p>\n I also ate lunch with the charming and kind artist Alake Shilling, whose adorable sculptures of cuddly animals featuring melancholy faces are part of the show. I trailed Shilling as she watched a test inflation of a 25-foot sculpture titled<\/a> \u201cBuggy Bear Crashes Made in L.A.,\u201d which will be on display on an outdoor pedestal on Wilshire Boulevard through March. I made this fun video<\/a> with the help of video editor Mark Potts.<\/p>\n LACMA Gifts<\/b> Best Friends Forever<\/b> Enjoying this newsletter? Consider subscribing to the Los Angeles Times<\/p>\n Your support helps us deliver the news that matters most. Become a subscriber.<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cArabesque over the Right Leg, Left Arm in Front,\u201d by Edgar Degas<\/p>\n (Norton Simon Museum)<\/p>\n Norton Simon acquires sculpture<\/b> Mushroom Boat<\/b> Los Angeles Ballet dancers in pointe shoes stretch before beginning rehearsals in 2015.<\/p>\n (Los Angeles Times)<\/p>\n An anniversary for Los Angeles Ballet<\/b> K.A.M.P. fundraiser<\/b> \u2014 Jessica Gelt<\/p>\n And last but not least<\/p>\n
Gregg T. Daniel continues his reinvestigation of August Wilson\u2019s American Century Cycle with a production of what is arguably the finest work in the playwright\u2019s 10-play series. Set in a Pittsburgh boardinghouse in 1911 during the Great Migration, \u201cJoe Turner\u2019s Come and Gone\u201d focuses on the spiritual crossroads of Black Americans who are being reminded at every turn that their freedom comes with a prohibitive cost. The sixth Wilson production at A Noise Within in this seasons-long retrospective should be a standout: It\u2019s one of the great American plays of the 20th century. \u2014 Charles McNulty
Previews, 2 p.m. Sunday; 7:30 p.m. Wednesday-Oct. 17; opening night, 7:30 p.m. Oct. 18; through Nov. 9. A Noise Within, 3352 E. Foothill Blvd., Pasadena. anoisewithin.org<\/a> <\/p>\n <\/p>\n
Bahamian-born New York artist, whose immersive solo exhibition \u201cMagnificent Darkness\u201d filled the Hollywood branch of Marian Goodman Gallery last year, makes multidisciplinary art that seeks to amplify notable events and people \u2014 especially related to exploration, from deep-sea diving to outer space \u2014 that are often sidelined in standard cultural histories. Strachan, a 2022 MacArthur Foundation fellow, once shipped a 4.5-ton block of ice from the Arctic to the Bahamas via FedEx. We\u2019ll see what might arrive at Wilshire Boulevard. \u2014 Christopher Knight
11 a.m.-6 p.m. Monday, Tuesday and Thursday; 11 a.m.-8 p.m. Friday; 10 a.m.-7 p.m. Saturday; closed Wednesday; through March 29, 2026. Los Angeles County Museum of Art, BCAM Level 2, 5905 Wilshire Blvd. lacma.org<\/a> <\/p>\n <\/p>\n
At 45, the British conductor has a seemingly full and far-fledged plate: music director of the National Arts Center Orchestra in Ottawa; principal associate conductor of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra in London; and artistic and music director of Artis-Naples and the Naples Philharmonic in Florida. Next year, the plate becomes fuller and further-fledged when he becomes music director of the Pacific Symphony. This fall, however, Shelley makes his debut as music director designate by showcasing works bursting with color \u2014 Mongomery\u2019s \u201cStarburst\u201d; Arturo M\u00e1rquez\u2019s \u201cConcert for Guitar Mystical and Profane\u201d with Pablo S\u00e1inz-Villegas as soloist; and Rimsky Korsakov\u2019s \u201cScheherazade.\u201d Shelley returns in November with Ravel\u2019s glorious ballet score \u201cDaphnis and Chloe,\u201d the perfect enchanting complement to San Diego Symphony\u2019s \u201cL\u2019Enfant,\u201d for wrapping up the Ravel year, the 150th anniversary of the French composer\u2019s birth having been in March. \u2014 Mark Swed
8 p.m. Thursday-Oct. 18. Ren\u00e9e and Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall, 600 Town Center Drive, Costa Mesa. pacificsymphony.org<\/a> <\/p>\n <\/p>\n
American Contemporary Ballet, under the direction of Lincoln Jones, dances to a live performance of Schubert\u2019s score, complete with opera singers; plus \u201cBurlesque: Variation IX.\u201d
8 p.m. Friday and Saturday; Thursday performances Oct. 23 and 30; through Nov. 1. ACB, Bank of America Plaza, 330 S. Hope St. #150, downtown L.A. acbdances.com<\/a> <\/p>\n <\/p>\n
Times video intern Quincy Bowie Jr. recently visited artist Derek Fordjour\u2019s sensorial experience<\/a> at Mid-City\u2019s David Kordansky Gallery. \u201cIn a time where many feel silenced, and afraid to speak up, Fordjour creates a space of darkness where truth can be revealed, heard and felt,\u201d wrote Bowie. \u201c\u2018Nightsong\u2019 creates a unique space where the Black voice and its many songs are centered.\u201d The free exhibit closes tonight.
6-10 p.m. David Kordansky Gallery, 5130 W. Edgewood Place. davidkordanskygallery.com<\/a> <\/p>\n <\/p>\n
The enchanting Mexican singer mixes traditional American jazz and Latin folk in her eponymous debut album, released earlier this year.
8 p.m. UCLA Nimoy Theater, 1262 Westwood Blvd. cap.ucla.edu<\/a> <\/p>\n
Jose Luis Valenzuela directs the world premiere of playwright Miranda Gonz\u00e1lez\u2019s drama revealing the untold stories of Mexico\u2019s Underground Railroad.
Final preview, 8 p.m. Friday; opening night, 8 p.m. Saturday; 8 p.m. Thursday-Saturday; 4 p.m. Sunday, through Nov. 9. Los Angeles Theatre Center, 514 S. Spring St., downtown L.A. latinotheaterco.org<\/a> <\/p>\n
A Lost Legends Ghost Tour goes frighteningly awry, placing the audience face-to-face with Hollywood\u2019s haunted past in this enveloping theatrical experience from Drowned Out Productions.
7-11:40 p.m., with start times every 20 mins. Friday; 6-10:40 p.m., with start times every 20 mins. Saturday and Sunday (also Thursday, Oct. 16), through Oct. 31. 1035 S. Olive St., downtown L.A. tickettailor.com<\/a> <\/p>\n <\/p>\n
This touring company of Ukrainian dancers is temporarily based out of the International Ballet Academy in Bellevue, Wash., while Russia continues its war with Ukraine. The troupe brings Tchaikovsky\u2019s timeless ballet \u201cSwan Lake\u201d to Mid-City in a graceful performance sure to soothe even the most restless soul. (Jessica Gelt)
7 p.m. Wilshire Ebell Theatre, 4401 W 8th St, Los Angeles. ebellofla.org<\/a> <\/p>\n
Corey Helford Gallery<\/b>
A trio of strikingly distinct shows with a global sweep opens Friday. In the main gallery, \u201cThe Weight of Us,\u201d a duo exhibition featuring solo works from Nigerian artists Arinze Stanley and Oscar Ukonu explores interconnectedness, and the complex interplay of individual and collective narratives. \u201cWhere Petals Dance,\u201d features the work of Japanese artist aica in Gallery 2. The major exhibition featuring Latvian-born contemporary surrealist painter Jana Brike, \u201cWhen I Was a River,\u201d debuts in Gallery 3.
Noon-6 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday, through Nov. 15. Corey Helford Gallery, 571 S. Anderson St. #1, Los Angeles. https:\/\/coreyhelfordgallery.com\/<\/a> <\/p>\n
CAP UCLA and Piano Spheres present new music pianist Vicky Chow performing the West Coast premiere of Tristan Perich\u2019s \u201cSurface Image.\u201d
8 p.m. UCLA Nimoy Theater, 1262 Westwood Blvd. cap.ucla.edu<\/a> <\/p>\n
Hosted by Aundrae Russell of KJLH, this outdoor celebration features performances by DJ Aye Jaye, live art by Hannah Edmonds and Israel \u201cSeaweed\u201d Batiz, Mariachi Tierra Mia, poet Aletha Metcalf-Evans, Versa-Style Street Dance Company, YOLA at Inglewood Jazz Ensemble, Sherie, muralist ShowzArt \u2014 \u201cThe Art Jedi,\u201d D Smoke and the Inglewood High School Marching Band, plus activities, food trucks and more.
10 a.m.-4 p.m. Judith and Thomas L. Beckmen YOLA Center, 101 S. La Brea Ave., Inglewood. laphil.com<\/a> <\/p>\n
An open house kicks off four new exhibitions: Sandra V\u00e1squez de la Horra, \u201cThe Awake Volcanoes\u201d; Samar Al Summary, \u201cExcavating the Sky\u201d; Liz Hern\u00e1ndez, \u201cDonde piso, crecen cosas (Where I step, things grow)\u201d; and AoA x IAO, \u201cI Smell LA.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n
Sleep Token is by some measures the biggest heavy-rock band in the world right now. Its 2025 LP, \u201cEven in Arcadia,\u201d demolished streaming records for a metal act, reaching well beyond the genre\u2019s cantankerous core fan base, which has mixed feelings about Sleep Token\u2019s pop chart success, to say the least. (No one is more skeptical about the band\u2019s new fame than its cryptically anonymous front person Vessel: \u201cRight foot in the roses, left foot on a landmine,\u201d he sings in \u201cCaramel,\u201d \u201cThey can sing the words while I cry into the bass line.\u201d) The band\u2019s high-drama live shows are where Sleep Token really shines, though, as in this return to L.A. for a set that finally provides the scale its runic masks, robes and necrotic body paint have always called for. (August Brown)
8 p.m. Crypto.com Arena, 1111 S. Figueroa St., downtown L.A. cryptoarena.com<\/a> <\/p>\n
Paul Jacobs<\/b>
The Grammy-winning organist performs Bach\u2019s \u201cThe Art of Fugue.\u201d
7:30 p.m. Walt Disney Concert Hall, 111 S. Grand Ave., downtown L.A. laphil.com<\/a> <\/p>\n <\/p>\n
A 70mm screening of the 1965 Robert Wise-directed movie musical starring Julie Andrews and Christopher Plummer that won five Oscars, including best picture.
3 p.m. Sunday. Academy Museum, David Geffen Theater, 6067 Wilshire Blvd., Los Angeles. academymuseum.org<\/a> <\/p>\n
L<\/b>.<\/b>A<\/b>.<\/b> Phil Gala: Gustavo\u2019s Fiesta<\/b>
Gustavo Dudamel conducts the orchestra in a few of his favorite things: De Falla\u2019s \u201cThree-Cornered Hat,\u201d selections from Dvo\u0159\u00e1k\u2019s \u201cNew World\u201d Symphony (featuring musicians from YOLA, Youth Orchestra Los Angeles), Beethoven\u2019s Seventh, \u201cFairy Garden\u201d from\u202f Ravel\u2019s Mother Goose \u202fSuite and Revueltas\u2019 \u201cNight of Enchantment.\u201d
7 p.m. Walt Disney Concert Hall, 111 S. Grand Ave., downtown L.A. laphil.com<\/a> <\/p>\n
Draw Them In, Paint Them Out<\/b>
Trenton Doyle Hancock confronts the work of painter Philip Guston in this dual exhibition that examines the role the artist plays in the pursuit of social justice.
Noon-5 p.m. Tuesday\u2013Friday; 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Saturday\u2013Sunday. Skirball Cultural Center, 2701 N. Sepulveda Blvd., Los Angeles. skirball.org<\/a> <\/p>\n
For his Disney Hall debut, the youngest-ever winner of the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition performs Bach\u2019s \u201cGoldberg Variations,\u201d alongside \u201c…Round and velvety-smooth blend\u2026,\u201d a new piece, written especially for the pianist, by Korean composer Hanurij Lee.
8 p.m. Walt Disney Concert Hall, 111 S. Grand Ave., downtown L.A. laphil.com<\/a> <\/p>\n <\/p>\n
The L.A.-based composer, musician and performance artist presents \u201cInebria Me,\u201d a new experimental opera that reimagines the melodrama of telenovelas through a queer, genre-bending lens as adapted from her 2019 album, \u201cLa Luz de la Esperanza.\u201d In Spanish with English supertitles. Postshow Q&A with San Cha on Oct 17.
8 p.m. Thursday, Oct.18. REDCAT, 631 W. 2nd St., downtown L.A. redcat.org<\/a> <\/p>\n <\/p>\n
Currently staging its L.A. premiere at Center Theatre Group\u2019s Mark Taper Forum, \u201cJaja\u2019s\u201d is an uproarious workplace comedy that packs a serious political punch. I had the pleasure of interviewing four of the lead actors<\/a> during a roundtable at a downtown rehearsal room a few days before the run started. The women talked about their love of the show and of the playwright, Jocelyn Bioh. They also discussed the country\u2019s fraught political climate and how it\u2019s laying waste to the idea of the American Dream \u2014 the one that has attracted immigrants seeking a better life for their families for hundreds of years. Their thoughts have a direct throughline to the show, which takes place on a single hot day at a West African salon in Harlem.<\/p>\n
Made in L.A. 2025 has officially opened at UCLA\u2019s Hammer Museum and I recently toured the highly anticipated seventh edition of the biennial exhibition<\/a> in the company of curators Essence Harden and Paulina Pobocha. The pair told me interesting backstories about the 28 participating artists, including that the four large sculptures of doors made by Amanda Ross-Ho represent a door at the nursing home where her father lived.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n
Big news keeps coming out of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, which announced Wednesday that it had been gifted more than 100 works of Austrian Expressionism<\/a> worth \u201cwell over\u201d $60 million by the family of Otto Kallir, a renowned art dealer who immigrated to America in 1938 after the German Reich annexed Austria. The art will be transferred to the museum over the next several years and includes the museum\u2019s first paintings by Gustav Klimt, Egon Schiele and Richard Gerstl. The exciting news comes two months after LACMA was gifted its first paintings by Vincent van Gogh and \u00c9douard Manet<\/a> by the Pearlman Foundation.<\/p>\n
Finally, I got an update from the \u201csatirical activist\u201d artists with the Secret Handshake. They told me they had once again received a permit to reinstall <\/a>their controversial Trump-Epstein statue (dubbed \u201cBest Friends Forever\u201d) on the National Mall. \u201cJust like a toppled Confederate general forced back onto a public square, the Donald Trump Jeffrey Epstein statue has risen from the rubble to stand gloriously on the National Mall once again,\u201d a rep for the Secret Handshake wrote in an email.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n
The Pasadena museum announced the acquisition of a bronze sculpture by Edgar Degas titled \u201cArabesque over the Right Leg, Left Arm in Front.\u201d The museum already holds more than 100 pieces by Degas in its collection, which is known as one of the largest public collection\u2019s of the artist\u2019s work in the world. \u201cThis significant acquisition, long sought after, completes a critical gap in the Museum\u2019s renowned Degas collection,\u201d a rep for the museum wrote in an email. The sculpture went on view in the museum\u2019s 19th century wing late last week.<\/p>\n
Ever heard of a boat made out of mushrooms? Neither had I until someone told me about an exhibition at Fulcrum Arts in Pasadena <\/a>called, \u201cSam Shoemaker: Mushroom Boat.\u201d As the title implies, the artist built a kayak out of mushroom mycelium. He then proceeded to use the unusual vessel to cross the Catalina Channel \u2014 a total of 26 nautical miles. He chronicled his journey the whole way, and the results of that work are on display alongside the boat. It includes large-scale projections, time-lapse videos, and soundscapes from his sometimes wild and turbulent journey.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n
Los Angeles Ballet announced its 2025-26 season, which also happens to mark the company\u2019s 20th anniversary<\/a>, and its Music Center debut \u2014 \u201cGiselle\u201d at the Ahmanson Theatre in the spring. The season launches in December with LAB\u2019s acclaimed annual presentation of \u201cThe Nutcracker\u201d at Royce Hall and the Dolby Theatre. This season the company continues its residency at the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts, and is set to stage a triple-bill anniversary production, \u201c20 Years of Los Angeles Ballet,\u201d featuring George Balanchine\u2019s \u201cRubies,\u201d Hans van Manen\u2019s \u201cFrank Bridge Variations,\u201d and a third new work by Artistic Director Melissa Barak, who assumed her position in 2022. <\/p>\n
The Hammer Museum is back this Sunday with its annual fundraiser \u2014 Kids Art Museum Project,<\/a> better known as K.A.M.P. Tickets support the Hammer\u2019s free year-round family programming. Each year, the museum shuts down on a Sunday and presents an art-filled wonderland for children and families, with interactive art stations created and helmed by participating L.A. artists, as well as a special reading room featuring well-known actors. This year\u2019s readers will be actor Justine Lupe and baseball star Chris Taylor. Artists include Daniel Gibson, Sharon Johnston & Mark Lee, Annie Lapin, Ryan Preciado, Rob Reynolds, Jennifer Rochlin, Mindy Shapero, Brooklin A. Soumahoro and Christopher Suarez.<\/p>\n