Southern California Attractions and Santa Monica Events Calendar

ICE at Santa Monica

• Date(s): 10/27/2009 - 01/31/2010
• Recurring daily
• Times: 10am-10pm weekdays, 10am-midnight on Fridays and Saturdays (including Halloween, Christmas Day and New Years Day)
• Location: Third Street Promenade at Arizona and 5th Street
• Admission: $10 and includes rental skates

Bring back childhood memories — or create new ones — as you slice through the ice in a festive atmosphere filled with holiday cheer and balmy ocean breezes. Located at 5th Street and Arizona Avenue, less than two blocks from the Third Street Promenade, the rink is open daily. The $10 admission includes skate rental. The rink is periodically cleared for short periods to groom the ice. If raining, the rink will remain open in light rain or drizzle conditions, closing only for heavy downpours.

A Santa Monica Pier Centennial Exhibition Featuring Photographic Vision of Jeffrey F. Giglioli

• Date(s): 11/16/2009 - 01/17/2010
• Recurring weekly on Sunday, Monday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday
• Times: Monday & Thurs 11am - 5pm and Fri thru Sunday 11am thru 7pm
• Location: Carousel, Santa Monica Pier
• Contact: Anne Railsback
• Phone: (310) 458-8901
• Admission: Free

In continuation of Santa Monica Pier Restoration Corp.'s year-long celebration of the Centennial of the Santa Monica Pier, Jeffrey F. Giglioli will share his photographic vision of the Pier with an exhibition opening Monday, Nov. 16, 2009 in the historic Carousel and continuing through Sunday, January 17, 2010. Giglioli, a Los Angeles native and Viet Nam War Veteran, has been a still photographer for most of his life. His black and white photographs capture his passion for the Santa Monica pier and the beauty found above and below the wooden planks of this iconic structure. Many of the photographs include Pier businesses of days-gone-by including Sinbad's, Al's Kitchen, and Cocky Moon, just to name a few.

Boys & Girls Clubs of Santa Monica - Annual Thanksgiving Food Drive

• Date(s): 11/16/2009 - 11/24/2009
• Recurring daily
• Times: Donation drop off times are Mon. - Fri. 9am-7pm and Sat. 10am-3pm
• Location: Boys & Girls Clubs of Santa Monica, 1238 Lincoln Blvd.
• Contact: Kristin Andre
• Phone: (310) 394-2582

We need your help! Mission Real Estate Group and the Boy’s and Girl’s Clubs of Santa Monica would like to cordially invite you to participate in our Annual Thanksgiving Dinner & Canned Food Drive. Each year, the Club of Santa Monica prepares a Thanksgiving feast for Club members and their families – last year they had over 200 people attend the event, most of whom thought there wouldn’t even be a Thanksgiving dinner. At that event, we also like to give our neediest families a basket of Thanksgiving food items with gift cards for turkeys, so they can have their very own Thanksgiving Meal on Thanksgiving Day. Our goal is to provide families in need with a bountiful meal on Thanksgiving Day. In order to make this a reality we need to collect all the things that go into making a Thanksgiving Dinner!

Cause for Creativity: Furoshiki Food Drive & Workshop

• Date(s): 11/16/2009 - 11/20/2009
• Recurring every week day
• Times: Nov. 16 - 21: 11am - 6pm / Nov. 22: 2 pm - 5 pm
• Location: Santa Monica Museum of Art: 2525 Michigan Ave., G1
• Contact: Asuka Hisa
• Phone: (310) 586-6488
• Admission: FREE for SMMoA Members and food drive donors; $10 without donation

Join SMMoA for a food drive and art workshop to benefit the individuals at the Ocean Park Community Center (OPCC) - the most comprehensive Westside provider of housing and services to homeless individuals and families. Make an original furoshiki - a traditional Japanese wrapping cloth - with creative techniques demonstrated by artist Jay Lizo. Learn versatile tying and wrapping methods. All of the beautiful furoshiki Thanksgiving packages to be donated to OPCC.

American Cinematheque Screenings: Aero Theatre

• Date(s): 01/01/2008
• Recurring daily
• Location: 1328 Montana Avenue at 14th Street
• Phone: (323) 466-3456
• Admission: Tickets $10 or $7 for members

Movie presentations by American Cinematheque, a non-profit, viewer-supported cultural organization, dedicated to the public presentation of the moving picture in all its forms, from classics to the outer frontiers of the art form. Weekly screenings of art, independent and classic films. Also sneak peaks of upcoming movies with celebrity guest appearances and discussions with film-makers. Call for program information: 323-466-3456. Tickets $10 or $7 for members.

Bridge & Scrabble for Everyone!

• Date(s): 12/15/2008
• Recurring weekly on Monday
• Times: 1pm-3pm
• Location: Fairview Branch Library, 2101 Ocean Park Blvd
• Contact: Fairview Branch Library
• Phone: (310) 450-0443
• Admission: Free

Have fun, meet new people and challenge your mind playing Bridge or Scrabble! All levels are welcome.

Learn to Knit!

• Date(s): 12/15/2008
• Recurring weekly on Monday
• Times: 5:00pm-6:30pm
• Location: Fairview Branch Library, 2101 Ocean Park Blvd
• Contact: Fairview Branch Library
• Phone: (310) 450-0443

Learn to Knit! For all ages, beginners should bring #8 needles and simple worsted yarn.

Tango Afficionado

• Date(s): 01/05/2009 - 07/26/2010
• Recurring weekly on Monday
• Times: 9:30pm-1:00am
• Location: Santa Monica Bay Woman's Club, 1210 4th St
• Phone: (213) 503-6191
• Admission: $10

Located at the historic Santa Monica Bay Woman’s Club, Vladimir’s and Dmitry’s milonga is a beautiful, spacious place with a magnificent wooden floor and a very classic and authentic atmosphere of Buenos Aires Tango Clubs!

Light snacks and refreshments are served.

First Presbyterian Features Works of Laddie John Dill

• Date(s): 07/20/2009
• Recurring daily
• Location: 1220 Second St
• Phone: (310) 451-1303
• Admission: Free

Painter/sculptor Laddie John Dill was born in Long Beach, California in 1943. He graduated from Chouinard Art Institute, Los Angeles, in 1968 with a BFA degree. Dill was influenced by Rauschenberg, Keith Sonnier, and environmental artists Robert Smithson, Dennis Oppenheim and Robert Irwin, who were exploring alternatives to easel painting.

Featured work is displayed outside on the First Presbyterian gate. 

Abstract Acrylics Workshop

• Date(s): 08/24/2009
• Recurring weekly on Monday, Saturday
• Times: Mondays 6-8pm/ Saturdays 11-1
• Location: at PAINT:LAB 2912 Main Street, Santa Monica
• Contact: Melanie
• Phone: (310) 450-9200
• Admission: $40.00 + the purchase of your canvas

Samantha has been captivated and immersed in the arts from a very early age. Her diverse cultural background and love for the arts has contributed immensely to her unique style and visual language, as a fine artist and as a designer. Encompassing traditional with cutting edge, her approach to color and form reflect her skills and influences throughout her life, expanding and always contributing to her extensive resume of accomplishments. Deep emotions expressed through the abstraction of the human body, of nature. A manipulation of textures, lines, and colors, conveying the essence of an inner soul. A higher spirit. Something felt but seldom seen. A release of flight and energy. A realm of inner vision, flowing from mind to brush to canvas, giving one the sense of visual form of emotions, stretched and broken as our imagination maybe. A transference of the cathartic flow. The inside realized. Your truth visualized.

Beginners very welcome, maximum 8 students. Reservations required (310) 450-9200. Workshop Fee: $40 Price includes paint and brushes, does not include purchase of your canvas

Skateboard: Evolution and Art in California

• Date(s): 11/14/2009 - 05/30/2010
• Recurring daily
• Times: Wednesday through Sunday 11:00am to 4:00pm
• Location: California Heritage Museum, 2612 Main St
• Phone: (310) 392-8537
• Admission: General Admission: $3.00, Seniors, Students: $2.00, Members, Children under twelve: Free

The California Heritage Museum is proud to present “SKATEBOARD: Evolution and Art in California.” Guest curated by legendary Z-boy Nathan Pratt in conjunction with museum staff curator Michael Trotter and advisory committee members Jeff Ho, Skip Engblom (Zephyr co-founders), Cris Dawson (1966 Hobie Champ), Z-Boys Tony Alva and Stacy Peralta, and 1980’s world champion Christian Hosoi, the exhibition traces the evolution of boards from pre-1950 to the present showcasing the riders, designers, artists, and manufacturers that created the California phenomenon known as the skateboard.

This is the first exhibition of the California skate movement to be shown in “Dog Town”, the Santa Monica/Ocean Park area where modern skateboarding was born and the skate became an art form. The California Heritage Museum is located in the vortex at Main Street and Ocean Park Boulevard. 

Vista Santa Monica

• Date(s): 11/16/2009 - 04/26/2010
• Recurring weekly on Monday
• Times: 11am-3pm
• Location: Annenberg Community Beach House, 415 Pacific Coast Highway
• Phone: (310) 458-4904

The second exhibition in the Beach=Culture series showcases work that captures the essence of Santa Monica. Works range from conceptual to nostalgic to fantastical... all expanding upon the rich stories of life in the City by the Sea. Artists include long-time residents who have helped shape the vibrant cultural landscape that Santa Monica enjoys.

On display in the Event House through April 2010. Open Mondays, 11am-3pm.