Royal/T to launch stART series

On Thursday, April 22, 2010, Royal/T—Culver City’s visually stunning and playful 10,000-square-foot, Japanese-inspired art exhibition space, “cosplay” Japanese maid café, and retail store—kicks off its new series, stART @ Royal/T. A new ongoing call-to-action art program curated to enrich, educate, and inspire adults and children of every age. The series programming will include spirited conversations, performances, workshops, lectures, and novelty events. Reviving art education in the Los Angeles community, in response to the budget cuts to education programs statewide, stART will feature notable artists, gallerists, art consultants, and art therapists among its guests.

As a respected art collector, one of Owner Susan Hancock’s lifelong passions is to share her love of art with the community throughout Los Angeles. For over a decade, she has used art to make a difference in people’s lives, often giving her five nieces prized pieces of artwork rather than toys, not only as an investment for their future, but also as a way to develop their sensibility and appreciation for the arts.

“My nieces’ college fund is invested in art, and after the housing bust and recent recession, I’m glad that it is,” says Susan.

Through the creation of Royal/T, she has taken her love for sharing art one step further, bringing an eclectic mix of dining, retail, and contemporary art to life within Los Angeles’s first maid café. With the new stART series, Royal/T is looking to provide a central venue that will serve as a forum to share and explore the gift of art and culture with the local community in an accessible space that is affordable, inviting, and kid-friendly.

Since Royal/T’s inception in December 2007, Owner Susan Hancock has used the art exhibition space to showcase rare works of art that rotate every six months, providing an opportunity for a varied selection of related curatorial exhibits and events.

Currently exhibiting “The Never Ending Story: Fairytale, Fantasy, Obsession” through August 4, 2010, this show explores the theme of fairytales, and their contemporary expression, fantasy, and is the realization of Curator Laura Hoptman’s vision for a collaborative event. The exhibit features works from collector Susan Hancock as well as a few selections from New York-based galleries including Anton Kern Gallery, Derek Eller Gallery, 303 Gallery, and Metro Pictures Gallery. Notable artists featured in the exhibit include Louise Bourgeois, Cindy Sherman, Yayoi Kusama, Mike Kelley, Jim Shaw, and Fred Tomaselli.

The first three stART events include:

Thursday, April 22, 6-9 p.m. Sold exclusively through Brown Paper Tickets: $30 (includes $10 credit at Royal/T’s Maid Café)
Invest in future generations through Art
Presented by Royal/T Owner Susan Hancock & Art Consultant Veronica Fernandez, this introductory stART event will commence with a discussion for parents, grandparents, godparents, and fairy-godparents, focusing on how to help children become more involved in the fascinating world of art, and how best to begin collecting as a means of improving their children’s creative development and investing in their future. The event includes a tour of Royal/T’s current art collection led by Hancock. Refreshments and small bites will be available throughout the evening in the café.

Thursday, May 6, 7-11 p.m. Limited tickets are available, prices TBD (start@royal-t.org)
Genius of Creativity
Presented by Dr. Robert Bilder, Chief of Medical Psychology – Neuropsychology at UCLA, this event will explore a discussion centered on the question, “What neuron leads to creativity?” Cash bar, a live DJ, and bass and violin performances to follow the discussion.

Sunday, June 13, Noon-2 p.m. Tickets: $20 (start@royal-t.org)
Modernism: Old and Young
Presented by New York-based artist Peter Rostowsky: A performance and conceptual experiment that asks adults and children to re-make or "interpret" canonical Modernist works in the hopes of renewing and memorializing the great tradition of modernist painting. Part art-history class and painting workshop, the piece asks participants to look closely at the masterpieces of the last century and to replicate them on a small scale. An event that calls for earnest participation, Modernism: Old and Young recalls, spoofs and revitalizes the art of the past by channeling it through the perhaps unskilled yet always sincere hands of two generations.

About Royal/T
Located in Culver City, Royal/T is a playful blending of café, concept shop, and art exhibition space. The 10,000-square-foot space reflects the interior realm of fantasy that strongly influences the artists included in Owner Susan Hancock’s collection. Royal/T’s café is inspired by the meido kissa (maid café) phenomena of Akihabara, Tokyo’s electronic district.

Re-contextualizing the underground culture of Japan that celebrates “cosplay” (costume play), waitresses dress in maid uniforms with a Lolita-esque touch, while serving an amalgam of French and Japanese cuisine. The art space showcases curated exhibitions with a focus on Japanese contemporary art, and an inventive concept store emulates the collection’s sophistication—a seamless merging of Japanese pop culture and high-end design.

Royal/T is open from 10 a.m. – 6 p.m. daily. The café serves breakfast, brunch, lunch, and high tea from 10 a.m. – 5 p.m. daily. Self-parking is available on Washington Blvd. and in the Royal/T parking lot on Lindblade St.

For more information on upcoming stART events, please contact Royal/T at 310.559.6300, start@royal-t.org, or by visiting www.royal-t.org.

Tickets begin at $20 and can be purchased online at www.brownpapertickets.com. Royal/T is also on Facebook and Twitter.