Los Angeles Visionaries Association upcoming events

LAVA's wild weekend spans the Southland with unique and free cultural programs

WHAT: On Saturday July 24 and Sunday July 25, members of LAVA (The Los Angeles Visionaries Association) present six eclectic cultural happenings, including The Aetherius Society's World Peace Pilgrimage to Mount Baldy, Esotouric's Charles Bukowski bus tour, the LA Street Food Fest at the Rose Bowl, an artist's tea party in Highland Park, LAVA's monthly Sunday Salon at Clifton's Cafeteria and a walking tour of Olvera Street and downtown's newest cultural institution LA Plaza de Cultura y Artes.

COST: Four of the six events are free (Bukowski tour and LA Food Fest are not).

MORE INFO: http://lavatransforms.org and the individual links below

Launched in February by Richard Schave and Kim Cooper--the founding Director and Curator of the Downtown Art Walk non-profit--the creative consortium LAVA (The Los Angeles Visionaries Association) is fast establishing itself as one of the city's most intriguing arts collectives,with a calendar packed with compelling, offbeat urban events and a growing list of notable Visionary contributors.

And during the last weekend in July, the LAVA calendar is packed with six incredible events (four of them free) reflecting the group's eclecticdiversity, with something to delight and inspire anybody looking for a memorable cultural outing. The events play out in this order...

1) World Peace Pilgrimage to Mount Baldy, Saturday 7/24, 9am-dusk, Free, San Gabriel Mountains. Info http://lavatransforms.org/mountbaldy710

LAVA Visionary Paul Nugent invites you to participate in the second World Peace Interfaith Pilgrimage to Mount Baldy in the gorgeous San Gabriel Mountains, 50 miles east of L.A. Mount Baldy has long been recognized as a Holy Mountain by the local Gabrielino/Tungva Native Americans. Since 1959, this mountain has also been considered holy by Members of the non-profit spiritual organization, The Aetherius Society, who recognize this sacred mountain as having been charged with Cosmic energies. Each summer since 1959, they have been visiting the mountain to send out powerful waves of spiritual energy to the world for World Peace and Global Healing through the action of selfless prayer.

The first World Peace Pilgrimage in August 2009 marked the 50th anniversary of the charging of this Holy Mountain. Over 200 people from various religious traditions, and no religious traditions, gathered to send a wave of prayer energy to the world. You are invited to join in to make this second World Peace Pilgrimage an even greater success.

2) Esotouric's Haunts of a Dirty Old Man: Charles Bukowski's Los Angeles Bus Tour, Saturday 7/24 12-4pm, $58, departing from Philippe's, Downtown. Info http://lavatransforms.org/buk0710

LAVA co-founder Richard Schave's literary bus tour focuses on writer Charles Bukowski's great passions: writing, screwing and Los Angeles. It takes in the canonical locations of his life and myth: the Postal Annex Terminal where he gathered the material for "Post Office," the De Longpre apartment where he briefly experimented with marriage and fatherhood, one of his favorite bars and liquor stores, and more, while exploring the people and ideas that made up the warp and weft of Buk's rich inner life.

Host Richard Schave was part of the team that helped make Bukowski's former home a city landmark, and the wild tale of the City Hall landmark battle between preservationists and the former landlord who falsely accused the writer of being a Nazi sympathizer will be shared at the site.

3) LA Street Food Fest's Summer Tasting Event, Saturday 7/24, 5:30pm-9pm, $45+, The Rose Bowl, Pasadena. Info http://lavatransforms.org/summertasting

LAVA Visionary and food truck dining maven Shawna Dawson invites you to explore the world of mobile cuisine as her hugely successful LA Street Food Fest returns with an all-new Summer Tasting Event at The Rose Bowl. Sample unlimited signature bites from almost 60 vendors from hot gourmet food trucks, old school carts and stands to celeb chefs and street inspired dishes from LA's best restaurants, enjoy an open bar including Singha beer gardens, mixologist made cocktails, tequila tasting and juices. Musical entertainment provided by Warpaint and The Deadly Syndrome and DJ Bryan Davidson, and your ticket benefits St. Vincent Meals on Wheels & Woolly School Gardens. Free parking, pre-sale tickets only.

4) Artist's Tea for An Exhibition of Quilts by Ruby Nishio, Sunday 7/25, 12-4pm, Free, Future Studio Gallery, Highland Park. http://lavatransforms.org/teawithruby

LAVA Visionary Amy Inouye invites you to take tea with award winning quiltartist, Ruby Nishio at Inouye's gallery. Ruby Nishio approaches her quiltmaking with intensity and seemingly boundless energy in her first one-person exhibition. Vibrant colors, striking contrasts, impeccable craftsmanship and exquisite hand quilting distinguish her work.

5) LAVA's monthly Sunday Salon, Sunday 7/25, 12-2pmpm, Free, Clifton's Cafeteria, Downtown. Info http://lavatransforms.org/salon710

On the last Sunday of each month, LAVA welcomes interested individuals togather on the third floor of the historic Clifton's Cafeteria for a loosely structured conversational Salon featuring short presentations and opportunities to meet and connect with one another. July's Visionary presentations will be announced shortly.

6) The Flâneur & The City: Olvera Street walking tour and preview of LA Plaza de Cultura y Artes, Sunday, 7/25, 2:45-4pm, Free, Olvera Street, Downtown. Info http://lavatransforms.org/olveraflaneur

Following the Salon, a limited number of attendees are invited to join LAVA founder Richard Schave on a free walking tour of historic Olvera Street and a preview of downtown's newest cultural institution, LA Plaza de Cultura y Artes. Here President and CEO Miguel Angel Corzo will give a walkthrough of the newly-refurbished historic Brunswig Building and touch on the objectives for the institution, which opens in the fall.

Urban historian Richard Schave's site-specific discussion series "The Flâneur & The City" is an ongoing attempt to explore some of the more important issues revealed by the constantly changing heart of the Metropolis. This installment features Olvera Street, the seed of Los Angeles and the first place where issues of urban preservation entered the city's consciousness.

Come explore the site's history, from the founding of the city (1781) to the present, with a focus on the "classic" era: Christine Sterling's nearly thirty years of preservation and reinterpretation. On this informative stroll through a provocative and multi-layered space, we'll explore the suprising connections between Olvera Street and downtown's recently redeveloped Old Bank District, how kitschy tourist attractions impact the pleasures of public space, and more. Reservations required.

Interested Angelenos are encouraged to come out and be part of some or all of these LAVA events celebrating the city and encouraging connections.

Applications from prospective LAVA members are being taken at http://lavatransforms.org/apply

To learn more about LAVA, please visit
http://www.lavatransforms.org