Los Angeles Visionaries Association events

LAVA's August wild weekend celebrates culture and history in Downtown Los Angeles

WHAT: On Saturday August 28 and Sunday August 29, members of LAVA (The Los Angeles Visionaries Association) present four eclectic downtown cultural happenings, including Esotouric's The Lowdown on Downtown bus tour, a 25th Anniversary Night Stalker Murders tour from Eastside Desmadre, LAVA's monthly Sunday Salon at Clifton's Cafeteria featuring a talk from David Kipen about his new bookshop/ lending library Libros Schmibros in BoyleHeights, and a rare chance to see David Caldwell's multi-media performance installation War Child Show in his Arts District loft.

COST: Two of the four events are free (War Child Show and Sunday Salon).

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 August, the LAVA calendar is packed with four incredible Downtown events (two of them free) reflecting the group's eclectic diversity, with something to delight and inspire anybody looking for a memorable cultural outing. The events play out in this order...

1) Esotouric's Reyner Banham Loves Los Angeles: The Lowdown on Downtown bus tour, Saturday 8/28, 11am-3pm, $58, departs from Philippe. Info http://lavatransforms.org/lowdownaugust10

Join LAVA co-founder Richard Schave, the founding director of the Downtown LA Art Walk non-profit, on a tour that reveals the secret history, and the fascinating future, of this most beguiling LA neighborhood. THE LOWDOWN ON DOWNTOWN is a guided social history of the mysterious, complex and rapidly evolving center of L.A., a thriving neighborhood that was intentionally depopulated in the 1950s and is currently experiencing an extraordinary rebirth.

Everyone complains L.A. lacks a center -- this tour explains why. Passengers will visit exquisite architectural gems, including some seldom seen by the general public, but they'll also enjoy a sophisticated analysis of the economic and social tools used to rebuild downtown, learn how gentrification sprung up on the city's meanest streets with all the conflicts that go along with a community's socio-economic shift, meet creative residents and explore unique destinations.

Featured locations include the intentionally depopulated Bunker Hill and its Angels Flight funicular railway, Grand Central Market, the concrete design disaster Pershing Square (with its tribute to novelist John Fante), European-style dining alley St. Vincent's Court, the lyrical glass-topped Mercantile Arcade Building (an exact replica of a London landmark). Get on the bus for the real Lowdown on Downtown, as no one but Esotouric's Richard Schave can reveal it.

2) 25th Anniversary of the Capture of Richard Ramirez "The Night Stalker"Guided Tour, Sunday 8/29, 12pm-4pm, $25. Info http://lavatransforms.org/nightstalker

Join LAVA Visionaries Al Guerrero and Crimebo the Clown for the debut of an incredible new crime tour by a provocative new tour company. To commemorate the 1985 capture of the infamous Los Angeles serial killer Richard Ramirez, Eastside Desmadre Tours will conduct a guided walking/public bus tour to explore the downtown L.A. haunts and dwellings of the "The Night Stalker." Included in the tour is a visit to the East L.A. street where he was captured, as well as interviews with local witnesses involved in his apprehension.

3) LAVA's monthly Sunday Salon, Sunday 8/29, 12pm-2pm, Free, Clifton's Cafeteria, Downtown. Info http://lavatransforms.org/salon810

On the last Sunday of each month, LAVA welcomes interested individuals to gather 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. August's theme is literature, and the Salon features a presentation from Visionary David Kipen, former head of literature for the NEA who recently opened Libros Schmibros, a free lending library and bookstore in Boyle Heights. David will discuss his vision for the space and the challenges facing L.A.'s booklovers as libraries are closed due to lack of funding, in addition to other literary discussions to be announced.

4) War Child Show, Sunday 8/29, 7pm-9pm, Free, David Caldwell's Loft at 454 Seaton St., Arts District. Info http://lavatransforms.org/warchild810

LAVA Visionary David Caldwell presents a rare (and free) presentation his War Child Show on the evening of LAVA's monthly Sunday Salon, featuring wine, snacks and a most unusual multi-media art presentation. Doors open7 pm, show starts around 8 pm.

ABOUT THE SHOW: "War Child is a Monumental Sculpture. An Installation in the form of a Magically Elaborate Altar. 14 feet high, 40 feet wide, and 26 feet deep. It gives Birth to a 40 minute experience. A Video, Sound, and Light Show Performance. The Video Juxtaposes Manipulated Images, Of Nature, Civilization, Creation, and Destruction. War Child's 3 Dimensional and Technical Wizardry entice the Audience on a Journey. The Paradigm of Duality, That Shapes Human Existence. A Synthesis of Multiple Systems, War Child becomes a Living, Breathing, Speaking,Organic Entity. All of the Technology is Embedded, and Fully Integrated into the Performance. The Living Installation Impacts, Space, Sight, Sound, and Memory. A Shifting, Constantly Changing Environment, Envelops the Audience, and Transports Them, to Another Dimension."

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

ABOUT LAVA: Through participation in LAVA, a select group of creative professionals come together to promote cultural programming that speaks to the urban experience while promoting positive public space. LAVA's creative partners share a love for L.A. and unique ideas for exploring it in their work. Formed by social historians RICHARD SCHAVE and KIM COOPER --proprietors of Esotouric bus adventures and until recently the Director and Curator of the Downtown Los Angeles Art Walk -- LAVA brings together L.A.'smost visionary promoters, artists, writers and thinkers.

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

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