This Wednesday West Hollywood continues its 40-day series of One City One Pride arts and cultural events celebrating gay pride. On the calendar over the next two weeks are the following:
Wednesday, 7:30 p.m. Outfest WeHo screening of “Larry Kramer In Love & Anger.” Larry Kramer was a fiery activist from the onset of the AIDS epidemic, co-founding GMHC www.gmhc.org/ (Gay Men’s Health Crisis) and ACT-UP (AIDS Coalition to Unlease Power). Filmmaker Jean Carlomusto weaves together amateur activist and media footage, offering a look at the frontline battle against AIDS and of the still-controversial figure Kramer. Admission is free. Those attending must RSVP online. The screening will be at the City Council Chambers, 625 N. San Vicente Blvd. Free validated parking will be provided for the five-story parking structure on El Tovar Pl.
Thursday, 2 p.m. Matinee screening of “Victor/Victoria,” presented by the Friends of the West Hollywood Library. Free admission. The screening is at the City Council Chambers, 625 N. San Vicente Blvd. Free validated parking will be provided for the five-story parking structure on El Tovar Place.
Friday, 7 to 9 p.m. Opening receptions for “Art AIDS America,” a preview of a new national exhibition, at the West Hollywood Library and ONE Archives Museum & Gallery space. “Art AIDS America” is the first comprehensive overview of 30 years of art made in response to the AIDS epidemic in the United States. Co-curated by Dr. Jonathan D. Katz (Queer Nation SF, founder Harvey Milk Institute, first director of the National Queer Arts Festival in SF) and Rock Hushka (Tacoma Art Museum), the full exhibition will tour nationally beginning in Fall 2015, but visitors in West Hollywood can get a preview of approximately 50 works co-hosted in the two neighboring locations.
The ONE Archives reception is from 5 to 9 p.m. 626 N. Robertson Blvd. Admission is free admission and no RSVP is needed. The reception at the West Hollywood Library, 625 N. San Vicente Blvd., is from 7 to 9 p.m. , with comments by the curator at 7:30 p.m. Admission is free. Attendees are asked to RSVP at weho.org/pride.
Validation for free parking in the five-story parking structure adjacent to the library will be available at both Art AIDS America receptions.
The Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles (MOCA) will host a reception on Friday for MOCA members to celebrate the opening of “Tongues Untied,” an exhibition titled after the film by poet, activist, and artist Marlon Riggs. The exhibition, organized by MOCA and curatorial assistant Rebecca Matalon, presents a selection of works from the museum’s permanent collection by John Boskovich, Felix Gonzalez-Torres, and others, alongside Riggs’s exploration of black gay identity in the United States. More information is available online. The exhibit will be open through Sept. 13. The June 5 opening reception is from 7 to 9 p.m. at the MOCA location at the PDC, 8687 Melrose Ave. Attendees are asked to bring their MOCA membership card for entry. No RSVP is needed.
Also at the PDC that night, but not associated with One City One Pride, is the opening of the quarterly ‘DesignLAb” event featuring free open-to-the-public gallery receptions from 5 tp 9:30 p.m. on the second floor of the PDC Blue Building, 8687 Melrose Ave., adjacent to MOCA’s PDC location.
Saturday, “A Day of Art and History”. This is the official opening day for the ‘WeHo@30: Art AIDS WeHo’ exhibits with additional events and film screenings taking place in and around the West Hollywood Library. Free validated parking will be provided at the five=story parking structure on El Tovar Place. Events are as follows:
11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Participants can go on a tour on which they will view a colorful cast of characters from different historical eras stationed along the route. The tour leaves from loading zone at West Hollywood Park, 647 N. San Vicente Blvd. Timmons, co-author of “Gay LA” suffered a stroke before his West Hollywood LGBTQ Mobile Tour was completed. But thanks to a team of helper and a grant from the City of West Hollywood the tour will take place.
3 p.m. – The L.A. Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA) will screen Marlon Riggs’s “Tongues Untied” and “Anthem,” an experimental video by Marlon Riggs, in conjunction with the new “Tongues Untied” exhibit at MOCA PDC.
6 p.m. – Jonathan D. Katz, co-curator of the “Art AIDS America” exhibit and artists Rudy Lemcke, Joey Terrill and others will debate the thesis of the exhibition. The discussion is sponsored by Liberty Hill Foundation.
7:30 p.m. Historian Glenne McElhinney will do a presentation about a new street banner and historical research project called “Dancers We Lost” that is funded by a grant from the City of West Hollywood through its Arts and Cultural Affairs Commission.
8 p.m. There will be a screening of “LA: A Queer History” short films including “Some of Your Best Friends” (a look at the early L.A. Gay Pride movement featuring Don Kilhefner, the Rev. Troy Perry and Morris Kight), “Nancy From East Side Clover” (a recounting by 83-year- old Chicana lesbian Nancy Valverde of her experiences being out in 1950’s L.A.) and “L.A. A Queer History” (a promo short for a documentary exploring the birth of gay liberation in Los Angeles).
Sunday, 2 p.m. “Disturber of the Peace – a Celebration of Malcolm Boyd” will be an afternoon of music and recollections by friends of Boyd, the celebrated activist. It will include a preview of scenes from the upcoming biographical feature, “Disturber Of The Peace.” It will take place at the City Council Chambers, 625 N. San Vicente Blvd. south of Santa Monica. Admission is free with an RSVP to rsvp@disturberofthepeace.com. Free validated parking will be provided at the five=story parking structure on El Tovar Place.
