Ever wonder what happens at an art gallery at night once the lights go off? Well at Late Night at LACMA (Los Angeles County Museum of Art) the two floor gallery and plaza transforms into a cool gala where the party lights get turned on and the DJs come out to spin till 3 a.m.
I heard this event only happens once a year and the admission is free, so I was prepared for long lines, but not two freakin huge lines that curved around the entire building in both directions. The RSVP line was massive, not to mention the-forgot-to-RSVP line, who even knows when they got in. We had to sneak and park in the Office Depot store lot since all the spaces and garages were filled in the area and it took forever to move due to all the foot traffic. Although parking was a hassle, luckily we got to skip to the head of the line and enter like VIPs due to Cozmo Card Dan who works with LACMA. Otherwise I don't care how cool the event is or was, I would not have waited in that line for hours just to get in, especially not on a Thursday night.
Once inside, carnival dressed actors patrolled the plaza on stilts and or in weird clothing and face paint. I'm not a fan of clowns and mimes so I headed to the bar for some red wine ($8). There was also some food vendors and a taco cart, but we had just ate. A silent film was being projected on one great wall of the building and two blank murals were set up for anyone to paint on, which reminded me of a GenArt party that I went to for the launch of the drink Alize Blue in NY. At that party, I had grabbed a blue paint brush and wrote "ME" in capital letters on the wall and strangers praised me for my snarky idea and social reflection, where in reality I was tipsy and wanted to write my first name but in my head it only translated to 'me' instead of Tara, lol. Social vanguard and art rebel I am not, but I fancied the idea for the night.
Anyway, back to this party. Our group browsed the different art galleries going from the more modern Dan Flavin retrospective (very vibrant and colorful) to the nineteenth century room and Egyptian exhibit. There was one room where everyone could put post its up on the wall with any sayings or drawings that they wanted. My friend Sarah used the gallery wall as an advertisement for When Tara Met Blog and posted my URL up nice and high, hehe. I know, ever the marketer.
