Best Things to Do in SoCal and LA This Week: March 9-15, 2026
A family mystery art exhibit
Grand Central Art Center presents "Next of Kin" by artist Carlos Viani, a haunting and deeply personal exhibition that blurs the lines between forensic art and investigation. The transdisciplinary project begins with a family mystery: the 1978 vanishing of the artist’s father in Lima and 2015 discovery of the father’s passing in Orange County. Inspired by fragments of a life that would haunt the artist for decades, Viani adopts a multilayered approach to explore absence and family mythology. Through photography, installations, video performance, archival materials, and a redacted work of fiction, Viani reconstructs the traces of a secret life in Southern California while probing the uneasy space between fact and narrative.
125 N. Broadway
Art after dark
Experience Pasadena like never before during ArtNight Pasadena Spring, a biannual citywide open house where visitors are invited to museums, galleries, and performance spaces with special exhibitions, live music, dance, theater, and hands-on art activities. Free and open to the public, everyone is invited to gallery hop with friends or ride the shuttle with your family to dozens of participating venues such as Norton Simon Museum, USC Pacific Asia Museum, ArtCenter College of Design, and Armory Center for the Arts.
100 N Garfield Ave
Beyond the archive
Memory meets melody at the OC Archives Bazaar: Beyond the Archive. Presented by OC Archives in Action in collaboration with CSUF Pollak Library, UCI Libraries, and Great Park Gallery, this free event transforms the traditional archive into an interactive experience. Through immersive exhibits, engaging presentations, and hands-on activities for all ages, visitors can explore historical artifacts alongside contemporary interpretations that reveal the region’s rich cultural tapestry.
8000 Great Park Blvd
A visual mixtape from Arthur Jafa
The Hammer Museum presents "The White Album" (2018), an experimental Golden Lion-winning film by acclaimed artist and filmmaker Arthur Jafa. The 29 minute work continues Jafa’s exploration of how visual media transmits the “power, beauty, and alienation” of Black music within American culture. "The White Album" collages found and original footage into a radical visual mixtape that interrogates whiteness, cultural appropriation, and the complicated intersections of race and media in America. This free opening offers a rare opportunity to experience one of the most influential voices in contemporary art as he transforms digital fragments into a searing meditation on the images that shape our collective understanding.
10899 Wilshire Blvd
Celebrate Nowruz at the Central Library
Come join the Nowruz Festival: The Vines of Love at Los Angeles Central Library, presented by the Los Angeles Public Library. This bilingual celebration of the Persian New Year invites Angelenos to experience the rich traditions of Nowruz through music, storytelling, literature, and hands-on activities. Highlights include "The Vines of Love Show" featuring storytelling by Tara Grammy, author conversations with Abdi Nazemian and Zoe Ghahremani, demonstrations of Persian musical instruments, and workshops in pottery and mosaic tile making.
630 W 5th St