Best Things to Do in SoCal and LA This Week: May 25-31, 2026
Art, identity & cultura
The Cheech Marin Center for Chicano Art & Culture of the Riverside Art Museum presents We the People: Chicano Art in the U.S.A., a celebration of Chicano art and identity through the work of more than 60 artists. Curated by Benito Huerta, the exhibition brings together 126 works spanning painting, sculpture, printmaking, and mixed media to explore themes of migration, community, and cultural resilience. Drawn from the collection of Cheech Marin along museum holdings and artist loans, the exhibition features works by artists including Lalo Alcaraz, Michael Álvarez, Chaz Bojorquez, Luis C. Garza, CiCi Segura González, Gronk, Narsiso Martínez, Frank Romero, Shizu Saldamando, John Valadez, and Vincent Valdez. To learn more about many of the artists, watch the Artbound documentary, The Cheech.
3581 Mission Inn Avenue
Searching for blue
Photographer and artist Catherine Opie returns for the 12th time to Regen Projects with Holding Blue, a new exhibit of photographs and sculptures inspired by the mountains and natural terrain of Norway during her search for the “blue hour.” The ultramarine hue is both a record of experiential truth which she expands upon by exploring the color’s art historical legacy. By pairing photographs with ceramic sculptures that meditate on humanity’s fragile relationship to the natural world, the exhibit reveals a personal and tactile side of Opie’s practice, transforming geological forms into vessels for reflection and emotional resonance.
6750 Santa Monica Boulevard
Down to earth
Craft Contemporary presents tierra, an expansion of its acclaimed Clay Biennial series to focus beyond ceramic and clay as a singular medium to encompass broader practices grounded in land and earth. The exhibition reimagines clay as a connection to place and labor and explores artistic practices rooted in land, soil, and natural materials. Meet the featured artists and curators and gather with the creative community for a thoughtful and tactile experience that feels both elemental and expansive.
5814 Wilshire Blvd
Punk in a museum
The Skirball Cultural Center presents Outsiders, Outcasts, Rebels + Weirdos: Punk Culture 1976–86, an exhibit that celebrates 50 years of punk history from the US to the UK. Featuring more than 500 artifacts including flyers, vintage fashion by Vivienne Westwood and Malcolm McLaren, photographs, audio, and ephemera from legendary bands like Ramones, Blondie, and Bad Religion, the show captures punk as both a cultural explosion and a radical act of self-expression. To learn more about punk in Los Angeles, watch the Artbound documentary, Chinatown Punk Wars.
2701 N. Sepulveda Blvd
Life, liberty, and the pursuit of Los Angeles
The Autry Museum of the American West presents Life, Liberty, and Los Angeles, a new timely exhibit exploring the promises and contradictions of the Declaration of Independence and how it shaped Los Angeles across generations. Through artworks, historical artifacts, and multimedia installations, the show reframes the city as a living reflection of America’s evolving ideals and offers a compelling lens on the past, present, and future of Los Angeles. To learn more about The Autry, watch the Artbound documentary, Imagined Wests.
4700 Western Heritage Way