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Best Things to Do in SoCal This Week: January 19-25, 2026

Every week, I highlight a few events across the SoCal region. This week, revisit Black portraiture, attend a quilters conference, ask what the Constitution means to you, and get an introduction to bird watching.

A funny look at America’s founding document

Time for a fresh reminder. What the Constitution Means to Me by Heidi Schreck is an award-winning play that examines how the U.S. Constitution shaped the rights and realities of American women. Blending personal storytelling with sharp political insight, the production feels both timely and timeless, inviting audiences to reflect on what the Constitution means today and what it should mean for future generations.

What the Constitution Means to Me - Image with microphone and silhouettes
Torrance Cultural Arts Center
3330 Civic Center Dr
Torrance, CA 90503
Saturday, January 24, 8:01 PM - January 25
$25-$35

Portraiture meets power

Rewriting History with Fabiola Jean-Louis is a powerful look at how art can reimagine the past. In her photographic series Rewriting History, Jean-Louis places Black women at the center of a surreal historical imaginary, sculpting the visual language of European nobility onto Black femme bodies dressed in papier-mâché gowns. Joined in conversation by Professor Tiffany Barber, Jean-Louis will explore traditions of portraiture, Black aesthetics, historic revisionism, and Afrofuturism in a dynamic dialogue about the reparative work of artists and curators today.

Rewriting History with Fabiola Jean-Louis
Getty Center
1200 Getty Center Dr
Los Angeles, CA 90049
Friday, January 23, 6:01 PM
Free

Conference with quilters

The Road to California Quilters Conference & Showcase brings together stunning quilt exhibitions, hands-on workshops, insightful lectures, and learning labs led by quilting artists and educators. Attendees can browse an expansive marketplace filled with fabrics, tools, and supplies, while competitions spotlight extraordinary quilt designs. Welcoming quilters of all skill levels, the conference offers inspiration and appreciation for quilting as both art and storytelling.

Road to California Quilter's Conference & Showcase
Ontario Convention Center
2000 East Convention Center Way
Ontario, CA 91764
Tuesday, January 20, 6:01 PM
$20
$25 Multi-Day Ticket / $20 Single Day Ticket

Wonder as you wander

The Winter Wonderland Bird Walk at Irvine Regional Park invites nature lovers to slow down and look up. Led by naturalist Rita Robinson, this guided morning walk offers an introduction to bird-watching as participants pause to observe, listen for calls and songs, and learn to identify native and winter-visiting species. Along the way, Rita shares insight into how birds adapt to the park’s Coastal Sage Scrub, Chaparral, and Riparian ecosystems within California’s oldest regional park.

Winter Wonderland Bird Walk at Irvine Regional Park
Irvine Regional Park
1 Irvine Park Rd
Orange, CA 92869
Sunday, January 25, 9:01 AM
$12.51

Three solo shows in one afternoon

Great Park Gallery presents Three Artists, Three Perspectives, a trio of solo exhibitions that spotlight the distinct voices of Daniela García Hamilton, Kristina Rose Baker, and Vonn Sumner. Reimagined to give each artist room to shine, the gallery becomes a crossroads of personal history, art history, and pop culture. From García Hamilton’s embroidered paintings exploring childhood memory, to Baker’s large-scale paintings and drawings inspired by 2,500 years of diving, to Sumner’s surreal reworking of the comic Krazy Kat, the opening afternoon reception is a full arts experience.

Three Artists, Three Perspectives –– New Solo Exhibitions Open at the Great Park Gallery, embroidered painting of a boy wearing a red soccer jersey
Great Park Gallery
270 Corsair
Irvine, CA 92618
Sunday, January 25, 1:00 PM
Free

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