Cultural Programs, Events & Tours
Snowy Plover Walk
Photo by Jason Crotty
Sunday, February 12, 9 - 10 am
All ages are welcome for this unique experience with the Los Angeles Audubon Society. Explore the habitat and life cycles of the federally threatened Snowy Plover, a small white bird that makes Santa Monica and surrounding beach cities its home this time of year. Binoculars will be provided. The walk is free, but reservations are recommended. Please note: The reservation list is full; we will accommodate walk-up guests if space is available.
Beach=Culture Series
Beach=Culture is an ongoing series of free concerts, lectures, readings and exhibits. Beach=Culture events take place mostly on Tuesdays in the summer and Mondays in the winter. Docents from the Santa Monica Conservancy are available at the Marion Davies Guest House to discuss the site prior to most Beach=Culture events.
Beach=Culture Reservations >
Reading of "Crescent City", a new opera by Anne LeBaron & Douglas Kearney
Monday, February 6, 6:30 - 8 pm
This reading of the opera-in-progress Crescent City is presented in association with The Industry, a company that seeks to expand the traditional definition of opera and create a new paradigm for interdisciplinary collaboration.
About Crescent City: Featured twice in New York City Opera’s VOX showcase of new American opera, this phantasmagorical work is set in a fictionalized post-Katrina New Orleans, and the famed Crescent City is a shell of its former self. With the few remaining inhabitants struggling for a normal life, the “bad waters” of a new impending storm wake up the notorious ghosts of the city’s past, including the legendary Voodoo goddess Marie Laveau. Will her efforts save the city or doom it?
Add to Waitlist >
Valentine's Day Concert: Songs of Love with Victoria Kirsch & Friends
Tuesday, February 14, 6:30 - 7:40 pm
Enjoy a special Valentine's concert on the theme of love with selections from operas and musicals. Program will include:
Jewel Song from Faust -- C. Gounod
Coat aria from La Bohème -- G. Puccini
The Red Dress -- Ricky Ian Gordon
I loves you, Porgy from Porgy and Bess -- G. Gershwin
One Hand, One Heart from West Side Story -- L. Bernstein
Make a concert reservation >
*Back on the Beach Café is serving a prix-fixe three course dinner from 4:30 - 9pm especially for Valentine's Day. Come early or stay late to dine; the program will finish by 7:45pm. Please make reservations for dinner separately by calling the Café at (310) 393-8282. Capacity is limited. $42.50/person plus tax & gratuity.
Tell Your Story Circle with Lucy Wang
Saturday, February 18, 2 - 4 pm
Playwright and Annenberg Community Beach House 2012 Writer in Residence Lucy Wang continues her 10-week residency with an afternoon of reflection and sharing. Express your vivid memories and discover new inspirations in an afternoon of storytelling exchange.
Make a reservation >
"On Noir" with mystery writer Naomi Hirahara, accompanied by jazz duo Doc & Renee
Monday, February 27, 6:30 - 7:30 pm
Mystery author Naomi Hirahara takes us on a tour of her unique vision of noir in this reading and author discussion. She is accompanied by torch songs and saxophone stylings from the Doc & Renee father-daughter jazz duo.
Make a reservation >
Artist Residency Program
In celebration of Marion Davies’ support of artists, and in acknowledgement of the desire of the City to further the work of artists in all disciplines, the City created the Annenberg Community Beach House Artist Residency program.
Welcome Lucy Wang, 2012 Writer in Residence!
Follow Lucy's residency on our new Artist in Residence Blog!
Open office hours - come by to say hello! Lucy will be available to field questions from the public about playwriting, the residency, and the writing life from 11am-1pm from her office on the second floor of the Marion Davies Guest House.
Mondays 1/16, 1/23, 1/30, 2/6, 2/13, 2/20, 2/27, 3/5, 3/12, 3/19, 3/26 and Saturdays 2/18, 2/25, 3/3, 3/10, 3/17, 3/24. Guest House hours are subject to change and may affect Lucy's office hours. Please call 310-458-4904 to confirm.
Gallery
Daily 9 am - 3 pm
Please note: Gallery hours are subject to change.
Gallery CLOSED Saturday, March 3
Upcoming closures will be posted here with as much notice as possible.
Bill Johnson, L.A. River and 6th Street Bridge, 2008
Los Angeles—Icons and Other Impressions (January 20 – April 15, 2012)
Participants in The Los Angeles Photography Project display images that explore the theme of LA’s diversity—its people, architecture, and natural and cultural environments. Capturing the unique buildings, special places and other physical properties of one of the most fascinating and progressive cities in the world, they seek a composite view accreted by different individual approaches and photographic techniques. Artists: Z.T. Fang, Rita Hamilton, Lorna Hart, Bill Johnson, Ronald S. Litvak, Judith Raffel, Robert L. Sherman, Margaret K. Tsai, Leonard Waits, and David Williams.
About The Los Angeles Photography Project
The Los Angeles Photography project was organized in early 2009 and is a consortium of LA-based artists with a mission to produce photographic work in and about the city and county of Los Angeles. laphotoproject.com
Marion Davies Guest House & Docent Tours
Learn about the rich history of the Beach House from a Santa Monica Conservancy docent. Tours are free, last approximately 30 minutes, and no reservations are required. Tours at 11 am, noon and 1 pm on the dates listed below. Please note: Guest House hours are subject to change. Changes to the below schedule will be posted with as much notice as possible. Call 310-458-4904 to confirm hours.
Guest House open and docents available 11 am – 2 pm on dates below
February
Friday 2/3
Sunday 2/5
Monday 2/6
+ Lucy Wang office hours 11 am - 1 pm
+ 5:15 - 6:30 pm
Thursday 2/9
Friday 2/10
Sunday 2/12
Monday 2/13
+ Lucy Wang office hours 11 am - 1 pm
Tuesday 2/14*
*5:15 - 6:30 pm only
Friday 2/17
Saturday 2/18
+ Lucy Wang office hours 11 am - 1 pm
Sunday 2/19
Monday 2/20
+ Lucy Wang office hours 11 am - 1 pm
Thursday 2/23
Friday 2/24 *first floor only
Saturday 2/25
+ Lucy Wang office hours 11 am - 1 pm
Sunday 2/26
Monday 2/27
+ Lucy Wang office hours 11 am - 1 pm
+ 5:15 - 6:30 pm
Free tours at 11 am, noon, and 1 pm
For more cultural offerings in Santa Monica, visit the Cultural Affairs website.