Hammer Blog

Libros Schmibros, our Boyle Heights lending library and bookshop, has spent the last two months getting ready to start its life at UCLA’s Hammer Museum for a six-week Public Engagement residency, August 27- October 9. This is as formidable an enterprise as we can possibly have imagined, drawing on all our volunteer firepower as well as the return of our redoubtable board member, Catherine, to help us pull off something akin to short-order self-replication.

To give you an idea of what we mean, consider this: Our shop in Boyle Heights holds about 9,000 books. About half of those needed to be packed in alphabetical order for easy unpacking in Westwood. Easy, right? Wrong! On first go round we thought we’d licked it: 90 boxes in the hold, Boyle Heights book stacks with gaps the size of ripe watermelons, staff sore and exhausted from three days of sorting and

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The Hammer Museum’s Public Engagement program will bring an artist project by David Kipen—an interpretation of Libros Schmibros, his hybrid lending library and used bookshop in Boyle Heights—to Westwood from August 27 - October 9, 2011. Libros Schmibros will be set up in the Hammer Museum’s lobby gallery. Kipen, former Director of Literature for the National Endowment of the Arts and a past book critic for the San Francisco Chronicle, established Libros Schmibros in July 2010 with his collection of roughly seven thousand books, in response to the lack of accessibility to books in his Boyle Heights community.

Westwood has also seen the closure of several bookstores recently, as well as a reduction in some hours at nearby libraries. Libros Schmibros at the Hammer will increase Westwood’s access to books, while serving as a public square where visitors can check

Featuring Todd Sickafoose’s Tiny Resistors, Aaron Novik’s Thorny Brocky & Empty Cage Quartet

Los Angeles – The Hammer Museum’s free JazzPOP music series celebrates its sixth year of outdoor concerts in the Hammer courtyard. Veteran artists and bold new voices perform original, adventurous music that combines inventive composition with improvisational prowess and propulsive groove. Musician Lisa Mezzacappa, JazzPOP’s curator, programs diverse artists with a special focus on musicians with West Coast roots. During the concerts, guests may also enjoy signature JazzPOP cocktails from a cash bar, as well as dinner from the Hammer Cafe.

KJAZZ 88.1 is the official media sponsor for this series.

Thursday, August 4, 8PM
Todd Sickafoose’s Tiny Resistors
Todd Sickafoose’s folk-inflected jazz pairs indie rock muscle and whimsy with the compositional sophistication of a chamber orchestra. The bassist, a longtime sideperson and duo-mate of Ani DiFranco, has assembled a cross-coastal band that includes some of

The Museum will have regular hours this weekend during the I-405 freeway closure

Admission to the Hammer Museum will be free on Saturday, July 16 and Sunday, July 17. The Museum and the Hammer Cafe will have regular visiting hours this weekend, but will close one hour early on Friday, July 15. The 405 freeway will shut down in both directions between the San Fernando Valley and the Westside during the weekend of July 15-17. Lane closures on the 405 Freeway will begin Friday night, with the freeway slated to reopen at 5 a.m. on Monday, July 18. For more information about the I-405 widening project, visit metro.net.


HAMMER MUSEUM HOURS
Friday, July 15: 11am – 6pm (Closing one hour early)
Saturday, July 16: 11am – 7pm (Free admission)
Sunday, July 17: 11am – 5pm (Free admission)
The Hammer’s public programs for Saturday and Sunday have been

Harrell Fletcher, Hello Friend (Queens, NY), 2004. Video still. Courtesy of the artist.

Hello Friend (Queens, NY) will be on display at Cafe Hammer, July 12 - September 11, 2011.

Harrell Fletcher is currently a Hammer Public Engagement Artist in Residence. In his project, Yearbook, Harrell and his collaborator Adam Moser will document the span of an academic year at the Hammer with a yearbook comprised of the museum’s programs, staff, and visitors.

Please check the website for more details about the project and upcoming participatory events.