A recent trip to Los Angeles was lovely in part because we stayed at the Millennium Biltmore hotel downtown, literally across the street from the Los Angeles Central Library, an institution I grew to love while reading Susan Orlean’s The Library Book. The library’s stunning architecture, the breadth of its collections and community outreach along with its fascinating history made it the perfect spot to spend a fall afternoon before checking in. The building was erected in the mid-1920s, suffered fires and earthquake damage in 1986-87 but was restored and reopened with an additional wing and new gardens in 1993. While there, I learned from the “Undesign the Red Line” exhibit, which focuses on housing discrimination and has traveled to many cities across the country, including Omaha, where it was based at the Union for Contemporary Art. I strolled through many reading areas, enjoying the murals and browsing in the stacks, and I smiled when I saw fliers promoting the library’s offering of musical instruments available to borrow.
After picking up a few items in the gift shop, I strolled a couple of blocks to the other side of the hotel to see Pershing Square, a park hosting a farmer’s market that day. I had a really good fish taco doused with fresh salsa.
weekly farmer’s market in Pershing Square
After checking in and regrouping a bit, we gathered for drinks and conversation in the hotel and then off to the Border Grill for some delicious fresh-Mexican food, something a friend living in central New York state gets rarely.
I slept in and then walked to the Grand Central Market for breakfast the next morning at the EggSlut, strolled through Grand Park and down Grand Avenue past the Walt Disney Concert Hall with its sweeping steel forms designed by Frank Gehry to the Broad museum, which boasts a large collection of modern art displayed in building designed to pique interest in architecture. There are many great works to see here and the museum frequently loans works for other exhibits. I was delighted to see Calder mobiles and several Basquiat paintings, was moved and disturbed by Kara Walker’s silhouettes depicting the brutality of slavery, and saw a few popular works that I don’t personally find that interesting or appealing by Jeff Koons.
“Horn Players” by Jean-Michel Basquiat, an homage to Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie
The best came last for me in this museum visit. Although I was immersed for literally a minute, in that minute I felt suspended among stars. Yayoi Kusama is known for her net paintings and polka-dotted sculptures and paintings, and her experiential infinity mirrored rooms are mesmerizing. This one is called “The Souls of Millions of Light Years Away” and I was transported while standing amid the twinkling lights that appear to extend into immeasurable vastness. It created such a tranquil feeling of joy and contentment, similar to those sparked for me when visiting natural habitats such as grasslands and oceans that inspire feelings of connectedness to the earth while putting my anxieties into perspective.
in Yayoi Kusama’s mirrored infinity room called “The Souls of Millions of Light Years Away” at the Broad in Los Angeles.