Featured Events in Los Angeles in May, 2025 (July Updated)

Wonder takes flight at the Museum! Walk among beautiful butterflies in our seasonal Butterfly Pavilion. This springtime exhibition features hundreds of butterflies, colorful native plants, and plenty of natural light to help you see these creatures shimmer. With lots of flight space and a variety of resting spots, come get one of the best views in Los Angeles of these amazing insects.

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Nov. 11, 2023–Nov. 30, 2027 | Renowned American artist Betye Saar’s large-scale work “Drifting Toward Twilight”—commissioned by The Huntington—is a site-specific installation that features a 17-foot-long vintage wooden canoe and found objects, including birdcages, antlers, and natural materials harvested by Saar from The Huntington’s grounds.

Egypt’s 26th Dynasty (664–526 BCE) was a period of revival and renewal. It marks the last great phase of native pharaonic rule in ancient Egypt and is notable for its exceptional artworks, particularly stone sculpture. The achievements of Egyptian artists of this period are vividly expressed in the sculpted portraits of officials associated with the court and priesthood, which were created to be displayed in tombs and temples. The works in this exhibition are on special loan from the British Museum, London.

This site-specific work explores the fragility of the Earth’s ecosystem, as well as the destruction of the forest and its potential for regeneration. The sculpture celebrates the beauty of wood in its natural state and emphasizes its potential as a reusable and renewable resource.

explores the rise of Futurism in contemporary Indigenous art as a means of enduring colonial trauma, creating alternative futures, and advocating for Indigenous technologies in a more inclusive present and sustainable future. Over fifty artworks are on display, some interspersed throughout the museum, creating unexpected encounters and dialogues between contemporary Indigenous creations and historic Autry works. Artists such as Andy Everson, Ryan Singer, and Neil Ambrose Smith wittily upend pop-culture icons by Indigenizing sci-fi characters and storylines; Wendy Red Star places Indigenous people in surreal spacescapes wearing fantastical regalia; Virgil Ortiz brings his own space odyssey, to life in a new, site-specific installation. By intermingling science fiction, self-determination, and Indigenous technologies across a diverse array of Native cultures, envisions sovereign futures while countering historical myths and the ongoing impact of colonization, including environmental degradation and toxic stereotypes.

The Natural History Museum’s historic diorama halls are the largest exhibitions at the museum, showcasing over 75 incredibly detailed habitats ranging from arctic tundra to tropical rainforest. To celebrate the 100th anniversary of the dioramas, NHM is restoring and reopening a diorama hall that has been closed for decades. There, visitors will experience immersive new installations — by artists RFX1 (Jason Chang), Joel Fernando and Yesenia Prieto (working as a three-artist team), as well as Saul Becker and Lauren Schoth — that call attention to dioramas as a unique combination of art and science and explore biodiversity, ecology, conservation, colonialism, and changing museum display techniques. NHM maintains an active diorama program where staff continue to update and build dioramas, keeping this art form alive. Visitors can examine these illusions of wilderness through a series of displays, engaging programs, and a new book that sheds light on the previously untold history of NHM’s dioramas.

Mesoamerican artists held a cosmic responsibility: as they adorned the surfaces of buildings, clay vessels, textiles, bark-paper pages, and sculptures with color, they (quite literally) made the world. The power of color emerged from the materiality of its pigments, the skilled hands that crafted it, and the communities whose knowledge imbued it with meaning. Color mapped the very order of the cosmos, of time and space. By engineering and deploying color, artists wielded the power of cosmic creation in their hands. We Live in Painting: The Nature of Color in Mesoamerican Art explores the science, art, and cosmology of color in Mesoamerica. Histories of colonialism and industrialization in the “color-averse” West have minimized the deep significance of color in the Indigenous Americas. This exhibition follows two interconnected lines of inquiry—technical and material analyses, and Indigenous conceptions of art and image—to reach the full richness of color at the core of Mesoamerican worldviews.

Diary of Flowers: Artists and their Worlds brings together over 80 artworks from MOCA’s renowned collection, demonstrating how artists create their own worlds through their art–building networks, circles, and mythologies. Embracing the boundaries between the personal and the social, public and private lives, as well as emotional and psychological states, works in the show privilege sites of creativity and the place of the imagination to conjure new worlds and possibilities. Friendship, love, and intimacy become important starting points for artistic expression. The exhibition features work in all media across different geographies, cultures, and periods, by artists including Belkis Ayón, Abraham Cruzvillegas, Mona Hatoum, Candice Lin, Annette Messeger, Wangechi Mutu, Lucas Samaras, Mohammed Sami, Tunga, and Haegue Yang, as well as a gallery dedicated to Nan Goldin.

An examination of the innovations in calligraphic art, Line, Form, Qi: Calligraphic Art from the Fondation INK Collection highlights experimental works of modern and contemporary calligraphic art made by artists including Fung Ming Chip, Gu Wenda, Inoue Yūichi, Lee In, Henri Michaux, Nguyễn Quang Thắng, Qiu Zhijie, Tong Yangtze, Wang Dongling, Wei Ligang, and Xu Bing. Works on view reveal the evolution of the pictograph, explorations of the relationship between content and form, the development of new scripts, and the abstraction of the written word. Accompanied by a scholarly exhibition catalogue, Line, Form, Qi is the second in a series of exhibitions of works from the Fondation INK Collection, a 400-piece collection of contemporary art in the spirit of ink that was promised to LACMA in 2018.

A monumental interactive AR experience, Nancy Baker Cahill’s Substrate invites the viewer to consider connections between knowledge-making organizations by contributing their own descriptions of culturally significant artifacts. Borrowing imagery and examples from networks in nature, Baker Cahill depicts LACMA, the Los Angeles Public Library’s Central Library, and California’s system of community colleges as abstracted, interlocking trees with root systems and mycelial networks that produce essential nutrients for human health and well-being. The work is based on the artist’s earlier project of the same name, supported by LACMA’s Art + Technology Lab, which used futuristic civics and systems thinking to demonstrate the potential of collaborations between local civic hubs.

Realms of the Dharma: Buddhist Art Across Asia presents an international survey of Buddhism and Buddhist art, beginning with the religion’s origins in India and following its spread through mainland and island Southeast Asia (Myanmar [Burma], Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, and Indonesia), the Himalayas (Kashmir, Nepal, and Tibet), and East Asia (China, Korea, and Japan). Incorporating 180 masterpieces of pan-Asian Buddhist art, the exhibition introduces key concepts of Buddhist thought and practice viewed through the prism of rare and extraordinarily beautiful Buddhist sculptures, paintings, and ritual objects. Drawn from LACMA’s permanent collection, with several significant loans from private collections, the exhibition explores the life of the Buddha, the role of the bodhisattva or Buddhist savior, Buddhist cosmology, and such key concepts as dharma, karma, nirvana, mantra, mudra, and mandala. The show will focus on art associated with such key phases of Buddhism as Theravada (early monastic Buddhism), Mahayana (the “Great Vehicle”), Vajrayana (the “Diamond Vehicle”—tantric or esoteric Buddhism), and Chan (Zen).

The California Science Center is inviting kids to get in the game with a new 17,000-square-foot exhibition about the power of play and the human body in motion. Besides teaching about the science behind sports, it also offers interactive challenges and video coaching from a team of Los Angeles-based mentor athletes including dancer Debbie Allen, the Dodgers’ Freddie Freeman, Olympic medalist softball player Rachel Garcia and more. For the first time ever, the center has commissioned public art—all by local artists—to complement the exhibition, including a Dodgers mural by Gustavo Zermeño Jr. The free exhibition kicks off May 15 and will remain at the Science Center at least through the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

Explore the mysterious world of medieval codes through manuscripts. Learn about the clever configurations of textual and visual elements that medieval scribes and artists deliberately and playfully employed to arrest the attention of readers and engage their minds in deciphering divine and worldly secrets. Intricately interwoven letters, puzzling monograms, cryptic symbols, and more await to be decoded.

This site-specific work explores the fragility of the Earth’s ecosystem, as well as the destruction of the forest and its potential for regeneration. The sculpture celebrates the beauty of wood in its natural state and emphasizes its potential as a reusable and renewable resource. California-based Japanese American artist Mineo Mizuno’s site-specific sculpture, titled Homage to Nature, is crafted from fallen timber gathered in the forests of the Sierra Nevada, where the artist lives and works. Views of the San Gabriel Mountains in the background will frame the work. The sculpture explores the fragility of the Earth’s ecosystem, as well as the destruction of the forest and its potential for regeneration. Homage to Nature celebrates the beauty of wood in its natural state and emphasizes its potential as a reusable and renewable resource. Using yakisugi (shou sugi), a traditional Japanese method of wood preservation known in the West as burnt timber cladding, the charred surfaces of the reclaimed timber in the sculpture speak not only to fire’s destructive power but also to its ability to reinvigorate the land. As a companion and response to the sculpture, a “fire landscape” will be planted near the sculpture to mimic new growth that occurs naturally after a fire. This new sculpture marks the culmination of a series of installations by the artist designed to reflect on The Huntington’s collections and link the gardens and art galleries. Homage to Nature will be unveiled on May 25, 2024, and will remain on view for five years.

Spectrum 14 is a calibrated array of prisms that cast a dazzling display of luminous color across the Museum’s rotunda. Bands of spectral light traverse the space in relation to the sun, which follow a slightly different arc through the sky every day. Over time, Ross’s work changes in response to Earth’s rotational orbit, connecting us to the premodern experience of astronomical observation and calculation that defined cycles of days, seasons, and rituals. This project was commissioned for PST ART as part of the exhibition Lumen: The Art and Science of Light. This is the second “Rotunda Commission,” a series of art installations inspired by the Getty Museum’s collection, architecture, and site.

In the early decades of the 20th century, automobile ownership saw tremendous growth in the United States—with one motor vehicle per every five Americans by 1929—and a new motoring landscape evolved to accommodate the increase in car travel. For over a century, civil engineers, automotive designers, architects, and graphic artists have worked, often without credit, to create highway systems and the vehicles that traverse them, along with standardized signage and roadside amenities that have become so commonplace that they are largely taken for granted. Modern and contemporary artists, however, have long noticed and been inspired by the world in which the automobile operates and have responded to it in their work. Eyes on the Road brings the often-overlooked “art” of the highway together with artistic representations of this visual culture, highlighting the role of the car in shaping the country’s built environment and drawing new attention to the world around us.

The exhibition explores the aesthetic connections between nearly 60 artists from Africa, Europe and America. The 70 paintings, sculptures, photographs and works on paper are divided into several different themes, including speech and silence, movement and transformation, imagination and expression.

In 2025, the Norton Simon Museum marks the 50th anniversary of its founding in 1975. The exhibition Retrospect: 50 Years at the Norton Simon Museum, on view in the main-level Focus Gallery from February 14, 2025, to January 12, 2026, celebrates five decades of art, education, research and community. Coinciding with the Exterior Improvement Project, which will transform the Museum’s gardens and grounds, Retrospect offers not only a reflective view of the past but also one of the horizon for decades to come.

L.A. Louver celebrates the 50th anniversary of the formation of the gallery with an exhibition surveying the gallery’s history from 1975 to now. One of the longest-established contemporary art galleries on the West Coast, L.A. Louver has presented over 660 exhibitions over the course of what has been the most significant period of creative growth in Southern Californian history. L.A. Louver commemorates this achievement in 2025 with a presentation filling all gallery spaces.

Over the past four decades, Shanghai-born, Marin County–based artist Zheng Chongbin (b. 1961) has cultivated a unique practice that engages with the driving concepts and aesthetics of the Light and Space movement and East Asia’s tradition of ink painting. Educated in both traditional Chinese figurative painting and installation and performance art, Zheng synthesizes these seemingly disparate practices into unprecedented signature painting and video techniques. Zheng Chongbin: Golden State is a focused presentation that features two video installation pieces coupled with painted and printed works. Through abstract forms and distorted views of California’s natural landscape, Zheng explores water, light, and movement in his signature works.

Why do our hearts race, knees shake, and bodies sweat when we are scared?Goose Bumps! The Science of Fearexplores this universal emotion that can save our lives. Through fun interactive, challenges, like the Fear Challenge Course, experience fear in a safe environment and discover the science behind our physical and emotional responses.

The Broad presents Jeffrey Gibson: the space in which to place me, a special exhibition of the artist’s multidimensional work, adapted from its original presentation at the U.S. Pavilion at the 60th Venice Biennale in 2024, where Jeffrey Gibson was the first Indigenous artist to represent the United States with a solo exhibition. Gibson’s first single-artist museum exhibition in Southern California, The Broad’s presentation includes over thirty artworks joyously affirming the artist’s radically inclusive vision. The exhibition will highlight Gibson’s distinct use of geometric design and saturated color alongside references to 19th and 20th century foundational American documents and modern music, critiquing systemic injustices and imagining a more equitable future. The show will be on view in the museum’s first-floor galleries from May 10 through September 28, 2025.

Marian Goodman Gallery presents Sparrow on the Sea, featuring the eponymous new film by Yang Fudong, one of the most important Chinese artists working today.Yang opens the exhibition with a series of photographic film stills that provide us with glimpses of what is to come. In addition to the photographs, Yang presents two new series of mixed media and photographic works, Sparrow and Island, that enrich the overarching investigations of light, time and memory present in Sparrow on the Sea. Please join us for a walkthrough of the exhibition led by Hamza Walker, Director of The Brick, on Wednesday, 21 May, at 7 pm. In 2004, Walker had the pleasure of working with Yang on the exhibition Yang Fudong: 5 Films at The Renaissance Society where Walker served as Associate Curator and Director of Education.

K-POP IdolsStray KidsAnnounce 20 New Shows in Latin America, North America, Europe, and the UK! The highly anticipated Stray Kids World Tour will be held at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles on May 31 and June 1, 2025.

Queen of the South Bay, is an all woman surf contest, on May 31st at El Porto in Manhattan Beach, presented by the South Bay Boardriders Club. We will be celebrating women of all ages and skill levels. We want to build the community of women surfing in an inclusive and supportive way, for generations to come. Join us for a fun and exciting day for all women. GENERAL INFO QOTSB is a contest for women of all ages and skill levels. We want to build the stoke for all women in the water. If you are looking for a competition to share your pro surfing skills, please check out South Bay Boardriders Club surf series competitions. Location: El Porto, 42nd Street Tower, Manhattan Beach When: May 31st 2025 begins at 7am What to bring: your board, sunscreen, shade and stoke Registration includes: - Lunch - QOTSB Hat - QOTSB swag bag - Event sticker SIGN IN/CHECK IN BEFORE HEATS Beach sign up will be the morning of the event for available spots. Sign in will be open at 7am for contestants to receive all their swag. Each surfer must sign in 15 mins before their heat to get their rashguard and check in with beach marshals. DIVISIONS All divisions are determined by age regardless of skill level. Novice division - for the surfer who just started and needs a little push, you haven't quite caught a wave on your own just yet. Microgrom assist - for the little nugget who needs a parent (adult) navigate the waves and give a little push. You are still learning and haven't caught a wave on your own yet. HEAT INFO During each heat every participant will be assigned a rash guard color. Rash guards will be located by the registration - packet pick-up booth at the SBBC Registration table on the beach at 42nd ​ Heat schedule will be published the week of the event. Live events results will be available on LiveHeats.com Registration closes May 16th, 2025 at 11:59pm. CANCELLATION POLICY You can receive a complete refund if requested within 30 days prior to the event, April 30th. However, after this period, we can only refund 50% your registration fees, excluding any Eventbrite fees— NO REFUNDS AFTER MAY 17th. RULES AND REGULATIONS Longboards must be a minimum of 8 ft. in length. Longboard contestants under 14, boards must be a minimum of 3 feet over the competitor’s head. ​ 1. A horn will sound to start your heat, and a green flag/light will be raised to signal the start of the heat. You will be able to see it from the water. In order to have your waves scored, you MUST be where the judges can see you between the flags. Stay in front of the judges in the surf zone you were assigned. ​ You will have 15 minutes to catch waves. Your score will be the sum of your best 2 waves. ​ In the finals, the heats will last for 15 minutes. Your score will be the sum of the best 2 waves. 2. When there are 5 minutes left in your heat, a double horn will sound and a yellow flag/light will be raised. 3. At the end of the heat, you will hear a horn sound. That means your heat is over and you should paddle in. DO NOT stand up on your board before your heat begins or after the next heat begins or that wave will count as a scored wave and you will receive a "0". There is a 1 minute grace period between heats. 4. You will be scored on your best 2 waves of your heat. Scoring begins when your hands leave the rails of your board. Rides are scored on a scale of 0-10. Ten being the highest. 5. Scores are based on the length of ride, skill, style and stoke. Maneuvers considered in scores: turns, cutbacks, floaters, barrel rides, nose rides, airs, whitewater control, and style. When performed with control and to completion, “style” can be scored. “Style” is considered: speed, flow and grace. 6. Right-of-way: If two contestants stand up at the same time, the person closest to the peak has priority of the wave, the person farthest from the peak must kick out of the wave. You may, however, split the peak with one rider going left and the other going right. 7. Surfing Interference: Surfing interference occurs when a contestant has a negative impact on another contestant's wave. If you are called for interference, your highest wave will be scored at half the score and counted. If you feel you have interfered, or have been interfered with, listen for a call from judges. 8. Results will be posted on LiveHeats and read over the loud speaker. Listen carefully! Do not hang around or disturb the judges at any time. Contestant scores will only be provided on LiveHeats. 9. Observe LiveHeats for advance placement. ​ 10. If you advance, check LiveHeats again to see when you surf your next heat. If you are unable to surf your heat, you must notify the beach marshall. 11. Sportsmanship: All participants must adhere to good sportsmanship throughout the event. If you argue with a judge's decision, use profanity, fight, or become overly aggressive, you will be disqualified. This will be strictly enforced. The purpose of this event is to have fun and create an inviting place for everyone. We encourage you to bring your stoke and share it with others. 12. Rules are subject to change prior to the event. If so, you will be notified of the updated rules before the event. Information Source: South Bay Boardriders Club | eventbrite

HIIT NATION X SOUL LA FIT FEST 2025 Come join us for an epic fitness event at Runyon Canyon! Get ready to sweat it out with high-intensity interval training (HIIT) workouts and soulful fitness classes. All levels. Whether you're a fitness fanatic or just starting your journey, this event is perfect for everyone. Don't miss out on the opportunity to challenge yourself, meet like-minded individuals, and have a blast! Mark your calendars and get ready to experience the ultimate fitness fest! SPONSORED BY: HIIT NATION SOUL LA NOBULL PRIME DON'T QUIT! B FORCE BANDS ATRIUM TRAINING FACILITY Information Source: eventbrite

In September 2024, Icelandic-Danish artist Olafur Eliasson (b. 1967, Copenhagen; lives and works in Berlin) presents a new site-specific installation made for The Geffen Contemporary at MOCA. In line with Eliasson’s career-long exploration of light and color, geometry, and environmental awareness, the installation playfully engages with material and immaterial qualities of the museum’s architecture. A series of large-scale optical devices designed specifically for MOCA Geffen will respond to the building itself, as well as to the everchanging atmosphere of Los Angeles. Visitors will encounter a dazzling range of sensory experiences that harness the laws of geometric optics to address feelings and concepts of embodiment, perception, and participation.

For several decades, artist Cai Guo-Qiang has used gunpowder and pyrotechnics to create drawings, paintings, and explosion events. The exhibitionCai Guo-Qiang:A Material Odysseywill fill the first floor galleries at the USC Pacific Asia Museum. Based on years of research by the Getty Conservation Institute and the Getty Research Institute,A Material Odysseywill explore the nature and properties of gunpowder and chronicle its use by the artist. This explosive material, invented in China over 1,100 years ago, has come to define Cai’s work. Its unpredictable nature dictates his artistic process and determines the outcome. Through gunpowder, the artist invites uncontrollable forces to participate in the creation of his work. With an abundance of artworks and scientific displays, the exhibition will narrate the lifelong love story of Cai Guo-Qiang with gunpowder. Programs accompanyingA Material Odysseywill include videos illustrating the making of fireworks, the process of creating gunpowder paintings, interactive displays, and a variety of film screenings and conversations.

Gathering at Kuruvungna Come join us for a special event at Kuruvungna Village Springs ! We'll be gathering together for a day filled with fun, community, and connection. This in-person event is the perfect opportunity to meet new people, enjoy the beautiful surroundings, and learn more about the history of Kuruvungna. Whether you're a longtime voulenteer or a first-time visitor, everyone is welcome to come together and celebrate at Kuruvungna. Don't miss out on this unique experience! Information Source: Gabrielino Tongva Springs Foundation | eventbrite