Happenings May 10-17

                                                                     

Eta Aquariids will be active until May 28. The meteor shower which caused by Earth passing through the debris of Halley’s Comet will be the most visible this week just before dawn. Best viewed from the southern tropics, the meteor shower produces 10-30 meteors per hour from the equator northward which is still great sky viewing in the United States. For more information visit amsmeteors.org.

Explore the character driven songwriting from the hit show "The Pitt" with songwriter Gavin Brivik at The BellWether in LA on Monday, May 11 at 6:30pm. The talk is part of the Sona’s “Songs & Score: Inside the Craft” series and will be moderated by songwriter Autumn Rowe (John Baptiste “Freedom”). For more information go to @wearesona_

The opening gala for LACMA’s new David Geffen Galleries on April 19, was attended by more 

                                                             

than 820 notable guests and raised more than $11.5 million - a new record for a LACMA fundraising event. On Wednesday, May 13 at 7:45 pm LACMA will host the Dior Cruise 2027 show against the backdrop of David Geffen Galleries designed by Swiss architect Peter T Zumthor. The event also marks Jonathan Anderson’s first cruise show for Dior and is a continuation of the house’s partnership with LA’s cultural institutions. For more information or to watch the show live go to @Dior. 

                                        

When MOCA Virginia opened its new doors on the Virginia Wesleyan Campus in Virginia Beach, it marked a new chapter for the museum. A new slate of programming aimed to attract young creatives including a sneaker design workshop and an artist talk featuring Nina Chanel Abney and rapper Pusha-T filled the halls with a new crowd signaling MOCA VA is doing something right. The next event is “I See You Bro” – a panel discussion on Black Men’s mental health and joy for Mental Health Awareness Month on Thursday, May 14 from 6- 8:30pm. The event is part of the programming for “Nina Chanel Abney: The Pursuit of Happiness” exhibit on view through August 16, 2026. The exhibition is the first to occupy the museum’s new space and explores themes on the cost of happiness and what can be bought in the pursuit of the intangible. For more information visit virginiamoca.org.

     

The FIFA World Cup 2026 is descending on Atlanta, and The African Diaspora Art Museum of Atlanta is bringing the story of football in Africa to the forefront. On Friday, May 15 from 6-9 pm join ADAMA for the opening reception of “The African Game” - a photo exhibition shot across Angola, Cameroon, Dr Congo, Egypt, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Ghana Nigeria, and Senegal by photographer and filmmaker Andrew Dosunmu. The photographs capture the heart of African football as a cultural ritual. For more information go to adamatl.org.  

As the stars and sky take on new meaning thanks to recently released UFO files and NASA’s trip to outer space, there is more interest in indigenous knowledge about our planetary system. A new exhibition at The Heard Museum is using indigenous language, sky knowledge and spiritual values to examine the museum’s collection from an indigenous perspective.  Included are the O’odham, whose traditional lands include modern-day Phoenix, Arizona, where the Heard Museum sits; and the Diné (Navajo Nation), whose homeland (referred to as Dinétah) extends across what is today the states of Arizona, Utah and New Mexico. To the far Northwest, included are the Central Yup’ik of Alaska and other Arctic cultures, and looking Northeast, the Haudenosaunee (Six Nations Iroquois Confederacy), with emphasis on the Seneca, who live in what is now New York State. For more information visit heard.org.

                                                          

STAB High is bringing some of your favorite pro athletes to launch themselves into the air fortwo action-packed days of competition and entertainment at Atlantic Park Surf in Virginia Beach. Expect never-before-seen aerial maneuvers, high-energy competition, and beachside activations designed to excite guests. Stab High says goodbye to waiting periods, dead air, and playing it safe. In their place: two days of surfing’s least risk-averse humans launching themselves skyward and going as big as possible, on demand.  $60K is on the line. The world’s best aerialists are in the water.  For more information visit atlanticparksurf.com.

OperaFest LA launched in 2024 and aims to highlight LA’s diverse Opera landscape. The 2026 OperaFest LA began in April and continues this week with a listening party with Christopher Cerrone curated by The Industry on Friday, May 15 at 7:30pm. The works presented have a deep literary influence that center voice including selections from his opera In A Grove and the Roomful of Teeth commission Friday’s Saints. Then on Sunday, May 17, at 7pm Molly Peace will present her new opera Hysteria. The story transforms a diagnosis of female hysteria into female empowerment. For more information go to operafestla.org.

                          

The "Iris Van Herpen: Sculpting The Senses" exhibit at The Brooklyn Museum is one of the most anticipated exhibitions of the summer. Featuring 140 haute couture pieces, the exhibition examines the body’s place in space in correlation to clothing and the environment. Her designs include bio mimicry, fractal geometry, and mathematics that can be found in the natural world. Van Herpen’s sculptural pieces have been worn by Beyoncé, Björk, Cate Blanchett, Miley Cyrus, Lady Gaga, and Ariana Grande. For more information visit Brooklynmuseum.org.

The African Film Festival continues through May 30 at Lincoln Center in NYC. The theme for 2026 is “As the Stars Sow the Earth” that honors cosmic spirits like our ancestors that have sown wisdom and memory into the African Diaspora. The festival features more than 100 films with a focus on global collaboration with an entire slate of films that can be streamed on online. For more information go to africanfilmny.org

                                                                  

Park Avenue Day is back in NYC on May 16. From the hours of 6am – 10pm will be pedestrian only across all three west side lanes between 34^th and 40^th. The free block party will have more than 200 vendors offering fashion, food and art. At 4pm there will be a ribbon cutting ceremony to debut new sculptures by Dorit Levenstein at 38^th and Park Ave. For more information visit nycforfree.co.