Things to do in Los Angeles on Sunday

The masters of alfresco rooftop movie viewing have returned for another season of screenings to LEVEL in Downtown L.A. Known for excellent film choices and a steady supply of snacks and booze, Rooftop Cinema Club is your snazzy, comfortable and less stressful alternative to other outdoor movie screenings. You don’t even need to bring your own camping chair—Rooftop Cinema Club provides you with your very own comfy lawn chair (with optional blankets for purchase to up the coziness). And instead of listening to the movie over loudspeakers, you’ll get a set of wireless headphones so you never have to miss a word. Find the full schedule on their site, or in our outdoor movie calendar.

Every Sunday, you can find dozens of food vendors at this market at ROW DTLA, a Brooklyn import that boasts a mix of much-loved pop-ups and future foodie stars. Thirteen new vendors are joining the lineup this year: Feast on burgers and orange chicken sandwiches from Terrible Burger, Viennese street food from Franzl’s Franks, Neapolitan-meets-Persian pies from Mamani Pizza, plant-based corn dogs from Stick Talk and more. Wash it all down at the family-friendly beer garden. You’ll also find shopping stalls selling everything from framed vintage ads to jewelry made locally with ethically sourced gemstones. Entry and the first two hours of parking are free.

The Skirball’s Jack Kirby exhibition may be over, but the museum has followed it up with this expansive look at how comics came to dominate pop culture. Many of the creators of the medium were immigrants and outsiders—including Jewish Americans—who poured their experiences with struggle, aspiration and reinvention into their work. From the Great Depression through Y2K, comics reflected the national moment and actually helped shape American identity. On display, you’ll find original artwork and artifacts relating to beloved comic book characters, from Superman and Black Panther to Little Lulu and Archie.

The inimitable artist, musician and activist—and John Lennon’s other half—is the subject of the Broad’s new show, Ono’s first-ever solo museum exhibition in Southern California. Organized in collaboration with the Tate Modern in London, “Music of the Mind” is perhaps the Broad’s most participatory exhibition to date. Many of the works from the artist’s seven-decade long career invite audience engagement, all working toward a common goal of peace and connection. Hammer a nail into the wall (and hold your ears intermittently throughout the rest of your walk-through) in a re-creation of the piece that occasioned Ono and Lennon’s meeting; grab a blue marker and add your mark to a blank room anchored by a wooden boat; and listen to recordings of Ono’s music. You can even crawl into a black bag and strike a pose for Bag Piece (though no one took the plunge during my visit). In conjunction with the show, the museum has transformed the olive trees on the outdoor East West Bank Plaza into Wish Trees for Los Angeles, where visitors can tie their own wishes on the branches. Also on display is Acorn Event (1968) and Bed Peace (1969), anti-war works of activism Ono and Lennon worked on together, as well as additional performance art pieces captured on video. The minimalist exhibition is thought-provoking and mind-expanding—though it probably won’t change whatever opinion of Ono, whether positive or negative, you hold before the show.  Tickets for the special exhibition are $21 and...

L.A. native and artist Gary Baseman is bringing his unmistakable style to “Off the Menu,” his first solo exhibition in the city in over a dozen years. The show is a love letter to L.A. dining, featuring 40 of the artist’s “action” drawings that he’s doodled on menus while dining at local restaurants, from Musso and Frank to Canter’s. And it couldn’t be held in a more fitting place: the iconic Johnie’s Coffee Shop, right across from the Academy Museum. The exhibition’s opening (May 8, 3–6pm) will coincide with the Metro D Line expansion’s opening—it’s just steps from the Wilshire/Fairfax station. On May 9, there will be an opening reception (6–9pm), and the show will remain open through June 14. The classic diner hasn’t been open to the public in over 25 years, so don’t miss your chance to step inside.

L.A. has changed immeasurably since 1921, when this event was first staged as an agricultural fair. However, the perennially popular event still has farm-friendly appeal (livestock beauty contests, local produce) alongside the more modern wine tastings, exhibitions, art installations, concerts (this year’s headliners include War, Brad Paisley, Ramon Ayala and a comedy show by Jeff Dunham), roller-skating rink and carnival rides. This year’s theme, “Play Your Way,” celebrates recreation, imagination and letting loose, transforming its grounds into the county’s biggest playground. RECOMMENDED: A guide to the L.A. County Fair

You might have seen ads on Instagram over the past couple of months for Hospital of Emotions—a colorful, cartoony flyer that heralds a site-specific art pop-up located in a real hospital with the tagline “a place to heal your heART.” The conceit intrigued me off the bat: 70 artists (both local and international) given hospital rooms as a canvas to transform as they wished. Hospital of Emotions ads are also referring to it as “the experience of the year.” We’re only in May so that’s still TBD, but I do think the exhibition—which is inhabiting the former St. Vincent Medical Center in Westlake and is officially open to the public as of May 27—is well worth your time. While the entire experience is hospital-themed—you walk through a waiting room and are given an intake form and hospital wristband, employees are in doctors’ coats—it’s not the cheesy type of immersive exhibition (read: selfie factory) that you might expect. Instead you’ll find 80 rooms filled with thought-provoking, visually dazzling and, yes, eminently photogenic installations. But there’s both style and substance here. And though the tickets are definitely on the pricey side, there’s so much to see—I spent nearly two hours there during my visit—that it (almost) makes up for it. The rooms are organized by theme; you start at the top of the building in the “Resilience Department” and make your way through clusters of rooms inspired by feelings like joy, sadness, anger, grief, fear and hope. The emphasis on...

Ponyo loves Sosuke! And we love this exhibition at the Academy Museum dedicated to the wholesome Hayao Miyazaki film. Studio Ghibli donated more than 100 objects to the Academy Collection, and you’ll find everything from an animation desk to colorful art boards to dozens of frame-by-frame pencil drawings of the scene when Sosuke first finds Ponyo. Though you may recognize a couple of items from the museum’s debut Hayao Miyazaki retrospective, the vast majority of Ponyo pieces are new—and some have never been displayed in North America before. It’s also a colorful and super kid-friendly exhibition; you can watch clips of the gorgeously hand-drawn movie, recreate the wave-running scene and even make your own stop-motion animation. You’ll find it on the museum’s second floor, inside the first few galleries of the “Stories of Cinema’ space.

Explore the history of early Los Angeles life with free admission to five museums in Northeast L.A. and Pasadena. The annual Museums of the Arroyo Day is the perfect opportunity to brush up on historical architecture—the Gamble House, Heritage Square and the Lummis Home—and relics from L.A.’s past—the L.A. Police Museum and Pasadena Museum of History. Note that there’s no shuttle service this year as there has been previously. But if you don’t want to drive, some of the sites are bike- and A Line-friendly. 

Downtown Burbank shuts down its main thoroughfare to car traffic for this biannual arts festival, curated by indie artisan marketplace Jackalope. Over 170 local hand-selected artisans will fill San Fernando Boulevard from Magnolia Boulevard to Angeleno Avenue. Shop art and photography, one-of-a-kind glass goods and ceramics, original fashion and jewelry, paper items, home decor, tasty treats and more. You’ll also find live music and activities for kids—including free workshops where they can make friendship bracelets and flower picture frames. And unlike some artisan markets, Jackalope offers free admission.