Kristin Marguerite Doidge

Located in the historic Miracle Mile district of LA—which is home to LACMA and museum row—the Loft at Liz’s is a creative hotspot not to be missed. Hidden above Liz’s Hardware, an antique store, the gallery features both emerging and established artists and artisans, works of all mediums, including visual arts, live performances, music, dance and culinary arts. Owner Liz Gordon once lived as an “artist-in-residence” above the hardware store, but since 2004 the loft has served as a space to feature works of all mediums from artists all around the world. Exhibits change bi-monthly.

This brand-new contemporary art gallery celebrated its grand opening on April 9, 2016. The space has special meaning for the artists who have been in Venice for decades but were recently pushed out by rising rents. Featuring the work of well-known artists Alberto Bevacqua, his son Ara, and John Grauman, it’s a way to celebrate their work from 334 Sunset Ave, where the Bevacquas shared a studio that fellow Venice artists also used, including Richard Diebenkorn, Sam Francis and May Ray. The new art gallery has various exhibits and events planned throughout the year.

Situated in a 6,200-square-foot warehouse in the heart of Downtown LA, the Night Gallery is a contemporary art gallery and artist-run space that reflects the youthful sensibility of owner Davida Nemeroff, a photographer and New York transplant. It shares a building with the François Ghebaly Gallery and offers patrons a look at art in what feels like a club-like atmosphere. Collectors frequent the space, which is now situated in a growing art hub, and it also holds various programming throughout the year.

The Good Luck Gallery specializes in self-taught art—outsider, folk art, naive or visionary—created by those who prefer to work outside the lines of the traditional art world. Paige Wery, the one-time publisher of the art magazine Artillery, brings 20 years of experience and a passion for intuitive art to the gallery as its owner and curator. Paintings, drawings, sculptures and installations that don’t require critical interpretation are on full display here, and an online shop features handmade arts and crafts, zines and literature for purchase.

MuzeuMM is probably the most, well, unique gallery on our list as far as programming goes. In a creative space that opened in 2009 next to Tivetsky Art Restoration in the West Adams district of LA, MuzeuMM offers a number of avant-garde shows, such as its recent “Abstract Never Is,” an exhibition of both contemporary and historical abstract photography in a vibrant collaboration with the Venice Institute of Contemporary Art (ViCA). Founder and director Mishelle Moross mostly focuses on contemporary art, and though the subject matter is often mature, it’s actually a family-friendly and dog-friendly venue known for throwing great parties.

“In New York you are your own person. You may reach out and embrace all of Manhattan in sweet aloneness, or you can go to hell if you want to,” Harper Lee wrote in Go Set a Watchman.  New York City has long been associated with its literary past and present, but a new online audio tour curated by HarperCollins Publishers is taking book lovers on a never-before-heard virtual journey to the homes and favorite locales of some of America’s most beloved authors. An interactive map features 7-minute audio recordings for each location detailing its historical, social and literary significance. Authors showcased include Lee (To Kill a Mockingbird, Go Set a Watchman) and Hurston (Their Eyes Were Watching God), as well as Samuel Clemens aka Mark Twain (Huckleberry Finn, Tom Sawyer, etc.) and Maurice Sendak (Where the Wild Things Are), among others.  Discover key addresses that were significant in these famous authors’ lives, from the butcher shop on York where Harper Lee stopped for a scone at 7:30 every morning, to the artistic haven downtown where Zora Neale Hurston was known to collaborate with other writers and artists, such as Langston Hughes.  Here’s a sneak peek at some of the stories behind the places these cultural icons called home. Harper Lee: 1539 York & 433 East 82nd Street When people think of Harper Lee’s hometown, they naturally think of Monroeville, Alabama, the real-life counterpart to Maycomb in To Kill A Mockingbird. But New York City was Lee’s second home. From 19