Museums Free-For-All: When a good stretch of time has been devoted to a single theme — think January's role as Art Month 'round Southern California — you want to cap it all in a big, everybody-party kind of way. And Museums Free-For-All fulfills that capper role very nicely, thank you very much. Just over two dozen art and culture and science institutions'll ditch admission (though not parking, where it applies) on Saturday, Jan. 31. Some museums will have their open date on Feb. 1 instead, note. Ready to see major stuff for zero dollars? Yeah, you totally are.
Night on Broadway: Oh, Jan. 31 — seriously, what is your story? The free large-scale happenings are plentiful, which makes one wonder if every month should end as nicely. Night on Broadway celebrates the theatre-plentiful thoroughfare's continuing revitalization with a full-on feast of live performances, films, and interesting, stop-and-watch goings-on. You don't need to pay a thing to party, but applauding LA City Councilmember Huizar's efforts to Bring Back Broadway.
Lunar New Year: It's another free happening, not far from downtown, and lo and behold it is unfurling, with festiveness, on Saturday, Jan. 31. The welcoming of the Year of the Sheep is a daytimer, though, and it will all dance, and make crafts, and practice calligraphy, and enjoy food trucks, starting at 11 a.m. in the parking lot of the USC Pacific Asia Museum. Best be there right when it begins, though, if you want to admire the always power-major, tradition-terrific lion dance.
Find Where the Wind Goes: Many of us have stood next to Space Shuttle Endeavour, admiring it and pondering its journey into space, but only a legendary few have been aboard. Dr. Mae Jemison, the first African-American woman in space, will visit Forest Lawn to talk about her Endeavour flight, growing up on the south side of Chicago, and her lauded work as a scientist. Admission is free to the Sunday, Feb. 1 talk, which takes place at the Forest Lawn Hall of Liberty.
LA Art Book Fair: Finding a tome that's rife with meaningful and interesting images by a favorite, or soon-to-be-favorite, artist is not just a rare treat. It's an act that broadens ideas and makes minds, and emotions, wider. Come across many of those moments during this free-to-see, large-scale book extravaganza, which fills up the Geffen Contemporary at MOCA with images, fresh concepts, and artists pushing the envelope, redesigning the envelope, ditching the envelope. Dates? Jan. 30 through Feb. 1
