What to Know
- Cardboard City, presented by reDiscover Center
- Free admission (classes are additional); the "Pop-up Art Center" is located at Westfield Century City (near Eataly)
- July 21 through Sept. 3, 2023; Wednesday through Sunday; check site for hours
A propeller plane, a robot, a robot piloting a plane, some flowers, a planet, and another robot, all sharing the same surreal space?
Fashioning fanciful items out of a stack of cardboard, or a single cardboard box sitting in the garage, can lead to a lot of outlandish and awesome places for a kid, an adult, or families working together on a memory-making summertime project.
Little prompting or direction is needed to turn that box into the body of a beep-boop robot or funny monster; imagination, some bright markers, and a bit of time are usually all that is required, along with a few other around-the-house tools.
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But what if you could visit a place, a merry municipality with a name that is as big as its vision?
That place would be Cardboard City, and while it won't be depicted on the map inside your glovebox, you will find it at Westfield Century City.
Presented by reDiscover Art Center, this art pop-up will cover the creative cardboard-maker landscape in so many ways. Look for hands-on activities, crafty classes, inspirational displays, and routes to upping your cardboard-building skills.
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Visiting Cardboard City is free, but if you'd like to take a Cardboard Crafting class, that's available for a $45 fee (you can register at the Cardboard City site). There are also some early times on weekends for younger makers, so take a look at the full schedule.
As for what you'll see around the space if you choose to simply stop by to admire the art? Towering pieces are on wowza view, as are humorous odes to pop culture, abstract wonders, fashionable looks, and strange sculptures.
You, of course, don't have to make anything too over-the-top if you do sign up for a class. You might let the cardboard speak to you, and guide you to a robot, a plane, a flower, or some quirky combo of the three.
This is all happening on select dates through Sept. 3, and you'll want to double-check the hours before making for Westfield Century City.
And, of course, save those boxes by your backdoor. You just may return home from Cardboard City with a zany idea for an offbeat artwork, one that could be constructed over the course of a single afternoon, one bend and fold at a time.
