Since President Trump’s takeover of the Kennedy Center, I’ve been glued to arts reporting out of Washington, D.C. The nation’s capital is proving to be a bellwether for Trump’s executive decrees when it comes to purging the arts — and virtually everywhere else — of any hint of diversity, equity and inclusion.
For example, the Smithsonian Institution was among the first major organizations to announce that it was closing its Office of Diversity, a move now mirrored by companies and organizations — public and private — across the country.
Since then, events featuring diverse faces and voices in D.C. continued to disappear and a deep freeze set in last week when the Washington Post reported in back-to-back stories that Trump’s anti-DEI orders had resulted in the cancellation of both a U.S. Marine Band performance featuring high school students of color and an exhibit featuring Black and LGBTQ+ artists at the Art Museum of the Americas.
The U.S. Marine Band, known as “The President’s Own,” was founded in 1798 for the purpose of performing for the president. The concert in question, which reportedly “vanished” from the schedule, was called “The Equity Arc Wind Symphony” and was supposed to celebrate the culmination of an intensive workshop between the marine band and high school musicians selected for the program by a Chicago-based nonprofit called Equity Arc, which mentors young musicians of color.
A spokesperson for the Marines confirmed to the Washington Post that cancellation resulted from Trump’s executive orders, and the executive director of Equity Arc said that at least 30 young people were no longer getting that vital experience.
Meanwhile, over at the Art Museum of the Americas, located a stone’s throw from the White House, two upcoming shows have been canceled: one featuring Black artists called “Before the Americas,” which was meant to trace the impact of the transatlantic slave trade through artists’ generational stories; and another highlighting LGBTQ+ artists from Canada.
The museum is run by the Organization of American States, which gets the bulk of its funding from the U.S. Those close to the shows confirmed to the Washington Post that the reason they were given for cancellation was because of executive orders regarding DEI.
So what to make of this? The opposite of inclusion is exclusion; of equity is inequity; and of diversity is homogeneity. I know which words feel warm and welcoming to me and which words are in stark contrast to the contents of my soul. I think most artists would agree. It will take much more than the brute force of exclusion to silence the primal scream of the arts.
That said, does anybody out there want to invite a group of talented young musicians to perform onstage with them at Walt Disney Concert Hall? I’m looking at you, Los Angeles Philharmonic.
I’m arts and culture writer Jessica Gelt, searching for loopholes in the inevitable. Ashley Lee and I are here with your weekly arts news.
Best bets: On our radar this week
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Arthur Russell, left, and Julius Eastman are at the center of a new festival from REDCAT, L.A. Phil Insight and Wild Up.
(Chuck Russell / Audika Records; Christine Rusiniak)
‘To the Fullest: The Music of Julius Eastman and Arthur Russell’
REDCAT, L.A. Phil Insight and Wild Up are collaborating to celebrate the legacies of the quintessential queer musicians Julius Eastman and Arthur Russell. The festival kicks off Tuesday at Walt Disney Concert Hall with performances of Eastman’s “Evil N–” and “Gay Guerrilla,” as well as “The Arthur Russell Songbook” with a new series of collaborative arrangements. It continues March 15 with an exhibition in the gallery at REDCAT examining Seth Parker Woods’ audio installation, which presents his performance of the 10 cello parts in Eastman’s 1981 masterwork “The Holy Presence of Joan d’Arc,” and March 29 with Woods’ live performance atop his recording. REDCAT also will present Russell’s minimalist disco masterwork “24 to 24 Music” in early May. redcat.org
‘Such Small Hands’
Adam Szymkowicz “has a wicked ear for postmodern courtship,” wrote Charlotte Stoudt in a 2012 Times review of the writer’s first-date play “Nerve.” His newest two-hander centers on a much more developed relationship: a decades-long married couple who find themselves facing an uncertain future. Directed by Matthew McCray, the world-premiere production of the intimate and emotional play stars Bruce Goodrich and Juliet Fischer. It is currently in previews and runs through March 23. Chance Theater, 5522 E. La Palma Ave, Anaheim. chancetheater.com
Manyaku Mashilo, whose work is on view in an exhibition at Southern Guild.
(Matt Dutile Creative)
Manyaku Mashilo
Southern Guild presents “The Laying of Hands,” a solo exhibition of the South African artist’s large-scale paintings exploring themes of matrilineal connection, ritual and heritage. Also on view at the first South African gallery with a permanent U.S. location: “Taama,” a major retrospective exhibition of functional design by Malian designer, sculptor and architect Cheick Diallo. Both shows are the artists’ first solo exhibitions in the U.S., and are on view Tuesday through Saturday until May 3. Southern Guild, 747 N. Western Ave., Melrose Hill. southernguild.com
— Ashley Lee
The week ahead: A curated calendar
Classic rockers Heart, with Nancy Wilson, left, and Ann Wilson, perform Monday at Crypto.com Arena.
(Douglas Mason / WireImage)
MONDAY
Heart Sisters Ann and Nancy Wilson are joined by Squeeze on the Royal Flush tour.
8 p.m. Crypto.com Arena, 1111 S. Figueroa St., downtown L.A. cryptoarena.com
WEDNESDAY
Deftones The alternative metal band is joined by the Mars Volta and Fleshwater.
7 p.m. Wednesday and Thursday. Kia Forum, 3900 W. Manchester Blvd., Inglewood. thekiaforum.com
Finneas The singer-songwriter-producer hits town on his For Cryin’ Out Loud! tour.
7 p.m. Hollywood Palladium, 6215 Sunset Blvd. hollywoodpalladium.com
THURSDAY
Caldore String Quartet The ensemble performs works by Beethoven and Korngold, plus a world premiere by Han Lash.
7 p.m. Segerstrom Center for the Arts, Samueli Theater, 600 Town Center Drive, Costa Mesa. scfta.org
Allan Moyle Tribute The American Cinematheque’s two-night salute to the Canadian director features a new restoration of his 1977 exploitation film “The Rubber Gun” and a double feature of 1990’s “Pump Up the Volume” (in 35mm) and 1980’s “Times Square,” followed by Q&As with the filmmaker.
7 p.m. Thursday. Los Feliz Theatre, 1822 N. Vermont Ave.; 7:30 p.m. Friday. Aero Theatre, 1328 Montana Ave., Santa Monica. americancinematheque.com
A Woman Is a Woman (Une femme est une femme) The West Coast premiere of a new 4K restoration of Jean-Luc Godard’s innovative 1961 romantic comedy, which stars Anna Karina, Jean-Claude Brialy and Jean-Paul Belmondo and features the music of Michel Legrand.
7:30 p.m. Academy Museum, 6067 Wilshire Blvd. academymuseum.org
Culture news and the SoCal scene
Maxim Kuzin conducts the Palisades Symphony during a fire recovery benefit concert at Westwood United Methodist Church.
(Michael Owen Baker / For The Times)
Times staff writer Thomas Curwen wrote a touching dispatch about the Palisades Symphony, which was scheduled to perform the night of the Palisades fire, and is now finding hope and solace in music.
There is a fresh twist in a California family’s saga of trying to reclaim ownership of a Camille Pissarro painting that a relative had relinquished to the Nazis in return for safe passage out of Germany in 1939. The painting now hangs in Madrid’s Thyssen-Bornemisza National Museum, and the family has spent two decades trying to get it back. The Times editorial board explains how a new California law could help the Supreme Court do the right thing when it comes to returning the piece to its rightful owners.
Read all about Homes in Memoriam, a collective of more than 150 volunteer artists painting free home portraits for Los Angeles County families displaced by the recent L.A. fires.
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Evelina Fernandez in Latino Theater Company’s “Whittier Boulevard.”
(Grettel Cortes Photography)
L.A.’s Latino Theater Company is celebrating its 40th anniversary with its newly announced 2025 season, which includes the West Coast premiere of “Just Like Us” by Karen Zacarías and the world premiere of “The Last Play” by Rickérby Hinds. Founded in 1985, the Latino Theater Company has operated out of downtown’s Los Angeles Theatre Center since 2006.
Theatre Communications Group released its 44th annual research report, “Theatre Facts 2023,” featuring telling statistics about the state of the art form among U.S. nonprofits during the second year of pandemic recovery. Key findings include the challenging data that “total earned income increased by 94% since 2022, but remained 25% lower than 2019.”
Pacific Symphony announced its 2025-26 season under Alexander Shelley, who recently assumed the role of music director designate. Shelley will be appointed to a full directorship in the 2026-27 season, succeeding Carl St.Clair, who transitions to music director laureate. In the new season, Shelley will lead four concerts including Ravel’s “Daphnis and Chloe” and Stravinsky’s “The Firebird.” St.Clair is scheduled to conduct three subscription concerts and three specials.
— Jessica Gelt
And last but not least
There’s a new restaurant and bar in downtown L.A. called the Gallery, and it’s all about “immersive dining.” Fancy a table overflowing with molten lava? Check, please!
