art

TeamLab, the Japan-born, tech-heavy immersive art collective, is plotting its first permanent U.S. exhibition in Anaheim. The group, stylized as teamLab, is moving into a 110,000-square-foot space at OCVibe, the 100-acre mixed-use entertainment district currently in development near the Honda Center.

Details are scant, as the TeamLab spot is not estimated to open until 2030, but a press release specifies this will be a new exhibition and not a recreation of one of the collective’s popular international exhibits. TeamLab got its start in Tokyo in 2001, but over the years grew from exhibiting in galleries to building its own museum-like spaces, today having permanent locales in Japan, China and Saudi Arabia.

A TeamLab installation is something of an immersive playground, inviting guests to sometimes take off their shoes to interact with floor-to-ceiling walk-through attractions that split the difference between art and play. One of its showcase facilities, Tokyo’s TeamLab Planets, welcomed more than 2.5 million visitors in 2024, a Guinness world record for the most visited art museum by a single group.

An artist’s rendering of the Anaheim location, estimated to open in 2030.

(OCVibe)

“For teamLab, through art, we seek to explore what perception is and what existence is,” said Toshiyuki Inoko, a founder of TeamLab, in a release announcing the exhibit.

“The artworks change with the presence of people, making them an integral part of the art itself. People immerse themselves with their entire bodies, transcending the boundaries between themselves, the artworks, and the world around them, becoming part of a borderless continuity.”

TeamLab’s Anaheim location is just three miles from Disneyland, which draws more than 17 million people to the area. TeamLab is just one of many immersive art destinations coming to SoCal, as Meow Wolf will be opening a permanent exhibition in the coming months, and firms such as Hopscotch and the Museum of Ice Cream also have area exhibitions on the horizon.

“Anaheim has always been a place where people come to experience something they can’t find anywhere else, and teamLab will expand our appeal to new audiences from around the world. Experiences like this inspire longer stays, repeat visits,” stated Mike Waterman, president and chief executive of the tourism-focused Visit Anaheim.

The deal between TeamLab and OCVibe backers is worth more than $100 million, Bloomberg reported. OCVibe is the vision of Henry and Susan Samueli, owners of the Anaheim Ducks, and it will open in phases. A 5,000 capacity concert hall is set to open next year, followed by a food hall.

The TeamLab building will be visible from the freeway, and is being designed by Smith-Clementi, OCVibe’s master planners. Based on concept art shown, expect a shimmering, scale-like pattern designed to evoke movement.

“This building feels different depending on the direction or pace of your approach,” said Julie Smith-Clementi . “The time of day, or movement of clouds participates in rendering its iridescent cloak, enriching what you think you see. We want the design to leave room for imagination and discovery and, like in nature, to offer something new with each visit.”

OCVibe will also offer office space, residences and two hotels. It’s estimated to be completed by 2033.

Caracas, October 22, 2026 (venezuelanalysis.com) – Students from the Venezuelan Experimental University of the Arts (UNEARTE) have staged multiple demonstrations in recent days to press for solutions to infrastructural and administrative issues.

Students from the UNEARTE branch in Maracay, Aragua State, blocked a major intersection on Tuesday to demand “dignified” studying conditions.

“We are staging a peaceful demonstration to demand improvements to our academic conditions,” student José Pérez told local reporters. “We do not have our own campus, and the facilities are inadequate for the artistic areas we are studying.”

Protesters held billboards and banners calling for a “dignified campus.” UNEARTE’s Maracay education programs function in different rented spaces, which students have complained are in deteriorating condition.

The Maracay demonstration followed a number of protests and sit-ins at UNEARTE’s main campus in Caracas. Students denounced that multiple university installations are shut down or in a state of disrepair. The Modest Bor center, which houses UNEARTE’s music program, has been partially closed for several years.

In addition, students decried that UNEARTE centers’ cafeterias have been shuttered for months, while many have additional grievances including inoperative bathrooms and software issues that  left many students unable to properly register for classes. 

In response to the protests, Venezuelan authorities vowed to address the concerns raised by students. UNEARTE Rector Ignacio Barreto approached students during a demonstration and promised that the registration process would start over.

The Ministry of Culture, which is responsible for UNEARTE alongside the Ministry of Higher Education, held an assembly with all university personnel and announced the creation of working groups with student representatives in several areas.

“This commission, apart from listening to the students and the authorities, should have a weekly plan that can be supervised,” Culture Minister Alejandro López told press. “Accountability before the students is key.”

López, Barreto and other officials were seen inspecting several university facilities last week. The minister pledged to address issues of running water, internet connectivity, and transportation in the near term.

UNEARTE was created by former President Hugo Chávez in 2008, bringing together several educational institutes dedicated to the arts with the aim of advancing a popular and anti-colonial pedagogical approach. It offers degrees in music, dance, film, theater, photography, and plastic arts.

The protests over UNEARTE’s disrepair and deficient conditions coincided with the Venezuelan government’s launch of the José Antonio Abreu Music University. Acting President Delcy Rodríguez headlined the inauguration ceremony earlier this month.

The new public university will have its state-of-the-art campus in the traditionally middle-class southwestern Caracas parish of El Paraíso, including three concert halls and a research center. It will also have 18 regional branches, with a maximum enrolment capacity of around 3,500 students.

Other Venezuelan universities have likewise seen student demonstrations in recent days. In the “Dr. Humberto Fernández-Morán” National Sciences University, students held a protest and an assembly on Monday over what they characterized as inadequate transportation.

The campus is located in Los Teques, some 25 kilometers outside Caracas, and was formally inaugurated in December 2024. Though the university promised to provide transportation, students have complained that the assigned buses are unreliable and have insufficient capacity.

Higher education trade unions have also been at the forefront of regular labor protests in recent months. Venezuelan working-class organizations have called for non-wage bonuses to be converted to salaries and for the restoration of collective bargaining agreements.

Edited by Lucas Koerner in Philadelphia, USA.

Avanti West Coast research says that more than half of all passengers would like a completely phone-free carriage

Railway boffins claim to have discovered the ‘perfect train journey’ – from dodging boiled eggs and sweaty feet to revealing the best seat on any train. Avanti West Coast research and customer data claims to have revealed the unwritten rules of onboard comfort and which behaviours generate disapproving tuts.

The intercity operator has launched its first Comfort Index to provide a unique insight into what passengers value most during their journey and how it varies across Britain.

Their research said more than two thirds (77%) said they want a window seat, 69% prefer to face forward and 58% want an empty seat beside them. Exactly one in five (20%) would even travel 15 minutes longer to keep it empty, 18% would pay an extra £5 and 22% would sacrifice Wi-Fi.

Another one in five (20%) would even swap their coveted window seat for a little more space. Avanti’s booking data suggests there may be such a thing as the perfect train seat, with Seat 18 in Coach B being the most reserved seat on its Pendolino services.

It was booked 179,685 times between September 2025 – September 2026 and matches passenger preferences of having a window and table.

While those travelling on the West Coast Main Line have similar thoughts about seats, snacks proved controversial with 52% of rail travellers objecting to boiled eggs and 48% to tuna sandwiches being eaten onboard.

They say the famously reserved reputation of British people extends to the carriage environment too, with more than two-thirds (68%) wanting more quiet carriages.

More than half (52%) would even choose a completely phone-free carriage, suggesting that for many Brits, the dream journey might simply be one where nobody makes any noise.

The Index also reveals a generational shift in the unwritten rules of train travel, with Gen Z passengers being more tolerant of video calls. It says 38% think Facetiming onboard is unacceptable compared to almost three quarters (72%) of over-65s.

Sounds of other people’s phones onboard reveals an even bigger generation gap. A huge 88% of over-65s object to TikToks or videos without headphones compared to just 51% of 18-24-year-olds.

Younger passengers are said to place greater emphasis on choice and ‘making the journey their own’. A surprising 62% of 25-34-year-olds say choosing between Standard, Premium and First Class matters during planning compared with 42% of over-65s.

Gen Z are bringing their own comforts onboard too, with one in eight (12%) 18-24-year-olds saying they’d even pack a massage gun. Avanti West Coast say everyone seems to agree on keeping your socks on, as three quarters (75%) say taking them off onboard is unacceptable.

A whopping 70% object to TikToks without headphones and 67% to someone cutting or filing their nails. The study also shows how rail journeys are considered part of the occasion, with 69% of Brits saying their leisure time starts the moment they get onboard.

Between September 2025 – September 2026 Avanti West Coast say their customers drank almost 420,000 cups of breakfast tea and ate 212,000 KitKats.

Beer proved another favourite, with 154,000 Grolsch Pilsners sold, painting a suitably British picture of onboard comfort – a cuppa, something sweet or a cold beer en route. From seating preference and noise tolerance to boiled eggs, the Index shows Brits might never agree on exactly what makes the perfect journey.

Kathryn O’Brien at Avanti West Coast said: “The Comfort Index shows everyone’s definition of comfort varies. While there’s some unspoken rail travel etiquette most seem to agree on, beyond that people have different thoughts on what makes a comfortable journey.

“For some it’s peace and quiet while for others it’s getting work done, enjoying a snack or having space to relax.

“Customers most value the ability to shape their journey around their own needs, whether that’s choosing the perfect seat or enjoying a cup of tea onboard. That’s why we offer our seat picker tool and a range of refreshments in our onboard shop, helping customers to enjoy their trip from the very moment they board.

“By better understanding what matters most to our customers, we can continue to enhance and develop the onboard experience. This includes upgrading Wi-Fi connectivity to make travelling with Avanti West Coast as comfortable as possible for everyone.”

The full Avanti West Coast Comfort Index is available here

The Kelly Clarkson wooden bird feud continues to soar as the New York City novelty shop accused of disrespecting the “Voice” star sets a whopping $15 million price for the hand-cranked singing automata bird.

The one-of-a-kind chirping bird, known as Molly, is at the center of a media frenzy after shop owners at Art of Play — a high-end “curiosity shop” in Brooklyn that sells luxury playing cards, puzzles and other amusements — refused to part ways with the permanent fixture after a sale inquiry from Clarkson led to an alleged un-pheasant interaction she later called out online.

Now it appears that shop owners are changing their perch — and price point — with shop co-owner Adam Rubin confirming to NBC News that Molly is now valued at $15 million.

Rubin told the news outlet that if the business parts ways with the wooden puppet, store employees will receive a $15,000 bonus and the bird’s artist, Bliss Kolb of Seattle, will receive $1 million. The store would also use the profits to build a display dedicated to Molly.

But it appears that the bickering feud is not over yet.

Rubin was seen speaking to an unnamed individual about the incident in a video obtained by the California Post, originally published Tuesday.

“If it is this intense to be mentioned by Kelly Clarkson, imagine how intense it is to be Kelly Clarkson every single day,” Rubin said of the music artist. “I have sympathy for her … but it’s so hard to forgive her actions after she walked out the door.”

Clarkson did not respond to The Times’ request for comment.

Ruffled feathers

The interaction involving Clarkson first came to light on Saturday after the “Because of You” singer took to social media to call out a distasteful experience she had at Art of Play, which she compared to the scene in the 1990 film “Pretty Woman” where Julia Roberts’ character is treated poorly by retail workers.

“Just drove all the way to Brooklyn to check out this store I thought looked really rad and had a few things in mind to buy and literally was looked at as if I couldn’t afford it and was told he could find something comparable for me,” Clarkson wrote on X. “Wow, dude. You’re an idiot and just lost a huge sale. But y’all should go check out Art of Play in Brooklyn if you enjoy being treated like Julia Roberts character in Pretty Woman. For sure, check it out.”

Many fans sympathized with Clarkson’s shopping experience and took to social media to denounce the actions taken by the shop.

In response, Art of Play later shared in a Sunday Instagram post that the item the “Since U Been Gone” singer had expressed interest in was Molly, a singing and dancing bird which plays an important role in the magic shows hosted at the shop.

“Molly is permanently attached to the wall and isn’t for sale,” the Sunday post on Instagram read. “Imagine our surprise when our small local business was suddenly attacked by 8 million people who have never visited our store. It’s been a surreal experience to be the focus of such widespread outrage after just one mention by a celebrity.”

After the boutique’s statement, Clarkson doubled down on her claims on her Instagram stories with photos featuring a price tag on the bird that contradicted the shop’s first statement.

“Cool, cool. Sure, it wasn’t for sale. That’s the narrative Art of Play is gonna go with,” Clarkson wrote in a post shared to her Instagram Stories Sunday. “[S]o the whole conversation we had when I asked you if it was for sale whilst pointing to the price tag hanging on the wall with the title Singing Bird didn’t happen as you elevator eyed me saying in a condescending tone ‘yes, it’s for sale but it costs 15,000 dollars so if you’d like me to find something comparable for you I can.’ That all never happened and now it’s not for sale.”

“Okay, cool,” the post continued. “So you’re not only rude, you’re also a liar. Got it.”

Although there are some online social media photos that show no visible price tag next to Molly, internet sleuths were able to locate other images with a visible sticker price to the side.

While the singer said that she loves and supports small businesses, she added “but you don’t get a free pass to treat people less than in your store just because you are a small business.”

“It’s not that hard to be kind,” Clarkson wrote. “I never blast people but you my friend were an exception. Your store is really cool. Unfortunately, you aren’t.”

Art of Play responded to the former talk show host by issuing another statement on Instagram Sunday, which included additional details about “the 5 minutes [Clarkson] spent in the store.”

According to Art of Play, it had explained to Clarkson that Molly “is permanently attached to the wall and serves as a de facto mascot” for the shop and while the piece is not for sale, “a nearly identical automaton is owned by the creator of the machines.” Its artist, Kolb, told owners that “he would be willing to part with Molly’s twin for $15,000.”

The shop also claims they offered to show Clarkson another model made by a Germany clockmaking shop that was available to take home the same day for about $2,000 but “[s]he did not stick around long enough to see it.”

“We’ve reached out to Kelly directly to try and clear the air,” the post added. “We really do wish her the best and hope that someday we can all laugh about this misunderstanding.”

Fowl play

Clarkson knew her millions of fans would “weaponize themselves” and “debase themselves on behalf of a millionaire they’d never met,” Rubin said in the video clip published Tuesday.

According to Rubin, online criticisms against the store emerged 15 minutes after Clarkson left the store.

“People way more famous than Kelly Clarkson have come in here and been treated just the same as everybody else,” he added.

The incident is “a perverse distortion of reality” after the store received thousands of hateful online comments and phone calls calling for an apology, Rubin said, who added that the singer’s actions have resulted in online attacks to store employees’ personal social media accounts and the doxxing of neighboring businesses.

“We didn’t know this was going to happen but Kelly Clarkson did it,” said Rubin. “And she needs to be held accountable for her actions.”

Rubin also added that what upset Clarkson was that “she didn’t get special treatment,” and that every person who enters the store is treated equally, even if they are a celebrity.

“The fact that anyone thinks we owe her an apology,” Rubin said, “when she threw a Molotov cocktail into our store and wallets on fire — they’re saying we owe her an apology? This is asymmetrical social warfare.”

With less than two years until the 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games in Los Angeles, serious questions remain about funding and coordination for the Cultural Olympiad, the arts and culture program accompanying the Games.

The Cultural Olympiad is a measure of a host city’s commitment to the creative arts and can have a lasting impact on a region’s artistic legacy. The 2024 Olympics in Paris featured more than 2,500 projects over a period of three years. And while Los Angeles arts organizations and neighboring cities are already commissioning work and developing neighborhood celebrations, critics say a more formal and cohesive plan has failed to materialize.

At a legislative hearing Wednesday at the California Science Center, lawmakers pressed organizers for answers to a basic question: How much money will there be to support the Cultural Olympiad, and when will that money reach the artists and communities expected to bring it to life?

Former Los Angeles County Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky, director of the Los Angeles Initiative at UCLA’s Luskin School of Public Affairs, criticized the failure to mobilize cultural planning earlier. Los Angeles was awarded the Games in September 2017, giving it nearly 11 years to prepare.

“I’m not trying to point a finger here, but it just didn’t happen,” he said.

The delay had consequences, he warned: major artists book engagements years in advance, limiting what organizers can now arrange.

“So that’s the kind of thing that we lose. But that doesn’t mean that the Cultural Olympiad is a flop.”

Yaroslavsky also described the 1984 Olympic Arts Festival as a catalyst for Los Angeles’ cultural growth. “It allowed us to think much bigger,” he said.

“The urgency to share what our local communities can expect has been pressing, and many local cities and nonprofits could no longer wait for outside direction,” said Sofia Klatzker, Santa Monica’s cultural affairs manager.

She outlined Santa Monica’s proposed cultural framework, “Land and Water Here and Now,” encompassing performances, exhibitions, public art and international cultural exchanges.

The joint hearing of the Senate’s Special Committee on International Sporting Events and the Legislature’s Joint Committee on the Arts brought together about 100 city and county officials, LA28 Cultural Olympiad leaders and arts advocates. Their presentations revealed a patchwork of efforts, with municipalities and organizations moving ahead while seeking clearer coordination and financial commitments.

Sen. Benjamin Allen (D-Santa Monica), who chairs both committees, convened the hearing.

A September report from City Administrative Officer Matthew W. Szabo and Chief Legislative Analyst Sharon M. Tso puts LA28’s Olympic and Paralympic Games budget at $7.263 billion.

At Wednesday’s hearing, Dwayne Jones, LA28’s senior vice president for the Cultural Olympiad and stakeholder events, did not disclose a precise cultural budget or how much funding had been secured. He described a fundraising ambition in the tens of millions of dollars, with conversations underway with philanthropic donors and LA28 partners.

The Olympic cauldron is lit at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum ahead of the launch for ticket registration to the 2028 Summer Olympic Games Tuesday, Jan. 13, 2026, in Los Angeles.

(Damian Dovarganes / Associated Press)

Sen. Lola Smallwood-Cuevas (D-Los Angeles) repeatedly questioned how those resources would reach artists and community organizations. After the hearing, she conceded that “there are a lot of unanswered questions.”

LA28 Cultural Olympiad Executive Director Nora Halpern and Jones provided updates on plans first outlined in May, including an official Cultural Olympiad mark recognizing participating programs and a digital calendar and mapping platform. They also said programming spanning fashion, film, food, music, performing and visual art, will be announced in 2027.

Applications for the mark are expected to open in early 2027. The calendar and mapping platform is scheduled to launch in January 2028.

Separately, Halpern said artists had been selected to create 16 official posters — eight Olympic and eight Paralympic — through a process involving nominations from regional curators. The posters will be unveiled in July 2027.

Jones also described free community film screenings paired with local food and musical performances, as well as plans for dance, theater and spoken-word programming. Further announcements will come in 2027, he said.

City and county cultural affairs officials presented complementary efforts. Los Angeles’ Department of Cultural Affairs general manager Daniel Tarica said $15 million from its existing budget has been committed to its core program.

The department reported completing 19 programs and events this year, citing World Cup celebrations that combined sports screenings with art-making and dancing. The department is continuing exchanges between local and international artists and testing neighborhood programming ahead of an official summer 2027 launch. Additional initiatives, including 15 new Olympic and Paralympic murals and disability arts celebrations, depend on further funding.

Los Angeles County’s Department of Arts and Culture is building its 2028 effort around existing grants, youth programs, public art and neighborhood partnerships, Director Kristin Sakoda said. Plans include a Year of Creative Youth, an Olympic arts education curriculum being developed with the Olympic Museum in Switzerland, and outreach through parks, libraries and cultural venues.

Arts administrators from Long Beach and West Hollywood described local initiatives. Long Beach Cultural Affairs Officer Griselda Suarez reported investing $135,000 in 12 groups to pilot cultural projects, while Rebecca Ehemann, arts manager, City of West Hollywood, said the city was completing its first year of implementing a multiyear creative plan.

Arts for LA CEO Gustavo Herrera presented Mosaic LA, a community-led initiative intended to coordinate neighborhood cultural programming and sustain investment beyond 2028. Its proposals include a pooled fund, technical assistance and shared promotion, alongside exploration of a new county-level arts funding mechanism. Cultural districts would anchor the effort.

Its financing remains unresolved. “There are budgets that have been laid out, but no resources that have been allocated to it yet,” Herrera said.

The discussion also touched on the federal government’s role. Congress has appropriated $1 billion through FEMA’s State Homeland Security Grant Program for Olympics-related security, planning and other costs, and $94.3 million for Games-related transportation assistance. Those commitments are separate from the cultural fundraising described at the hearing.

Assemblymember Christopher M. Ward (D-San Diego) called for federal financial support and “a little bit of a better attitude,” saying recent political rhetoric was unhelpful to attracting visitors to California.

Earlier this month, President Trump drew criticism for remarks at a Nebraska rally about Iran potentially striking Los Angeles and San Diego. He subsequently said his comments had been misinterpreted.

The potential benefits of the Games are not automatic, UCLA professor of history Dr. Tawny Paul cautioned. Her research found that large Olympic visitor numbers do not necessarily translate into higher museum attendance, underscoring the importance of local audiences and programming before and beyond the competitions.

For Smallwood-Cuevas, securing additional state support requires a clearer account of the needs.

“At the end of the day, we need a concise, coordinated and clear ask,” she said after the hearing. “That’s rooted in some real facts.”

Horowitz is a special correspondent.

Textile artist Jane Jauregui is expanding the boundaries of what plush figures can be, thinking beyond that pile of mass-produced, branded stuffies huddled atop a twin bed, crammed inside a toy chest, or dangling from a backpack strap.

True, in the nearly two decades that she’s been creating plush figures, she’s produced charmingly minimalistic foxes, cats and buffalo fit for a nursery. However, her latest work has been anything but child’s play.

A plush fried chicken bucket is one of Jane Jauregui’s textile takes on beloved dishes.

She launched her “soft sculpture” company, STFD, in 2024 with the intention of transforming her inner thoughts into plush form — no matter how outside the box those ideas may be. After all, why bring yet another teddy bear into the world when you can dream up a stuffed paintbrush trailing a splash of brightly colored felt “paint,” or a striped bucket filled with faux fried chicken?

In this series, we highlight independent makers and artists, from glassblowers to fiber artists, who are creating original products in and around Los Angeles.

“It stands for Stuff That Feeds Delight,” Jauregui said of the brand’s acronymic name. “The newer things I’m working on are more like display items, but you can absolutely touch them,” she explained. “I just started playing more with the idea of decor, aging it up a little bit more, and playing with the idea of how we can really elevate it.”

Take, for example, a plate of longsilog, the traditional breakfast meal her Filipina grandmother used to make for her. Inside the converted garage of the same Van Nuys house where she was raised, Jauregui whipped up a playful sausage-riceball-fried egg combo using a sewing needle, felt, embroidery floss and sherpa fleece, rather than pots and pans.

Moved by memories of her grandfathers, she created a collection of stuffed felt cigarette butts, complete with simulated ash made by zigzagging stitches.

“My Thai and Filipino grandpas were chain-smokers,” she said. “They passed away, and I just started thinking a lot about what would represent them. Cigarettes immediately came to mind.”

Jane Jauregui’s home studio inside the converted garage of her childhood home.

Though she takes inspiration from her personal experiences, many of her plush figures strike a universal note. Most anyone born in the 20th century would take one look at her plush retro alarm clock radio and instinctively feel the urge to whack its elongated vinyl “snooze” button. The trompe l’oeil wood paneling (which she made by printing a wood-grain design directly onto dark brown fabric) and the red-tinted digital readout screen (the numbers are iron-on transfers) make it a dead ringer for those once-commonplace nightstand devices that predated smartphone alarms.

She first tried her hand at the craft about 18 years ago, after she and her husband, Sergio, couldn’t find the right gift for his newborn niece at famed New York City toy emporium FAO Schwarz.

“Everything was licensed, and I didn’t want any kind of IP [intellectual property],” she recalled. “I went home and said, ‘Well, I’m just going to sew something for her.’ Sergio was like, ‘But you don’t know how to sew, so that’s a little crazy.’ I said, ‘That’s OK, I’ll figure it out!’”

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1. A plush hot dog. 2. An ashtray full of plush cigarettes, inspired by Jane Jauregui’s grandparents.

Fortunately, she had a leg up when it came to picking up the new skill. Her father, a retired clothing designer and patternmaker, had introduced her to the inner workings of the garment industry from a young age.

“My dad would have full-time work five days a week, so there wasn’t a lot of time for him to teach me,” she said. “But when he would take freelance work home, I would sit in this garage with him. He had a big table, and I would sit there and watch him sew. It was just really how we spent time together.

“When I decided to start making plush, I remembered little things he would do, like how to walk a pattern — which is making sure the pattern pieces are matching — or how he would move the ruler. I would remember all of those things and put my own spin on it.”

Artist Jane Jauregui eschews watercolors and acrylics, preferring to “paint with plush.”

She started by making simple shapes like a stuffed orange, pear and an eggplant, working her way up to the finalized baby gift: a stuffed whale. By 2009, she’d completed enough plush produce to start selling at local pop-up markets under the business name Janie XY. Sergio, an artist in his own right, even constructed her first booth to resemble a fruit stand. Her first hit item was a baby rattle shaped like a chicken drumstick that was sold wrapped in cellophane, much like a meat-counter purchase. This time, her muse was her own infant niece.

All the while, she was holding down a full-time job creating window displays for Forever 21. She continued to build her squeezable empire in her off-hours, even as she transferred to corporate jobs at Mattel and Disney (for which she’s now a consumer products design manager), and became a mother. Taking a page from her father, she’s made her at-home workspace accessible to her 5-year-old daughter.

“She’s in here all the time,” she said. “I let her touch everything. What’s fun about the medium is you can’t break it. You can get it dirty, but she knows what to do. She’s really mature about it. She loves to clean the sewing machine — she’ll go in with a pin and pick out all the lint, and she’ll think that was a good day’s work. We want her to feel like part of the work because she is a part of it.”

Jane Jauregui’s sewing machine, which her daughter likes to clean, in her home studio.

That said, Jauregui’s STFD creations aren’t necessarily made with the wee ones in mind. Consider her new pieces celebrating liquor stores, for which she converted items like lottery tickets and frothing beer cans into plush form.

“It’s something that we all take for granted,” she said of the ubiquitous neighborhood corner store. “You tend to turn your nose up at it, but it’s there for you all the time.”

She and her husband also pay homage to these unsung cultural hubs in the latest edition of their fledgling zine, which they’ve dubbed “a gallery you can hold.” Inside, photographs of the stuffed figures fill the pages, accompanied by written musings. (The one-of-a-kind featured items will also be available for purchase.) The series is the couple’s prescribed antidote to the social media doomscrolling they call “internet indigestion.”

Jane Jauregui’s goal for the plush items she makes in her studio? Delight.

She’s also planning to explore plush Thai food in honor of Grandma’s Thai Kitchen, the Van Nuys restaurant her mother owned and operated for years. After treks to downtown L.A.’s Fashion District to find just the right materials, she’ll mock up clever riffs on julienned ginger and cilantro leaves. For her, there’s ample delight in those little details.

“STFD is really about giving myself permission to just do things that make me happy,” she said.

The multidisciplinary artist rafa esparza was maybe 19 and in the break room of the now-defunct Orchard Supply Hardware in Pasadena when he first found out about the revolutionary art group Asco. It was the early 2000s, and he was working full-time while going to school part-time at East Los Angeles College. He’d bring his homework to his job, and an older colleague, Ignacio, took interest in the books he was reading — mostly about Chicana/o studies and art.

Ignacio grew up in East L.A., and showed esparza a big manila envelope stuffed with incredible sketches and drawings by Glugio “Gronk” Nicandro. Gronk, a friend of Ignacio, was one of the founding members of Asco, which roared to life as an unapologetically Chicano organization in the early 1970s and was made up of East L.A. natives including Patssi Valdez, Harry Gamboa Jr. and Willie Herrón.

Esparza is now among two generations of L.A. Chicano and Mexican artists who have passed the torch that Asco used to blaze its groundbreaking trail. The story of the art group and its descendants, also including Maria Maea and San Cha, is featured in the new documentary, “Asco: Without Permission.” Executive produced by Gael García Bernal and Diego Luna, the film premiered last year at SXSW and arrives on TV for the first time at 7 p.m. Friday as part of PBS SoCal’s “Voces” series (plus PBS.org and the PBS app).

The beginning of a movement

When Asco first coalesced, Gamboa Jr. went to Los Angeles County Museum of Art and noticed a striking absence of Chicano pieces. In the film, he recounts how, after his concerns were dismissed by a higher-up at LACMA, Asco decided to take matters into its own hands. The group came back later that evening and tagged the building with their names (“Spray Paint LACMA,” 1972), effectively reclaiming the entire museum as a work of Chicano art.

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The No-Movie “Chicano Cinema,” starring Harry Gamboa Jr.  (Asa Nisi Masa Films / PBS)

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A group shot of the art group Asco. From left to right: Willie Herrón, Gronk, Patssi Valdez and Harry Gamboa Jr.  (Asa Nisi Masa Films / PBS)

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Members of the art group Asco pose in Malibu. From left to right: Gronk, Patssi Valdez, Willie Herón and Harry Gamboa Jr.  (Asa Nisi Masa Films / PBS)

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Patssi Valdez poses with her golden No-Movie Award, a parody of the Academy Awards, protesting the lack of Latino representation in Hollywood.  (Asa Nisi Masa Films / PBS)

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The Asco No-Movie “The Gores (Whittier Blvd + Ax)” (1974).  (Asa Nisi Masa Films / PBS)

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The Asco No-Movie “Star” (1980), starring Patssi Valdez.  (Asa Nisi Masa Films / PBS)

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A still photo of the Asco performance piece “Birds Wave Goodbye,” from 1972.  (Asa Nisi Masa Films / PBS)

Asco’s work remained in relative obscurity — living in local mythology through storytellers like Ignacio — for decades. Then, in 2011, LACMA‘s views evolved and the museum gave Asco its first major retrospective, “Elite of the Obscure.” Documentary writer and director Travis Gutiérrez Senger came across press coverage of the retrospective and felt immediately drawn to the group, connected “on almost a cellular level.”

But it wasn’t until Trump’s first run for presidency and subsequent election, when his language around Latinos and immigrants dangerously sharpened, that Gutiérrez Senger knew in his gut that he needed to make this film now.

What set Asco apart was the fact that it was an art group, not a singular artist, working in tandem to react to social and political realities, including the 1968 East L.A. walkouts, the 1970 Chicano Moratorium, the Vietnam War, police brutality and gang violence.

“I would have never done the film if it wasn’t a collective,” Gutiérrez Senger said. “The thing about art history — and in literature and film — we often canonize individuals. When I saw Asco and it was a group, and they’re [on] the cover of Artforum or at the Whitney … that to me was really, really captivating. And, I thought, also very constructive.

“This isn’t just a group; this is a metaphor for how we mobilize and change,” Gutiérrez Senger remembers thinking.

Art as action

Asco was a fecund ecosystem, as is the close-knit community of contemporary artists following in its footsteps. The documentary recounts the history of the original group while heeding its call to action by collaborating with next-gen artists to carry the tradition forward. In 2023, Gutiérrez Senger curated a pop-up exhibition — featured in the film — alongside Pilar Tompkins Rivas, called “Asco and the Next Gen: An Inter-Generational Celebration of Latinx Art.” “Asco and the Next Gen” included esparza, Maria Maea, San Cha, Ruben Ulises Rodriguez Montoya, Guadalupe Rosales, Gabriela Ruiz and Dorian Wood.

“When you’re deeply collaborating with folks, and you’re in each other’s mediums and you’re sharing thoughts, and you’re thinking together, conceptualizing together, birthing a project together from scratch, you really have to step beside yourself, and understand that this is something that you’re co-creating,” esparza said. “Versus, I think art teaches us to center the single voice, the singular author of an artwork. And my experience of life, of art-making, has been the complete opposite: I think that we’re constantly reflecting each other.”

Esparza’s contribution to that 2023 pop-up was called “Corpo RanfLA: Terra Cruiser” and was originally staged outside the fairgrounds of Art Basel Miami a year prior. The L.A. version took place in the parking lot of an Arts District strip mall. Esparza bounced. He lay in a prone position, arms extended, body ensconced in gold and green lowrider armature, adhered to a blue bike frame, rocking on a 25-cent mechanical ride mechanism. The early connections esparza had with Asco resonated deeply in his relationship to art-making.

“They’re guerrilla, not asking for permission, just doing what they wanted to do with the help of their collective efforts,” esparza said. “That’s an ethos that’s very present in my own performance work, and it’s something that I hold very dear to me. It’s something that I always want to protect, in terms of how the art industry so powerfully commodifies everything you make as artists. I feel like performance still holds this power to really resist that, depending on how we will it into being.”

The interdisciplinary artist Maria Maea (left) and the filmmaker Travis Gutierrez Senger (right), writer and director of “Asco: Without Permission,” pose at Barker Block. Maea is featured in the film, in which she and Gutierrez Senger collaborated on a new “No-Movie,” titled “Pasado/Futuro.”

(Carlin Stiehl / For The Times)

Moving pictures are part of the revolt

Asco also had an interest in film. The art group members didn’t see themselves — or Chicanos or Latinos — represented in Hollywood, so they did it themselves, subverting a movie into a single still photograph that became its own story; an implied narrative. These, featured in the documentary, were called No-Movies.

In addition to the “Asco and the Next Gen” pop-up exhibition, Gutiérrez Senger and the filmmaking team invited multidisciplinary artist Maria Maea, San Cha, musician Fabi Reyna and Mexico City-based Ruben Ulises Rodriguez Montoya to create new No-Movies, also featured in the film, in response to Asco’s original No-Movies.

Maea first learned about Asco through esparza, too. He’s a mentor of sorts to her (they’re part of the same “interlocked brown community,” she says), and they were making adobe bricks together on the banks of the L.A. River for esparza’s 2017 Whitney Biennial installation when he told her the story about the hardware store and the manila envelope.

“They had a finite amount of resources, and they took this cinematic film lens or film camera film and shot these stills,” Maea said. “I think for me, it was so beautiful to see the infinity that could happen in front of it, the story that could happen behind it. It felt like we were just seeing this snapshot of a beautiful cinematic moment.”

The documentary’s new No-Movies are slightly longer, but still snippets of less than five minutes. The main character of Maea’s “Pasado/Futuro” No-Movie, the Being, sprang from the show “L.A. Fonts,” in the artist Alfonso Gonzalez Jr.’s backyard. (“Pasado/Futuro” also includes a group of kids working in a garage, meant to emulate Asco’s own garage origins — and to represent the next next gen. Its cast includes Maea’s younger sister, Ariel-Evelia Tuilaepa Diaz.) The Being is alien, mystical and magical, a migrant finding her way in a new world. (Maea often works with palm weaving, incorporated here, and palms have their own migration story to L.A.)

A still from “Pasado/Futuro,” one of the contemporary No-Movies in the film, featuring Maria Maea as The Being.

(Asa Nisi Masa Films / PBS)

“Something that really intrigued me was their sci-fi aspect of this film,” Maea said of Asco. “Like, they lived in a real world where they were experiencing the Chicano Moratorium, they’re experiencing violence in the streets, and they were also experiencing … the news projected back at them, that they were the issue,” stranger-than-fiction scenarios they synthesized into sometimes-futuristic or dystopian work.

Composer and performer San Cha’s No-Movie, “Luna,” made together with the musician Fabi Reyna, began as a song San Cha had written for a friend who had died; she had had a dream of him on the moon. In collaboration with Gutiérrez Senger, the No-Movie evolved into a piece about a lover, played by Reyna. Now, “Luna” is tender and otherworldly, drenched in the high drama and glamour that San Cha so loves.

San Cha was born in San José, then moved to San Francisco, where she was taken in by the Bay Area drag scene — specifically by her drag mother Per Sia, who’s still there. (San Cha recently relocated to Amsterdam.)

“She is from South-Central, but she studied art, visual art,” San Cha said. “She was a photographer, and she really got into the drag scene, and she was super familiar with Asco. We would do these processions in the Mission, from the Mission to the Castro … and she would always mention Asco in these moments.”

That’s likely because Asco’s early performances, as the art historian and curator C. Ondine Chavoya points out in the film, emphasized procession, mobility, mobilization and occupation, marking sites of political violence. Once San Cha moved to L.A., she found community quickly, too. She met Maea — with whom she made a video, “Coatlicue,” for the Music Center’s For the Love of L.A. program — and later lived with esparza.

“We can’t really perform in a vacuum,” San Cha said. “I can’t imagine doing this by myself, ever.… When I moved to L.A., there’s someone for everything.… And that way I didn’t feel the need to do everything alone. And even though in L.A. it was a little more professional, there’s so many people that are just like family.”

A still from “Luna,” one of the contemporary No-Movies in the film, featuring Fabi Reyna (left) and San Cha (right).

(Asa Nisi Masa Films)

When Gutiérrez Singer first started making this film, he thought that it — and Asco itself — was about saying “f— you” to the systems and institutions and racism that give us asco. (“Asco” means nausea or disgust in Spanish.)

“But at the end of the project, I started looking at the work and myself and the artists I had made the film with, and just seeing this incredible beauty and love,” he said. “And I realized that the power of Asco’s work is ultimately about self-love, and that when you feel that — and you can feel almost a collective sense of self-love as brown people — it gives you incredible potential and strength.”

The leader of the world’s biggest band is nervous.

“I think I revised this speech about 10 times, but somehow the more I worked on it, the more confused I became, like always,” said K-pop star and BTS rapper RM on Tuesday at a preview of a show he has co-curated at San Francisco Museum of Modern Art called “RM x SFMOMA: Between You and Me”

Three years ago, RM held an anonymous show in South Korea, but this is the first proper exhibition he has staged. For many of his fans — some of whom wait outside the museum trying to get a glimpse of him — his favorite activities, including museum-hopping, bicycling and being out in nature, come as no surprise. There is even a word for it: “namjooning,” a play on the singer’s first name, Namjoon. But still, the exhibition is the rare chance to view RM as a serious art collector; someone who values Korean identity in art but also loves works from many genres, eras and countries.

Philip Guston, Untitled (Red and Black Book), 1969; from the collection of RM.

(The Estate of Philip Guston / Hauser & Wirth)

Dressed in a gray T-shirt, dark collared shirt and leather pants, RM’s hair is a light burnt sienna color matching the fur of the stylized tiger on the screen behind him. From a 17th century painting by Lee Won-chan, it’s from his personal collection of more than 400 artworks. For this exhibition, 142 pieces owned by RM will be shown alongside 36 works from SFMOMA for a total of 178 works on display.

RM sees “Between You and Me” as an introduction to his inner life and reflection of contrasting aspects of his personality, whether as a public figure interacting with his adoring fans or an erudite intellectual and avid reader with a reputation as a clumsy and lovable goofball.

RM was on a hiatus from BTS and on the cusp of beginning his mandatory military service in South Korea when SFMOMA first approached him for the project two years ago. As it came to fruition, he sought to answer two main questions when contemplating which works of his collection to share with the public.

Does the artwork move him deeply? And, if the work is from a noncontemporary artist, does the piece have something to communicate in 2026?

“In an age where everything is consumed so fast,” RM explained, “I believe the attitudes of some of the past artists can resonate even more deeply today.

“I’ve always dreamed of seeing different places, times, boundaries and backgrounds all mixed together in harmony,” he continued. “It could be a mess because I’ve never formally studied, and I’m not a ‘curator, curator,’ but in any field sometimes an outsider can bring in a new breeze.”

Wonwoo Lee, “Candy,” 2023; from the collection of RM

(Wonwoo Lee / PKM Gallery)

It’s not RM’s first time working with a museum. In 2023, he partnered with Los Angeles County Museum of Modern Art to provide guided audio narration for “The Space Between: The Modern in Korean Art”.

At SFMOMA, RM was joined in his effort by two co-curators: SFMOMA project manager América Castillo and assistant curator of painting and sculpture Hyoeun Kim.

Kim, who has long championed Korean artists internationally, was particularly impressed with the diversity of Korean art that RM has amassed, including its “remarkable range.”

“His collection began with 6th century works, moved through the Joseon Dynasty, and continued to major Korean modern and contemporary art. It spans nearly 1,500 years,” Kim said during the preview.

The show is arranged in eight parts and begins with a large white wall at the entrance with the title of the show scrawled in RM’s handwriting. Handwritten touches are found everywhere — “Plz take it in with your eyes and heart” is scribbled on the floor in both English and Korean. The wall text for each piece, which also includes a QR code for audio narration, is composed by RM in both languages.

An inscription on the floor of an SFMOMA exhibit curated by RM of BTS features RM’s writing as part of the wall (and floor) text.

(Christine Terrisse.)

Guests will also receive a zine-style pamphlet with the same homespun appeal explaining each of the eight sections in RM’s words alongside a diagram of the room.

“Blue Water” centers the work of Kim Whanki, the late globe-trotting abstract artist and the first RM says he “fell for.” In addition to Whanki and works by Vija Celmins and Tony Feher, some RM fans might recognize one of Roni Horn’s glass cylinder sculptures from a now-archived Instagram post where it was casually displayed in RM’s apartment.

There’s even a room filled with especially eclectic pieces called “i don’t know..but i like it.” By way of explanation, RM said, “Sometimes I don’t really know why I collected all these things.”

The last room, “Umber” or “Dasaek” (referring to the color of Korean rice fields) might be the most meaningful to the singer. It features works by the late artist Yun Hyong-keun, for whom RM has a particular personal affinity. The cover for his debut solo studio album, “Indigo,” depicts Hyong-keun’s 1972 painting “Blue,” and the album’s lead track, “Yun,” a collaboration with Erykah Badu, kicks off with recorded dialogue from the artist.

Back in 2018, around the same time RM began his art journey with not much formal training in art history, co-curator Castillo began her career with SFMOMA.

At the time, she was in awe of the power of art to connect with people, but frustrated that more people from unconventional backgrounds weren’t being given opportunities to curate major shows, thereby shaping the stories told. Her work on this exhibition is part of a continuing mission to bridge the art world and the ordinary person.

Chang Ucchin, “Road,” 1986, from RM’s collection.

(Chang Ucchin Foundation / Seoul Auction)

This mission guided her through the process of selecting works by famous artists from SFMOMA’s collection to contextualize RM’s pieces from lesser-known but equally important names.

“The first time we pulled a list on the SFMOMA side, we had like 500 options we then dwindled down,” she said in an interview while standing in the “Umber” room. “There were some artworks and specific artists that we knew from the get-go we wanted to be in the show. We wanted them to have a moment. Mark Rothko was definitely one of them.”

The sole Rothko piece in SFMOMA’s collection, “No. 14,” (1960) is featured in one of the final rooms in the exhibition. Adjacent to it is “untitled” (1986-90) by Hyong-keun. In the exhibit pamphlet, RM notes that Hyong-keun’s paintings are often compared to Rothko’s, but “their darkness is not the same.” “To my eyes, if Rothko’s darkness is one that ‘opens’ then Yun’s is the darkness that remains after he endured everything he possibly could,” he writes.

As RM steps into the spotlight of the art world, he is learning to become comfortable with the uncomfortable in-between spaces he occupies. “I started this with an innocent heart. As I’m standing here talking to you, I still feel like I’m always drifting and floating somewhere, ” he said, adding that the feeling comes when he’s in the U.S. but also when he’s in his hometown of Seoul. “It’s not a very pleasant feeling. I think I’ve leaned on art a lot because of that feeling.”

Before the preview, BTS fans, called the ARMY, passed out small gifts to the press, and afterward donors lined up for a special reception. RM’s mother, father and sister even arrived to celebrate, but he didn’t have much time to hang around. He was scheduled to depart for Bogotá, Colombia, to join his bandmates on the Latin American leg of their ARIRANG stadium world tour.

It is time to leave the quiet of the museum for the roar of the crowd.

“RM SFMOMA: Between You and Me” opens to the public on Oct 3, and runs through Feb.7, 2027. For more information visit sfmoma.org