installation

Sept. 17 (UPI) — A federal court has sentenced a man who recorded drone video of a U.S. military installation in Guam to two months of home confinement, federal prosecutors announced Wednesday.

The U.S. District Court of Guam handed down the sentence to Billy Cao Cruz, 54, on Sept. 11. Along with home confinement, Cruz was sentenced to two years of supervised release and a $25 fine for violating national defense airspace.

FBI agents questioned Cruz on April 16 about a video he uploaded to his YouTube channel called “Planet Guam.” The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Districts of Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands described the video, uploaded to YouTube on Feb. 1, as “sensitive” and said it had nearly 12,000 views before it was removed from YouTube.

Prosecutors said Cruz had previously been warned about photographing military installations. He told FBI agents he used a specific drone because he believed it had fewer restrictions that didn’t require him to notify nearby airports.

“You get away with a lot of things” using the specific drone, Cruz told the agents.

U.S. Attorney Shawn Anderson said nearly all of Guam’s airspace is under flight restrictions due to the large military installation there.

“These restrictions help ensure the safe operation of commercial, military and private aircraft,” Anderson said. “As this case demonstrates, they also protect our national security, including the military personnel who keep our homeland safe.”

For the last year, Los Angeles political leaders have searched for a way to upgrade the downtown Convention Center without also delivering cuts to core services.

The city’s budget team pushed for the facility to be emblazoned with digital billboards, which would produce tens of millions in ad revenue. A city-hired consultant came up with several cost-cutting measures, including the elimination of a public plaza originally planned as part of the expansion.

Despite those efforts, the project has only lost ground. On Tuesday, City Council members were informed the price tag has gone up yet again, reaching $2.7 billion — an increase of $483 million from six months ago.

Some at City Hall are growing nervous that the project’s first phase won’t be finished in time for the 2028 Olympic Games, jeopardizing the Convention Center’s status as one of the main venues. Beyond that, city officials have begun worrying publicly that Gov. Gavin Newsom might not support a state bill permitting the installation of two digital billboards that would face the busy 10 and 110 Freeway interchange.

Those two signs — hotly opposed by groups such as Scenic America — are expected to produce the vast majority of the project’s advertising income, according to the city’s budget team.

If state and federal support for the signs fails to materialize, the city’s general fund budget would have to provide an average of $111 million each year through 2058 to cover the cost of the Convention Center expansion, City Administrative Officer Matt Szabo said.

The earliest years would be the most expensive. In 2031, for example, an estimated $167 million in taxpayer funds would go toward the Convention Center’s debt and operations — even after the revenue from the project is factored in, Szabo told the council’s economic development committee on Tuesday.

“Since we last met in this room on this matter, the costs have increased dramatically,” Szabo said. “The serious [construction] schedule risks remain. And revenue that the project relies upon — will rely upon — is in jeopardy.”

For some on the council, the latest bad news is proving to be too much.

Councilmember Katy Yaroslavsky, who heads the council’s powerful budget committee, told The Times she believes an overhaul of the Convention Center is key to making downtown “stronger, more economically vibrant.” But with the city already struggling to pay for police officers, street repairs and other basic services, the current plan is “just too expensive,” she said.

“Without the signage revenue, the risk to the City’s budget is massive and unaffordable,” Yaroslavsky said in a statement.

Newsom spokesman Izzy Gardon declined to discuss the digital billboard bill, saying the governor’s office “does not typically comment on pending legislation.” State Assemblymember Mark González (D-Los Angeles), who represents part of downtown, said he is “engaging productively” with the Newsom administration on the bill.

“I’m confident we’ll find a path forward,” he said.

Council members must decide by Sept. 15 whether to move ahead with the project, Szabo said. Even some of the council’s downtown boosters sound nervous about their next step.

What “I hear some of my colleagues saying is, ‘Do we want a very beautiful Convention Center but a bankrupt city?’” said Councilmember Ysabel Jurado, who represents the vast majority of downtown.

Business groups have rallied around the expansion, saying it will finally allow L.A. to compete for large conventions, while also injecting new life into a downtown still reeling from the aftereffects of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The project has also amassed broad support from organized labor, especially the region’s construction trade unions, which say it would create thousands of jobs.

“With over 800 members out of work, we need a project like this,” said Zachary Solomon, business representative for the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 11. “The cost of this project will only continue to increase, so we need this project now.”

Many of the groups backing the Convention Center expansion have played a role in electing council members. Still, if the council presses ahead with the project, it will do so in the face of major warning signs.

The city’s top policy analysts have cautioned that any major construction delay could cause organizers of the 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games to pull the Convention Center, which is scheduled to host judo, wrestling, fencing and other competitions, off its list of venues.

“It would be really bad to pay such a premium on such a project and [have] it not be ready in time to host the Olympics,” said Chief Legislative Analyst Sharon Tso, who advises the council.

Stuart Marks, senior vice president of Plenary Americas, the development company spearheading the Convention Center project, told council members he is “highly confident” the work will be done on time, saying there is flexibility in the schedule — and major penalties if the developer fails to perform.

Marks, whose company has partnered with Anschutz Entertainment Group on the Convention Center, said the companies tasked with construction have an established history, having worked on projects such as Staples Center — now Crypto.com Arena — and the expanded Moscone Center in San Francisco.

“Their reputations are on the line. Our reputations are on the line. Nobody’s saying there’s no risks. But there are contingencies … mitigation strategies, security packages and contractual regimes that equally meet that risk,” he said.

The proposed timeline calls for APCLA, also known as AEG Plenary Conventions Los Angeles — the joint venture that would oversee the expansion — to start construction later this year, pause that work during the Games and then finish once the event is over.

Under the proposal, a new wing would connect the Convention Center’s landmark green South Hall with the blue West Hall.

Much of the increase in the construction price has been attributed to the city’s Department of Water and Power, which recently issued higher cost estimates for the relocation of utilities under Pico Boulevard and the installation of several miles of cable and conduit.

DWP officials have already warned that they lack the staffing to carry out the project and would need to hire outside labor. They also indicated that work on the Convention Center is likely to result in delays to other projects — including construction of a new rail line in San Fernando Valley — because staff would have to be diverted, according to Szabo’s memo.

Tso has echoed many of Szabo’s concerns, saying in a separate report that the project would have an “acute negative impact” on the general fund budget, which pays for police, paramedic responses and other basic services.

Times staff writer Laura J. Nelson contributed to this report.

Some SoCal residents spent their summer at the beach, or at their local rooftop pool; others spent it indoors, hiding from ICE agents.

It’s why Riverside artist Perry Picasshoe spent his summer documenting the melting of 36 ice blocks on sidewalks across the Inland Empire.

He traveled to nine locations, a mix of parks, storefronts and gas stations, where immigration enforcement raids have taken place in the past few weeks. In each spot, he placed four 25-pound ice blocks on the ground and took photos of them as they melted. He would periodically check on the progress, he explained, and found that some were smashed into pieces or completely disappeared.

“I took it as a metaphor of what’s happening,” Picasshoe said, referencing the recent ICE raids taking place across Southern California. “I was also thinking a lot about having these blocks of ice as almost a stand-in for people.”

This latest art piece is just one of the many other Chicano-focused projects that Picasshoe has created in his hometown in the past three years. His goal, among all of the artworks, is to push its residents to reflect on the complexity of the Inland Empire’s Latino identity.

Perry Picasshoe and his father place an ice block near the epicenter of the city’s monthly arts walk in downtown Riverside on July 3, 2025.

(Daniel Hernandez)

Juan Carlos Hernandez Marquez is an emerging Mexican American multidisciplinary artist from Riverside who goes by the stage name Perry Picasshoe. The moniker, which he created as a teenager, is a play on Pablo Picasso’s name mixed with an early 2010s social media term “art hoe.” Under this pseudonym, Picasshoe first gained recognition for creating art that explored the complexities of his dueling identities of being an LGBTQ+ artist while surrounded by traditional Latino ideals.

While studying visual arts at UCLA, he reimagined Sandro Botticelli’s painting “The Birth of Venus” with LGBTQ+ imagery, created a 9-foot-tall Christmas cactus in honor of the time he spent with his father during the holidays and hosted a solo exhibition called “Mystic Garden,” which showcased pieces inspired by flowers given to him by an ex-partner. It’s also where he developed his signature red-dominant style in both his fashion and art.

“Red is my comfort color,” Picasshoe said.

He suffered from occasional panic attacks while studying at UCLA, he explained, which discouraged him from going to school. It continued for months — until he found himself wearing a bright red outfit, which brought him a sense of peace.

“It just kind of grew from there,” he added. “It just followed me everywhere that I went.”

Picasshoe also posted videos showcasing his pieces on social media. Like his artwork, his posts were intricately filmed and edited with bright red accents. They were also accompanied by narration detailing the work’s inspiration, creation process and meaning. His efforts amassed him almost 200,000 followers between TikTok and Instagram.

This rapid growth, both on social media and within his network, brought new opportunities to grow professionally in Los Angeles. Yet after graduating in 2022, he decided to continue his career in his hometown instead.

“It was just a different pace that I was not ready for,” he said. “The art scene out here is much more [based in] community, as opposed to [money] or clout. It’s more of making work that people here will get to enjoy.”

It’s a decision that’s worked in his favor.

This year, he’s been honored by the city at the Mayor’s Ball for the Arts with the Emerging Artist award and recognized as one of UCLA’s top 100 alumni entrepreneurs for 2025. Picasshoe’s decision to be a professional artist within the Inland Empire also came at a time when opportunities for Latino artists in the region have grown in recent years.

Cosme Cordova, long-time Riverside Chicano artist and Division 9 Gallery founder, explained that for decades, Latino artists considered Riverside a “boot camp” instead of a city where they could make a living. They would earn some money in their hometown, then travel to other prominent locations, like Los Angeles or Palm Springs, where artists felt their work was more respected. As the years went on, he said, the local community began to understand the value in supporting its artists.

“Then when the Cheech came, it’s got international attention, so it’s just gotten even better,” Cordova said. “I’m starting to see a lot of artists now more genuinely focused on just trying to showcase their work here in Riverside.”

The most prominent addition within the region has been the Cheech Marin Center for Chicano Art and Culture — known colloquially as “the Cheech.” The museum is widely considered the only space in the country that exclusively showcases Latino-made exhibitions, including some of Picasshoe’s work.

Since returning to the Inland Empire, Picasshoe’s artistic vision caught the attention of both community leaders and larger institutions. While hosting one of his first solo exhibitions, called “Red Thoughts,” at the Eastside Arthouse in Riverside, the directors of the Cheech took notice of his unique style.

“They approach their work with abandon, with any medium,” said María Esther Fernández, the center’s artistic director. “They had an installation and it was very interactive and immersive. I think pushing the boundaries of that is really fun and innovative.”

It would lead Picasshoe to work on a wide range of projects in collaboration with the Chicano art center for the next three years.

Perry Picasshoe stands in front of the Cheech Marin Center for Chicano Art & Culture in Riverside, Calif., on July 3, 2025.

(Daniel Hernandez)

Last year, Picasshoe teamed up with Inland Empire-based artist Emmanuel Camacho Larios to curate an exhibition for the Cheech’s community gallery called “Desde los Cielos.”

“It was a group show that explored what the term ‘alien’ meant in the context of Chicanxs, and alien in the political, the social and the queerness of it all,” Picasshoe said. “I also made a huge painting for that one, the largest that I’ve ever done so far.”

The seven-foot-tall painting, called “Simulacra of Guillermo Hernandez, Beethoven, y los Guachimontones,” depicts his late grandfather sitting on the bed of a pickup truck alongside a small chihuahua. In the background, looming over his abuelo, is a giant circular pyramid built by the Teuchitlán people. A golden pyramid, made from Abuelita Mexican Chocolate bricks, was placed in front of the painting; the bricks were free for the taking during the exhibition’s debut.

After the time for his co-curated exhibition ended, another installation named “Queer Wishes” was featured in the Cheech for an exhibition co-curated by the Eastside Arthouse’s founder and resident artist.

The piece is a three-dimensional black box with a white dress made from bath towels and bedazzled gems displayed on a dress form mannequin inside. Next to the mannequin is a small black vanity desk and mirror with makeup and porcelain wishbones filling the table’s surface.

“The first time I was really able to express myself was when I would get out of the bathroom, put my bath towel on and pretend it was a dress,” Picasshoe said. “I know I’m not the only one with that experience of being in the bathroom and having that be the only time you have to yourself.”

Since debuting the installation at the Cheech, Picasshoe had hoped to take a step back from creating larger community-focused pieces and spend time finalizing some personal projects. However, as immigration enforcement raids ramped up in Southern California, Picasshoe felt the need to create artwork to express his frustration.

Picasshoe and his father drove the family truck to Fontana on July 3 to pick up three translucent ice slabs, each about 40 inches tall and weighing around 300 pounds, and brought them back to downtown Riverside.

They arrived 45 minutes before the start of the city’s monthly arts walk, an event where dozens of local vendors set up booths to sell their artwork to hundreds of residents.

Picasshoe and his father slowly unloaded the slabs from the truck’s bed onto a dolly and wheeled the installations out into the three chosen locations: the front of the Cheech Marin Center for Chicano Art and Culture, the epicenter of the city’s monthly arts walk event and the front of the Riverside County Superior Court.

A wooden platform was placed under each slab, with the words “life,” “liberty” and “the pursuit of happiness,” written upside down and divided between the three art pieces, along with a QR code explaining its meaning.

He chose this day, he said, because of its high foot traffic. It was the best opportunity to help some passersby feel represented while confronting others with a hard truth.

“Art should be lived in,” Picasshoe said. “It’s prevalent in a lot of my work, and especially this one, since it’s meant to be commenting on something regarding the public.”

Robert Wilson, a leader in avant-garde theater who collaborated with Philip Glass, David Byrne and Lady Gaga over his six-decade career, has died. He was 83.

The “Einstein on the Beach” director died Thursday at his home in Water Mill, N.Y., after a “brief but acute illness,” according to his website.

“While facing his diagnosis with clear eyes and determination, he still felt compelled to keep working and creating right up until the very end,” the statement reads. “His works for the stage, on paper, sculptures and video portraits, as well as the Watermill Center, will endure as Robert Wilson’s artistic legacy.”

Wilson was born on Oct. 4, 1941, in Waco, Texas, to a conservative Southern Baptist family. He struggled with a speech impediment and learning disabilities as a child but was aided by his ballet teacher, Byrd Hoffman.

“She heard me stutter, and she told me, ‘You should take more time to speak. You should speak slowly,’ ” he told the Observer in 2015. “She said one word over a long period of time. She said go home and try it. I did. Within six weeks, I had overcome the stuttering.”

In 1968, Wilson opened an experimental theater workshop named after his mentor: the Byrd Hoffman School of Byrds. He created the Byrd Hoffman Water Mill Foundation in 1969, under which he established the Watermill Center in 1992.

In his early 20s, Wilson moved to Brooklyn, N.Y., where he studied interior design and architecture at the Pratt Institute. Later, he joined the recreation department of Goldwater Memorial Hospital, where he brought dance to catatonic polio patients with iron lungs.

“Because the patients were largely paralyzed, the work he was doing with them was more mental than physical,” wrote his former colleague Robyn Brentano in Frieze. “With his unconventional frankness and tenderness, he drew out people’s hidden qualities.”

Wilson started teaching movement classes in Summit, N.J., while he wrote his early plays. One day in 1968, he witnessed a white police officer about to strike a deaf, mute Black boy, Raymond Andrews, while walking down the street. Wilson came to Andrews’ defense, appeared in court on his behalf and eventually adopted him. Together, Andrews and Wilson created “Deafman Glance,” a seven-hour “silent opera,” which premiered in 1970 in Iowa City, Iowa.

“The world of a deaf child opened up to us like a wordless mouth. For more than four hours, we went to inhabit this universe where, in the absence of words, of sounds, 60 people had no words except to move,” wrote French Surrealist Louis Aragon after the 1971 Paris premiere. “I never saw anything more beautiful in the world since I was born. Never, never has any play come anywhere near this one, because it is at once life awake and the life of closed eyes, the confusion between everyday life and the life of each night, reality mingles with dream, all that’s inexplicable in the life of deaf man.”

In 1973, Glass attended a showing of Wilson’s “The Life and Times of Joseph Stalin,” which ran for 12 hours from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. The two artists, united by their interest in experimenting with time and space in theater, soon teamed up to create “Einstein on the Beach,” which premiered in 1976 in Avignon, France.

“We worked first with the time — four hours — and how we were going to divide it up,” Glass told the Guardian in 2012. “I discovered that Bob thinks with a pencil and paper; everything emerged as drawings. I composed music to these, and then Bob began staging it.”

Times classical music critic Mark Swed called “Einstein” “easily the most important opera of the last half century,” even though “nothing about what composer Philip Glass and director Robert Wilson put onstage was opera.” Indeed, “Einstein” has become a cult classic despite the fact it has no Einstein, no beach and no narrative.

Wilson and Glass partnered again to create “the CIVIL warS: a tree is best measured when it is down,” which also featured music from Talking Heads frontman Byrne, for the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles. The project, meant to span 12 hours, was ultimately never completed due to funding problems. In 1995, Wilson shared his concerns about arts funding in the U.S. with The Times.

“The government should assume leadership,” Wilson told Times contributor Jan Breslauer. “By giving the leadership to the private sector in a capitalistic society, we’re going to measure the value of art by how many products we can sell. We need to have a cultural policy [instead]. There has to be a balance between government and the private sector.

“One of the few things that will remain of this time is what artists are doing,” Wilson says. “They are the journal and the diary of our time.”

In addition to his stage work, Wilson created drawings, sculptures, furniture and installations, which he showed at the Paula Cooper Gallery in New York beginning in 1975. In 2004, Wilson produced a series of video portraits featuring Brad Pitt, Winona Ryder, Renée Fleming and Alan Cumming. He would return to the medium again in 2013 with Lady Gaga as his subject.

His work on the installation “Memory/Loss” earned him a Golden Lion for sculpture at the Venice Biennale in 1993.

One of Wilson’s last projects was an installation commissioned by Salone del Mobile in April Centering on Michelangelo’s Rondanini Pietà at Milan’s Castello Sforzesco, the project explored the Virgin Mary’s pain following Christ’s death with a combination of music, light and sculpture.

“I’m creating my own vision of the artist’s unfinished masterpiece, torn between a feeling of reverential awe and profound admiration,” he told Wallpaper.

Wilson is survived by Andrews; his sister, Suzanne; and his niece, Lori Lambert.

Twenty-five years ago on Sept. 11, 2000, UPN debuted a comedy called “Girlfriends” that followed the lives of four Black women living in Los Angeles.

The show’s creator, Mara Brock Akil, who’d gotten her start writing on shows like “South Central,” “Moesha” and “The Jamie Foxx Show,” was tired of seeing out-of-touch depictions of Black women on screen. She wanted to raise a mirror to Black women and showcase them in their fullness as fleshed out characters who are ambitious, creative, messy at times and most importantly nuanced.

The first season of “Girlfriends” on DVD.

(Jason Armond / Los Angeles Times)

For eight seasons until the show was abruptly canceled in 2008, viewers tuned in to watch the tight-knit friend group that included Joan (Tracee Ellis Ross), Toni (Jill Marie Jones), Lynn (Persia White) and Maya (Golden Brooks) navigate relationships, sexism at work, beauty, classism, sexuality and everything in between. Today, “Girlfriends,” which was added to Netflix’s catalog in 2020, is widely considered one of the most influential TV shows to affect Black culture.

To commemorate the 25th anniversary of “Girlfriends,” DCDG & Co., an L.A.-based fine arts agency, has teamed up with the cast and Loren LaRosa of iHeartRadio’s “The Breakfast Club” to independently curate an art exhibition that pays homage to the groundbreaking series. The showcase, which explores the show’s core themes including sisterhood, ambition and self-discovery through photography, sculpture, paintings, an installation and more, will be on display from Friday through Sunday at the Line Hotel in Koreatown.

Each artwork featured in the all Black women exhibition was selected by the “Girlfriends” cast and LaRosa — all of whom are first time art curators. The three-day event will also feature an artist talk led by DCDG & Co. co-founder Delaney George on Saturday, which is open to the public.

A sculpture of a Black woman’s head titled “She” by Alé Reviere was selected for the exhibition.

(Jason Armond / Los Angeles Times)

“[This] show deserves to be celebrated and if we in the culture don’t do it, then we’re just waiting for the powers that be or networks that are transitioning to a digital space,” says David Colbert Jr., co-founder of DCDG & Co. “These moments might get passed up on.”

“Girlfriends: A Visual Tribute” is part of DCDG & Co.’s ongoing curatorial series called Iconic Visions, which invites individuals in various creative spaces like TV, film, music, fashion and sports to step into the role of curator.

When Colbert brought the idea about doing the exhibit to his friend Brooks — whom he met at Frieze a couple of years ago — her response was an immediate yes.

“We are wearable art,” says Golden Brooks. “We are visual art in the space of a TV show.”

(Jason Armond / Los Angeles Times)

“I always want to do something special for [these milestones] because it is a bookmark of everything that “Girlfriends” has done,” says Brooks. “We are still uplifting communities. We are still entertaining and empowering the daughters of the mothers who watch the show, so we’re kind of raising generations of young women.”

Brooks, who has been a longtime supporter of the L.A. arts community, says having an art exhibition to celebrate the anniversary was the perfect way to blend both of her passions.

“We are wearable art. We are visual art in the space of a TV show,” she says. “This also inspired artists to celebrate how they see us as women of color, as women in a space of unity and connection, and what better way to be the springboard and the catalyst to celebrate what sisterhood looks like?”

White, who’s been drawing and painting since she was a child, had a similar reaction to being a part of the exhibit. “When they sent me the links to the art, I literally got tears in my eyes,” she says. “I was just really touched by the women and [their] different experiences.”

“Girlfriends: A Visual Tribute” also features a solo exhibition put together by DCDG & Co. cultural curator Erika Conner, which is a collection of photos of iconic Black women including Rihanna, Lil Kim and Naomi Campbell, taken by renowned photographer Cheryl Fox.

While the main exhibition pays tribute to “Girlfriends,” there’s only one artwork — a mixed media piece by Jillian Thompson that uses acrylic, thread and collage — that displays the beloved friends group’s actual faces. All of the other artwork draws inspiration from the show’s aesthetic, style and themes.

Among the artwork, which was made by artists from around the nation, there are multiple L.A.-based artists featured in the show including Brittany Byrd, McKayla Chandler, Tiffany “Just Rock” Brown, Asari Aibangbee and Tumi Adeleye.

McKayla Chandler, a multidisciplinary artist based in L.A., created an interactive installation for the exhibit called “Mama’s Hands Only.” The installation mimics a living room and features a couch, rug, an entertainment center with family photos sprinkled on top and an old school TV that displays episodes of “Girlfriends.” The focal point of the installation, which hangs on a wall above the couch, is a large portrait of Chandler’s mother braiding her hair as she’s done since she was a little girl.

A close-up of multidisciplinary artist McKayla Chandler’s installation titled “Mama’s Hands Only.”

(Jason Armond / Los Angeles Times)

“To me it feels like connection. Any young, Black woman or Black kid in general can relate to sitting in their mom’s lap and getting their hair braided,” says Chandler. “[The show] is really about these friends going through life together, going through different relationships and even bickering with each other, [then] coming back together. It’s a very special bond that they have with each other, so [with] me thinking about showing my mom here and having this place for you to sit down, look through someone’s old photographs and watch ‘Girlfriends,’ it lends to the nostalgic feeling of it all.”

Although Tiffany “Just Rock” Brown, a photographer based in L.A., primarily takes photos of men, particularly male rappers, she decided to submit a few images for the “Girlfriends” exhibit because she grew up watching the show with her family. Her photo, titled “In This Light,” that was selected for the show depicts two Black women embracing while on the set of Kendrick Lamar’s “Not Like Us” music video, which was shot in Nickerson Gardens.

A painting titled “Leona’s in the Upper Room” by Marie Jose is featured in the “Girlfriends: A Visual Tribute” exhibit.

(Jason Armond / Los Angeles Times)

“These girls are the epitome of what you see when you come to these areas, but they’re also the inspiration for high fashion, for all those things that don’t get acknowleged,” she says. It reminded her of the void that “Girlfriends” filled when it debuted.

“I think there’s beautiful representation of what [Black people] have done and what we’ve accomplished, and “Girlfriends” is a true representation of that,” says Brown. “Women that were dressed flawlessly. They were beautiful. They were successful. They were just living life and trying to find love, just regular stories. It’s very much still a space that’s missing [in television], but I think it should definitely be celebrated.”

Like Brown, Brittany Byrd, a multidisciplinary artist from L.A., was also introduced to “Girlfriends” at a young age. “It was just always on in my house,” says Byrd. “I just remember seeing Tracee Ellis Ross and I was like, ‘Damn, she’s beautiful!’”

For the exhibit, Byrd created a piece titled “Episode 17,” which is inspired by an episode in Season 4 titled “Love, Peace and Hair Grease.”

“It’s mostly about Lynn and her exploring her hair through her identity as a Black woman, but whether you’re mixed or all Black, hair is something that is at the top of our minds,” says Byrd, who was still putting the final touches on her 6-foot painting. “Whether it’s done or if we’re polished, we’re always just kind of seeking those questions of validity through societal beauty standards when it’s like we’re as beautiful as we feel. So I want my piece to just evoke emotion.”

As she prepares for opening night of the exhibit, Brooks says she’s most excited to meet all of the artists and to see how all of the artwork comes together.

One of her favorite pieces in the exhibit is a massive, hyperrealism painting by Alé Reviere. Fittingly titled “See Through You,” it depicts a young woman’s face, staring intensely back at the viewer.

A painting titled “See Through You” by Alé Reviere is featured in the “Girlfriends” tribute exhibition.

(Jason Armond / Los Angeles Times)

“All of her features were just so us,” says Brooks. “The texture of her hair and the expression on her face. There was a pain. There was a sadness, but there’s also sort of this freedom and unapologetic look in her eyes.”

She adds, “Pieces like that just move me.”