Reflecting

June 20 (UPI) — A former Olympian who was riding his bike near the Lincoln Monument Reflecting Pool was arrested after he stopped to look at the paint peeling off of its bottom.

President Donald Trump has blamed algae blooms and paint peeling off the bottom of the pool on vandalism and sabotage, The Washington Post, WUSA9 and WBNS reported that the paint has been seen peeling and floating to the top of the water for days.

David Hearn, a resident of Bethesda, Md., was arrested on Friday for damaging public property after reaching into the water to touch the peeling paint.

In several interviews, Hearn said that he went to look at the pool, the condition of which he’d read about in news reports.

Reporters at WUSA9 said they had witnessed people pulling paint off the pool during the last couple of days, including at least one that used kitchen tongs.

“I didn’t vandalize anything,” said Hearn, who posted a picture of the peeling paint he was looking at on social media after he was released by police.

Weeks after the Trump administration’s $13 million refurbishment effort on the pool ahead of the United States’ 250th birthday, algae could be seen growing throughout the pool, turning it green.

Park service officials added chemicals to kill the algae, but the next day, pieces of the paint applied to the bottom of the pool started floating to the top of the water.

When Hearn approached the pool, he said that he saw part of the paint peeling off the bottom of the pool and floating up, leaned down to touch it and then was suddenly being arrested.

“I reached in there, and I was able to grab the end of that flapping piece, the already peeling piece,” he said. “It was attached to the bottom. I didn’t remove anything.”

Emily Miller, a conservative journalist, posted video on X that showed Hearn near the pool, and then walking away from it before he was arrested for damaging public property.

Trump later in the afternoon said in a post on Truth Social that multiple people have been arrested for vandalizing the pool and that “work will begin immediately on its repair.”

“The United States Park Police have arrested multiple individuals for vandalizing our Nations magnificent Reflecting Pool,” Trump said in the post.

“Who would do such a thing?” he said. “These are very serious crimes having to the do with the destruction of National Monuments. Years in jail!”

Hearn, who competed in three Olympics in the canoe slalom and won two world championship in whitewater racing, is due in court on July 9.

WASHINGTON — The paint is peeling from the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool after the renovation ordered by President Trump, and he is now alleging, without substantiation, that someone damaged it intentionally.

“We’ve had some real problems with Vandalism at the beautiful Reflecting Pool,” he posted on his social media site Friday night. “Just like three days ago, they destroyed the grass outside of the Pool, they’ve also done everything possible to hurt the inside surface that was just installed.” He offered no details to substantiate his claim.

Agencies responsible for law enforcement and upkeep on the National Mall — the U.S. Park Police, National Park Service and Department of the Interior — did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

The Washington Post reported that Park Police officers arrested someone Friday who they said was peeling paint from the pool, an act that would not explain the clouds of algae in green water and swaths of loose blue paint detached from the bottom.

Trump insisted something nefarious was going on. “No different than the chemicals that were used on the National Mall, they used something similar in the Reflecting Pool to try to destroy and demean our beautiful work,” he posted.

That was a reference to the discovery of large numbers etched in discolored grass on the National Mall the week before: “86 47,” apparently advocating to “86” — get rid of, in restaurant lingo — the 47th president.

Authorities claimed the numbers may be a threat against Trump, and they are investigating. Trump’s Department of Justice has tried — unsuccessfully so far — to prosecute Trump foe and former FBI Director James B. Comey for posting a photo of seashells arranged in the numerals “86 47.”

Trump’s claims of vandalism came after days of negative attention to the state of the Reflecting Pool, which has raised concerns about the no-bid contract of more than $14 million to refurbish. The president has said the pool rehab was needed as the nation’s 250th anniversary celebrations ramp up.

The pool was swiftly beset by an algae bloom that returned its waters to the greenish color that Trump had tried to replace by having the bottom painted “American flag blue.”

Federal workers treated the pool with hydrogen peroxide to kill the algae. Now, chunks of the blue paint are gone, exposing its rocky bottom.

U.S. National Park Service employees are pictured using a vacuum pump to clean algae off the bottom of the newly repainted Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday, which on Friday started peeling and floating to the top of the pool. Photo by Bonnie Cash/UPI | License Photo

June 19 (UPI) — After cleaning algae from the Lincoln Memorial’s Reflecting Pool weeks after its $15 million renovation, the Interior Department now has to deal with blue paint applied to its bottom peeling off.

President Donald Trump‘s renovation of the national monument was meant to clear the water and prevent algae, and included painting the bottom of the pool “American Flag Blue” in the effort to improve it’s look.

The Reflecting Pool has for decades been known for some algae and unclear water, though it was designed to reflect the Washington Monument and sky rather than appear similar to other fountains and water features at monuments that have filtration systems that prevent water from being still enough to reflect their surroundings.

The pool’s new paint job was meant as an upgrade ahead of celebrations for the 250th birthday of the United States of America but after it was refilled following the paint job, green sludge started appearing on the water’s surface — and on Friday, chunks of paint could be seen floating to its top, as well.

The Interior Department on Friday told The Washington Post that it is treating the pool with hydrogen peroxide and a “high-tech nanobubble ozone technology” to prevent algae growth.

Swimming pool experts told The Post that it is possible the resurfacing was improperly installed, or that there could be water seeping under the repainted surface that is causing it to peel.

In posts on X on Wednesday, as the department started treating the water to reduce algae blooms, officials reported that some parts of the pool had seen clearer water as a result.

“The nanobubbler technology and vacuuming have been incredibly effective,” the Interior Department said in one post, “making the water crystal clear with the American Flag Blue coating shining brightly on the bottom of the pool.”

The cost to repaint the pool, along with other enhancements the administration has made, cost more than $14.65 million for the main contract on the work, with another $1.74 million paid to a separate company for the nano bubble technology that is expected to kill algae in the pool, ABC News reported.

According to a lawsuit filed by The Cultural Landscape Foundation, a thorough review of the renovation plans before the administration started work may have identified “potential problems — like algae and exfoliating paint — and, perhaps, suggest solutions.”

“Instead, the Park Service granted themselves a ‘streamlined review,’ which they admitted was done under pressure from ‘White House leadership,'” the TCLF’s CEO Charles Birnbaum told The Post.

Just days after the Trump administration completed millions of dollars in renovations on the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool to make it American flag-blue, residents and online users noted it had turned a phosphorescent green.

Here’s why:

The calm, still waters of the Reflecting Pool make it an ideal nursery for algae growth. Algae need nitrogen and phosphorus to grow, and the Reflecting Pool is primarily fed by the Potomac River, which gets heavy doses of those nutrients from nearby urban and agricultural lands.

The Potomac also absorbed one of the largest sewage spills in U.S. history earlier this year when a pipe burst five miles upstream of Washington, although that event probably happened too long ago to contribute to the algal bloom today.

Untreated sewage is high in nitrogen and phosphorus. When nutrient levels are high, feasting algae can quickly reproduce.

The Department of the Interior said when the algae first appeared that it was “residual,” from the supply lines to the pool.

Experts also speculate that the darker blue color may be helping the Reflecting Pool absorb more heat. The higher temperatures promote algae growth by allowing their metabolisms to shift into overdrive.

Summer temperatures in D.C. aren’t helping. This week, temperatures are as high as 95 degrees in the city, prompting a heat alert.

The combination probably explains the excessive growth, turning the water surface an opaque green and preventing onlookers from seeing the new blue hue of the concrete basin.

Algae are important and beneficial organisms when the ecosystem is in balance. They’re the base of the aquatic food chain, fed on by herbivores of all shapes and sizes, including shrimp and juvenile fish, which in turn feed organisms higher up the food chain. The single-celled organisms use the power of the sun to produce energy through photosynthesis, similar to houseplants on your balcony.

In an effort combat the algae in the Reflecting Pool, employees of the National Park Service were seen pouring in gallons of hydrogen peroxide, a chemical commonly used in pool maintenance.

The Department of the Interior also is employing a “high-tech nanobubble ozone technology” to destroy the cells of the algae.

Ozone — yes, the same irritant that is in smog — is a gas composed of three oxygen molecules, and the small size of the bubbles allow the most gas transfer into the water, where it can damage algal cells, similar to how it irritates our lungs.

This only treats the symptoms, however. Generally, ozone nanobubbling is effective as a temporary solution for algae blooms. Longer-term fixes would have to address what makes the Reflecting Pool so ideal for algae, such as its depth, darker color and inflow of nitrogen and phosphorus.

In California, ozone nanobubbles also have been used in a project to improve water quality in the Tijuana River. The 120-mile river that runs near the border in northern Mexico and Southern California was the site of a pilot study in 2025. The U.S. section of the International Boundary and Water Commission reported that the nanobubbling reduced “odors and bacteria,” but the project concluded prematurely after a flood swept some of the instrumentation into the river.

WASHINGTON — President Trump’s remodeled Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool with its “American flag blue” bottom has turned chartreuse from an algal bloom that park service workers struggled to address Tuesday just days after its more than $14 million renovation.

The Washington Monument is once again visible in the refilled pool, but Trump’s vision of an azure expanse between the D.C. landmarks has been complicated by the harsh realities of chemistry and biology known to any backyard pool owner. The work has been confounded by the unique challenges posed by the scale of the structure, bigger than 10 Olympic-sized pools — which Trump has called a lake — and the source of its water: the often-fetid Tidal Basin.

Algae has plagued the site since it opened more than 100 years ago, but Trump set his sights on addressing it as part of his aggressive push to beautify Washington as the country approaches its 250th anniversary. Contracts worth at least $14.8 million have been awarded for the project, announced in April by Trump, who said he was inspired by complaints from a friend visiting from Germany who called the pool dark and disgusting.

Teams of National Park Service employees and contractors deployed chemicals and ozone nanobubbles Tuesday in a bid to keep the algae in check, not dissimilar from efforts to clean the pool before Trump’s renovation kicked off.

“What do you expect?” asked Cochise Wanzer II, president of the Pool Service Company in Arlington, Virginia. “You’re basically taking natural, untreated river water, pumping it in and expecting it to do something different from what it would do out in the open.”

And the new coat of paint on the bottom of the pool has added an additional twist to ensuring the cleanliness of one of Washington’s most memorable destinations: “Now that the bottom is nice and dark, it elevates the temperature and the algae grows better,” said Wanzer.

The chemicals and ozone nanobubbles — a water purification treatment used to avoid some harsh chemicals — were one part of the effort underway to clean the Reflecting Pool. Workers used a swimming pool-type vacuum cleaner to suck up algae from the bottom, leaving behind clean patches of American Flag Blue paint adjacent to enormous swaths of green algae in a pattern familiar to anyone who has ever vacuumed a carpet before.

The park service said in a statement it is also using hydrogen peroxide, a milder treatment than chlorine and one used in spas and natural swimming pools. “There are no harmful side effects to marine life or to the environment,” it said.

As the mitigation work continued, a contractor took off his socks and shoes and rolled up his pants to his knees and proceeded to wade into the pool to place an ozone nanobubble tube as tourists and locals milled about on a sunny morning.

Rick and Ariana Pettit, a couple from Las Vegas who are road tripping in their RV across the United States, posed for photos at the iconic site of protests and marches as cleaning continued. Dressed in American flag-themed leggings and a Make America Great Again leotard, Pettit remarked to her husband, attired in an “Veteran for Trump” American flag button-up: “Look, it’s already looking more blue.”

Wanzer was blunt in his assessment of what it would take to maintain the pool as an algae-free space: “They may want to drain it, hose it all down, and start from the beginning with fresh water and treat it as the water comes in.”

Vogel and Martin write for the Associated Press.

What’s 2,030-feet long-by-167-feet wide and blue all over? If you guessed the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, you’re right!

Bonus points for triggering someone in your immediate orbit, because ever since President Trump announced his intention to apply blue paint to the basin of architect Henry Bacon’s 1923 pool, the mere mention of the project can make certain people’s heads explode. To wit, a lawsuit filed this month in district court by the Cultural Landscape Foundation and a former Park Service landscape architect, Charles Birnbaum, claims Trump’s actions have caused Birnbaum to suffer “aesthetic injury.”

The phrase might sound humorous at first read, but anyone who cares about art, architecture and the experience of shared public space knows there’s nothing funny about it. We’ve all felt the empty sorrow of staring into the abyss of a boxy Walmart superstore, and experienced a deep malaise of the soul when driving past an endless crush of fast food chains on the outskirts of a major metropolitan area.

It’s doubtful this sadness is shared by Trump, for whom an “aesthetic injury” might best be represented by a McDonald’s without its golden arches. Plus, our president clearly thinks a great deal of good will come from painting the reflecting pool at the center of the National Mall American Flag Blue.

Only a few days ago Trump posted what I can only assume was an AI-generated image of the final product on Truth Social. The blue in question is shockingly bright — like the sky over the Aegean Sea at noon on a cloudless day. That kind of blue can be breathtakingly beautiful, but in this case it swallows up everything around it, including the Lincoln Memorial and the Washington Monument, which it was built to reflect.

The blue pool, in other words, is the main event — and that is not what was intended by its creators. Indeed, Birnbaum’s lawsuit notes the value of various design choices including, “the grey, achromatic basin of the Reflecting Pool as the source of the pool’s profound reflective depth.”

The lawsuit continues, “The ongoing resurfacing of the basin in vivid blue has materially degraded Mr. Birnbaum’s aesthetic experience. Mr. Birnbaum’s aesthetic enjoyment of the Reflecting Pool — as a historic designed landscape whose character he has documented, championed, and personally appreciated over many years — is being concretely harmed by Defendants’ ongoing alteration of its character defining features.”

Many other critics and vocal members of the public have claimed similar harm resulting from the numerous renovations Trump is making in the nation’s Capitol — mostly without court approval or congressional oversight — including his demolition of the White House’s East Wing, his construction of a massive ballroom to replace it, the building of a towering triumphal arch, and the creation of a Hero’s Garden in a public park space along the Potomac river.

Painting the Reflecting Pool American Flag Blue may not be the most intrusive of these impulsive, self-aggrandizing acts, but it was the pigment that broke the camel’s back.

I’m Arts editor Jessica Gelt, in blue. This is your arts and culture news for the week.

The week ahead: A curated calendar

FRIDAY

Gustavo Dudamel and the Los Angeles Philharmonic
The departing maestro and his colleagues are in the homestretch and it’s a busy one. This weekend, there are performances of world premieres of Roberto Sierra’s “Estudios Sinfónicos” (Friday and Sunday) and Angélica Negrón’s “Mundillo (Little World)” (Saturday, featuring YoYo Ma). Both new works are paired with Richard Strauss’ “Ein Heldenleben, Op. 40.” On Thursday, Dudamel celebrates the musicians of the L.A. Phil with an eclectic program including compositions by Rossini, Paganini, Mozart, Mendelssohn, Tchaikovsky and Philip Glass, plus the world premieres of “Bravo Gustavo!” by John Williams and Gabriela Ortiz’s “Mujer Arena.”
Strauss, 11 a.m. Friday; 2 p.m. Sunday; Yo-Yo Ma, 8 p.m. Saturday; Celebrating the Musicians of the L.A. Phil, 8 p.m. Thursday. Walt Disney Concert Hall, 111 S. Grand Ave., downtown L.A. laphil.com

Grangeville
A 2025 drama by the bard of Idaho, Samuel D. Hunter, the play considers the complex relationship of two half-brothers connecting virtually to discuss the care of their ailing mother. Tim Cummings and Jeff LeBeau star. Directed by John Perrin Flynn.
Through July 12. Ruskin Group Theatre, 2800 Airport Ave., Santa Monica. ruskingrouptheatre.com

How to Have Sex Again
The Rebel & the Warrior, a new theater producing collective, present their first L.A. production, the world premiere of a romantic comedy by Louis Reyes McWilliams.
8 p.m. Friday, Saturday, Sunday ; 7:30 p.m. Thursday; 8 p.m. June 5; 3 and 8 p.m. June 6; and 7:30 p.m. June 7. June Odyssey Theatre, 2055 S. Sepulveda Blvd. sanguinenyc.com

Jodie Landau
The composer-performer presents the West Coast premiere of “Performance of Self,” combining memoir, concert, cabaret with original chamber rock compositions, backed by a six-piece ensemble. Directed by Diana Wyenn. Part of OperaFest LA.
8 p.m. Friday and Saturday. REDCAT, 631 W. 2nd St., downtown L.A. redcat.org

Let’s Get It On: The Wearable Art of Betye Saar
The exhibition highlights the role of costume design in the artist’s life and work, including more than 200 objects, including photographs, drawings, garments, jewelry, artworks and historical materials from the 1950s-1970s.
Opening reception, 5-7 p.m. Friday; exhibition continues through Aug. 22. Roberts Projects, 442 S. La Brea Ave. robertsprojectsla.com

Shelley Conducts America @ 250
Pacific Symphony concludes its season with incoming new music director Alexander Shelley conducting the premiere of Peter Boyer’s “American Mosaic,” with accompanying video imagery by award-winning photographer Joe Sohm.
8 p.m. Friday and Saturday. Renée and Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall, 615 Town Center Drive, Costa Mesa. pacificsymphony.org

UCLA Festival of Preservation
“Don’t miss your chance to see these rarely screened films on the big screen where they belong,” writes former Times movie critic Kenneth Turan in his preview of the event. The 22nd festival, which opens with Ossie Davis’ 1972 drama “Black Girl,” presents 11 feature films, four television programs and 30 short works, cartoons and newsreels, all newly preserved and restored by the UCLA Film & Television Archive and its partners and funders.
Through Sunday. Billy Wilder Theater, UCLA Hammer Museum, 10899 Wilshire Blvd., Westwood. cinema.ucla.edu

SATURDAY

America @ 250
The Pasadena Symphony’s season ending concert, celebrating the nation’s sesquicentennial, includes John Williams’ “Liberty Fanfare,” George Gershwin’s “Concerto in F for Piano and Orchestra,” and Aaron Copland‘s “Appalachian Spring” Suite and “Lincoln Portrait,” the latter narrated by actor Alec Baldwin.
2 and 8 p.m. Ambassador Auditorium, 131 S. St. John Ave., Pasadena. pasadenasymphony-pops.org

Baroque in Bloom
Soprano Amanda Forsythe joins the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra for arias from Handel’s “Giulio Cesare” and Bach’s “Wedding Cantata.” The program also includes LACO’s principal bassoon Andrew Brady performing “Vivaldi’s Concerto for Bassoon in A minor, RV 497,” Telemann’s “Don Quixote Suite” and Biber’s “Battalia.”
7:30 p.m. Saturday. Rothenberg Hall, the Huntington, 1151 Oxford Road, San Marino; 4 p.m. Sunday. The Wallis, 9390 N. Santa Monica Blvd., Beverly Hills. laco.org

From Hell to Hollywood: Films Music’s First Golden Age and the Émigré Community
The Scott Dunn Orchestra performs the music of Arnold Schoenberg, Max Steiner, Erich Wolfgang Korngold, Franz Waxman, Dimitri Tiomkin, Bronisław Kaper, Kurt Weill, Ernest Gold and Miklós Rózsa.
7:30 p.m. Saturday. The Wallis, 9390 N. Santa Monica Blvd., Beverly Hills. thewallis.org

Life, Liberty, and Los Angeles
Through historical and contemporary objects, media, art and community collaborations, the exhibition brings together stories of diverse Angelenos and demonstrates the ways their hopes and dreams built the city while reflecting the values of a burgeoning nation.
Opening May 30-Jan. 31. Autry Museum of the American West, 4700 Western Heritage Way, Griffith Park. theautry.org

The Magic Flute
LA Opera music director James Conlon’s final production will be Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s fan favorite about a prince, a princess and an enchanted instrument. Starring Miles Mykkanen in his LA Opera debut as Prince Tamino, Sydney Mancasola as Princess Pamina, Kyle Miller as the sidekick Papageno, Aigul Khismatullina as Queen of the Night and Kwangchul Youn and Sarastro.
Through June 21 Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, 135 N. Grand Ave., downtown L.A. laopera.org

The Satie Project
The artists of Piano Spheres perform the complete four-hand works of French composer and pianist Erik Satie, plus seven newly-commissioned response pieces, alongside the experimental puppetry David Gordezky in what promises to be a truly zany show.
8 p.m. Saturday; 2 p.m. Sunday. Boston Court Pasadena. 70 N. Mentor Ave., Pasadena. bostoncourtpasadena.org

SUNDAY

Bleak Week: The Cinema of Despair
Isabelle Huppert, Ari Aster, Denis Villeneuve, Werner Herzog and many others are the scheduled guests for the fifth edition of the global festival. The L.A. festivities, featuring 48 films from 18 countries, start with Béla Tarr’s 1994 film “Sátántangó” (2 p.m. Sunday at the Aero).
Through June 7. Aero Theatre, 1328 Montana Ave., Santa Monica; Egyptian Theatre, 6712 Hollywood Blvd.; Los Feliz Theatre, 1822 N Vermont Ave. americancinematheque.com

Marilyn Monroe: Hollywood Icon
A reevaluation of the actor’s artistry and image-making, the exhibition presents hundreds of original objects, including posters, portraits, photographs, production documents, letters, and rarely seen personal materials. A companion screening series also kicks off this week. Times culture critic Mary McNamara attended the opening and wrote about the enduring mystery that still surrounds the life and legacy of the film star 100 years after her birth.
“Gentleman Prefer Blondes,” 6:30 p.m. Sunday; “The Asphalt Jungle,” 7:30 p.m. Monday, with guests author and filmmaker Mark A. Fortin, actor Jack Huston, author, filmmaker and actor Joshua John Miller, and journalist Nancy Jo Sales; “Niagara,” 8 p.m. Wednesday; and “All About Eve,” 7:30 p.m. Thursday, with guest Vanity Fair contributing editor Lorraine Nicholson. Screening series runs through July 3; exhibition continues through Feb. 28. Academy Museum, 6067 Wilshire Blvd. academymuseum.org

Museums of the Arroyo Day
The theme is “Life in the Past Lane” as five local institutions celebrate Arroyo Culture with a day of free admission.
Noon-4 p.m. The Gamble House, 4 Westmoreland Place, Pasadena; Heritage Square, 3510 Pasadena Ave., L.A.; Los Angeles Police Museum, 6045 York Blvd., L.A.; Lummis Home, 200 E. Avenue 43, L.A.; Pasadena Museum of History, 470 W. Walnut St., Pasadena. museumsofthearroyo.com

Now Be Here: 2026 Los Angeles Anniversary
A decade ago, the organization launched as a means to “give visibility to women and non-binary artists, bringing equity to the art world,” and was commemorated by the above group photo. To mark the moment, Now Be Here and OXY ARTS present a free day of events (including a new community photo) open to all on the Occidental College campus.
9 a.m.-3 p.m. Occidental College, 1600 Campus Road. oxyarts.oxy.edu/events

Tierra
Craft Contemporary’s 4th Clay Biennial focuses on the work of Latinx, Indigenous and Black artists, emphasizing their deep connections to the geographies that yield the materials they work with. Also opening this week is “Earthen Comforts: Airing Earth,” a courtyard installation led by architect Liz Gálvez, the latest partnership in the ongoing experimental architectural project curated by M&A (Materials & Applications).
Sunday-Oct. 25. Craft Contemporary, 5814 Wilshire Blvd. craftcontemporary.org

TUESDAY

The Sun Rises in Harlem: Black Brilliance and the Harlem Renaissance
The performing arts collaborative MUSE/IQUE, led by artistic and music director Rachael Worby, pays tribute to this transformative era in American arts featuring the music of jazz greats such as Duke Ellington, Cab Calloway and Bessie Smith. With Kecia Lewis, Sy Smith, Leo Manzari, DC6 Singers Collective and the MUSE/IQUE Orchestra.
7:30 p.m. Tuesday-Wednesday. The Huntington, 1151 Oxford Road, San Marino; 3 and 7:30 p.m. June 7. Skirball Cultural Center, 2701 N. Sepulveda Blvd., Los Angeles. muse-ique.com

WEDNESDAY

Colburn Celebrity Recital: Joshua Bell/Jeremy Denk
Frequent collaborators, the acclaimed violinist and pianist perform works by Schubert, Grieg, Ives, Ysaÿe and Ravel in their first joint appearance at Disney Hall since 2010.
8 p.m. Walt Disney Concert Hall, 111 S. Grand Ave., downtown L.A. laphil.com

THURSDAY

Bodytraffic
The contemporary dance troupe closes out a 20-year run with its final three hometown shows, including works by choreographers Fernando Magadan, Cayetano Soto, Joan Rodriguez, Richard Siegal and Trey McIntyre.
7:30 p.m. Thursday and June 4; 2 p.m. June 6; the Wallis, 9390 N. Santa Monica Blvd., Beverly Hills. thewallis.org

Arturo Sandoval
The legendary trumpeter and bandleader, a protégé of jazz great Dizzy Gillespie, performs an eight-show residency at the Blue Note.
7 and 9:30 p.m., Thursday-June 7. Blue Note LA, 6372 W. Sunset Blvd. bluenotejazz.com

Spectacular Balanchine!
American Contemporary Ballet continues its deep dive into the master choreographer’s work with dances from “Who Cares?,” “Stars and Stripes,” “Western Symphony” and “Union Jack” to music by George Gershwin, John Philip Sousa and Hershey Kay.
8 p.m. Thursday-Saturday, through June 20. Bank of America Plaza, 333 S. Hope St., downtown L.A. acbdances.com

Arts anywhere

New and recent releases of arts-related media.

Miles: The Autobiography
May 26 would have been jazz legend Miles Davis’ 100th birthday and Simon & Schuster has released a centennial edition of his award-winning 1989 memoir, in which he reflects on his career, relationships and battles with racism and addiction. Also check out filmmaker Stanley Nelson’s 2020 documentary, “Miles Davis: The Birth of Cool,” featuring studio outtakes from Davis’ recording sessions, rare photos and interviews with Quincy Jones, Carlos Santana, Clive Davis, Wayne Shorter, Ron Carter, Davis’s family and other notables.
Simon & Schuster: 448 pages, $23; “Miles Davis: Birth of the Cool,” streaming on PBS platform.

— Kevin Crust

Culture news and the SoCal scene

The big news of the week was the long-awaited, much-speculated-upon announcement of who will become the next music director of the Los Angeles Philharmonic when Gustavo Dudamel departs later this summer to take his new role at the New York Philharmonic. Surprise (or rather not too much of a surprise depending on who you are and how closely you were watching), the L.A. Phil’s 12th music director will be Daniel Harding, a 50-year-old, Oxford-born conductor and part-time Air France pilot who made his U.S. debut as a young prodigy conducting the L.A. Phil at the 1997 Ojai Festival, writes Times classical music critic Mark Swed.

The Times scored an exclusive ride-along with Harding the day after the L.A. Phil’s big announcement. His day included stops at In-N-Out Burger, the Beckmen YOLA Center and the Hollywood Bowl. The evening was spent at a Dodgers game with Dudamel where the two sported matching jerseys emblazoned with their names.

We also got a first look at a new video installation scheduled to light up the underside of LACMA’s new David Geffen Galleries where it forms a bridge over Wilshire Boulevard. Designed by artist Diana Thater, the installation was filmed in Claude Monet’s garden in Giverny, France, and will officially debut in the fall, after which it will run from dusk to dawn, 365 days per year.

Times contributor Jane Horowitz sat down with photographer Catherine Opie to chronicle a moment in time that finds Opie experiencing “one of the most visible stretches of her career, with work appearing simultaneously across Europe and Los Angeles. This includes a career-spanning survey at London’s National Portrait Gallery that will travel to Edinburgh’s Royal Scottish Academy, as well as exhibitions in Kassel, Germany, and Trondheim, Norway. Closer to home, a new exhibit, ‘Holding Blue,’ opens May 28 at Regen Projects.”

Alicia Keys’ musical “Hell’s Kitchen” made its L.A. debut at the Hollywood Pantages Theatre this week, and Times intern Katie Simons chatted with Keys to get at why this particular moment means so much to her. “We spent 13 years developing this piece,” Keys said. “I believe in this deeply. I stand behind it. I stand for it.”

Swed also wrote a review of the L.A. Phil’s performance of Wagner’s “Die Walküre,” which represented Dudamel’s last grand project with the orchestra, and featured sets designed by Frank Gehry before he died, including paper-sculpture clouds and galloping Valkyrie horses, as well as a fanciful organ-pipe tree.

— Jessica Gelt

And last but not least

You know you want to read this interview with Barry Manilow by Times music critic Mikael Wood. Trust me, everyone else is.

May 11 (UPI) — A nonprofit organization filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration Monday over renovating the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool.

The lawsuit, filed by the Cultural Landscape Foundation and founder Charles Birnbaum, argues that the National Mall renovation violates environmental and preservation laws without proper authority by changing the “historic character” of the reflecting pool.

“The dark grey, achromatic basin was not incidental to the design,” the lawsuit reads. “It was the design.”

The lawsuit seeks a preliminary injunction to block the renovation from moving forward.

The National Historic Preservation Act, the main law cited in the lawsuit, requires a review process before changing historic properties like the reflecting pool.

The Trump administration plans to add a coat of “American flag blue” paint to the base of the reflecting pool.

“The [Interior] Department is proud of the work being carried out by our Park Service to ensure this magical spot can be enjoyed for not only our 250th, but for many generations to come,” the Interior Department said in a statement.

The Cultural Landscape Foundation called the project and other renovations led by President Donald Trump, such as the demolition of the East Wing of the White House to build a ballroom, a “desecration.”

“A blue-tinted basin is more appropriate to a resort or theme park,” Birnbaum said in a statement.

Trump announced the project last month with an estimate for it to be completed by July 4.