Full Palette

From Lancaster to Glendale, the best in arts and culture will be on view Saturday during an open house staged at 33 venues around the county, including the Cal State Northridge Performing Arts Center, the Santa Clarita Repertory Theatre and the Lankershim Arts Center Gallery in North Hollywood.

Sponsored by the Los Angeles County Arts Commission, the open house will present 150 events, all with free admission, including lithograph and woodcut exhibits by the Los Angeles Printmaking Society, a performance by the Billy Childs Chamber Jazz Sextet at CSUN and a stage reading by the Towne Street Theatre of “The Phonograph: Scenes in the Life of an African-American Harlem Family” at the Raven Playhouse in North Hollywood.

“The Arts Open House was conceived as an opportunity for urban explorers to discover the great cultural things happening in their neighborhoods and other neighborhoods,” said Laura Zucker, executive director of the commission.

Organized in conjunction with National Arts and Humanities Month, Arts Open House is in its sixth year.

It operates on a $40,000 budget, excluding the salaries of two full-time staff members and an intern who helped coordinate the project.

Last year, nearly 65,000 people sampled the cultural arts offerings.

For three years, CSUN has been a hub for the day’s events, which include family entertainment in the morning, dance performances in the afternoon, art exhibits midday and jazz and theater in the evening.

“We try to create a sampling,” said Dave Pier, executive director of the Performing Arts Center at CSUN.

“The idea is to go to a place in the county where you’ve never visited and see what kind of arts programs are going on there.”

BE THERE

Arts Open House sponsored by the Los Angeles County Arts Commission at various locations. Call the 24-hour hotline at (213) 972-3099 for a schedule, or go to https://www.lacountyarts.org and click on Open House.