First Fridays 2024 - May

May 3  |  The Plant Clones Are Coming

Featuring Live Music from JaRon Marshall and Dave Harrington/Max Jaffe/Patrick Shiroishi , DJ set from Wyldeflower (KCRW/Dublab), Discussion with Rare Plant Ecologist Kevin Alison hosted by Dr. Yewande Pearse, Sensory Lounge featuring LAVA (Los Angeles Video Artist), Femme House, Sad Girl Creamery, Herbalaria, and more!

If you are interested in learning more about 2024 First Fridays series, click First Fridays 2024: From Feelings to Pheromones.
 

Our Featured Discussion! 

Discussion  | Level 2, North American Mammal Hall |  6:30–7:30 pm  

The Micropropagation Connection: Our Relationship With Plants And How Cloning Plants Can Affect The Greater Biosphere:  : An up close look at the micropropagation of Catalina Island’s Rarest Plants with Rare Plant Ecologist, Kevin Alison.  We examine how applications in agriculture, horticulture, forestry and plant breeding has made cloning plants a fast growing trend. How can micropropagation impact the plants in our lives?  What does the use of plant tissue culture mean for you and me?  How can micropropagation help in preserving endangered plants?  Plant clones have actually been around! We look at how asexual reproduction has taken place millions of years before sexual reproduction. 
*Seating is limited. Please arrive early.

OUR MODERATOR

Dr. Yewande Pearse is a neuroscientist, public speaker, and science communicator with twenty years of research experience in various facets of Neuroscience at leading institutions such as the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology, and Neuroscience at King's College London and The Lundquist Institute at Harbor-UCLA. Driven by a mission to redefine where science storytelling belongs and a belief in the power of science to connect people and communities, Dr. Pearse has collaborated with a diverse array of organizations, including the Sundance Film Festival, Headspace, The Natural History Museum, California Science Center, Female Collective, TEDMED, DEEM Journal, Grow Magazine, Dublab Radio, and NTS Radio.

OUR GUEST

Kevin Alison is the Rare Plant Ecologist for the Catalina Island Conservancy. He uses his education and experience as a conservationist, plant scientist, and horticulturalist to ensure the rare plants of Santa Catalina Island do not go extinct.

We aim to make NHM an exciting, educational, and enjoyable experience for everyone. If you have any questions about your visit and the accessibility services we offer, contact our Call Center at 213.763.3466 or email info@nhm.org

Images from past First Fridays:

Live Music and DJ Set In the Nature Gardens Stage! 

JaRon Marshall | Nature Gardens | 9 pm

JaRon Marshall + the collective is a 4-piece instrumental group from Austin, Texas. It features JaRon Marshall (Black Pumas), Sam Howden (Soul Food Horns, Coleslaw.Records, Slug), Michael Longoria (Bob Schneider, Patty Griffin), Chris Loveland (Clunis). They recently recorded their debut album in Austin, Texas at Black Pumas’ producer, Adrian Quesada’s Electric Deluxe Recorders. They are inspired by jazz-hop influencers such as Robert Glasper and Chris Dave, as well as the modern spiritualists Kamasi Washington and Shabaka Hutchings.

Dave Harrington/Max Jaffe/Patrick Shiroishi
 | Nature Gardens | 8 pm

Together, on their debut recording Speak, Moment, Dave Harrington, Max Jaffe, and Patrick Shiroishi establish hypnotic and richly textured guitar-driven tapestries colored with the effervescent thread of a yearning saxophone melody that might be torn loose in an instant by thunderous percussion or febrile grooves. 

DJ Wyldeflower (KCRW/Dublab)  | Nature Gardens | 5–8 pm

Rocio "Wyldeflower" Contreras aka Ro is an on-air radio host and DJ on 89.9 KCRW & dublab, a budding music supervisor, and creative from Pasadena, California. With decades of experience in art, festival, orchestral concert production and programming. Ro is inspired by discovery; exploring new and classic sounds from all over the globe ranging from tropicalia, mpb, soul, funk, jazz & beyond. Catch her behind the turntables setting intention with her vinyl collection & carefully curated otherworldly sonic selections.
 

Special Pop-Up Experiences!

Explore the museum and visit the pop-up experiences, including specially curated presentations from our Research & Collections and Museum Educators and our Sensory Lounge with guest artists and vendors.

NHM's Research and Collections | Otis Booth Pavilion–Ground Level

Explore the work and collections of NHM with specially-curated displays. We'll examine the forces that shape the behaviors of life forms large and small.

Museum Educators Pop-ups | East Entrance–Welcome Table | 5:30 and 7:30 pm  

Join one of our knowledgeable Museum Educators in a series of 30-minute pop-up presentations throughout the Museum to get first-hand insights into our exhibits and vast collections. Meet the M.E.s at the top of the steps near the Welcome Table located at our East Entrance. 

• 5:30pm - The Rarest of the Rare - Plants of the Channel Islands - Just off our coast, California's 8 Channel Islands are home to some of the state's rarest flora.  Join us to get to know a few of these "Island Endemics" and the roles they play on the islands. Presented by Jeff Chapman (he/him), an educator at NHMLAC.  He began his career on Catalina Island 30 years ago and has a passion for the Channel Islands.
• 7:30pm - Pretty Plant Privilege - Join us as we discuss the ways in which Plants have caused economic turmoil, how dying plants were viewed as pretty, and how we understand, perserve, and take pleasure from pretty plants.  Presented by Ruben Sanchez (He/Him), a Museum Educator working at NHMLAC. A piqued interest in Art History, Soccer, the television show Love Island - He is excited to share his interest in the natural world as well. 

SENSORY LOUNGE | Level 1 Foyer

SIGHT:  LAVA (LOS ANGELES VIDEO ARTISTS)  Founded in 2003, LAVA is a community of video artists and creative technologists working primarily in the field of immersive experiential digital art. The goal of the LAVA community is to promote and nurture the evolution of video art with the latest technological magic in the greater Los Angeles area. 

Artists Featured In May: Ben Koffman aka Society of Shadows, Katalin Angelov aka Kati, Camille Nibungco aka mise.en.ccn, Omo Abode aka VJ VIDEOMO 

SOUND: Soundscape Curated by FEMME HOUSE featuring GeeXella:  Femme House creates opportunities for women, gender-expansive, BIPOC, and LGBTQIA+  creatives in the technical and behind the scenes areas of music. They are developing the future producers, mixers, engineers, DJs, artists, and executives of the industry by providing education and scholarships, cultivating community, furthering visual representation, and leveraging our platform to amplify the voices of marginalized communities.   

GeeXella (pronounced Jee-EL-LUH) is an AfroLatinx, Non-binary, and Queer transdisciplinary artist. They are currently occupying space in Muscogee Creek Land, also known as Atlanta, GA. They engage with their work as an extension of cultural organizing for the liberation of Black and marginalized people. 

TASTE: Sad Girl Creamery is a small batch ice cream company based in Los Angeles, California. The owner, SueEllen Mancini, draws inspiration from her own Latin American heritage and honors the heritage of others in her flavors and ice cream novelties. Aside from creating delicious ice cream SueEllen also uses her social media outlets to bring attention to mental health awareness in her community. 

SCENT:  Herbalaria is a family company bridging the rich heritage of Filipino plant healing tradition and culture with the demands of contemporary wellness. The company produces modern-day skin and spiritual care products deeply rooted in tradition, utilizing the wisdom passed down through generations.  Founder Katuuran Lyn Pacificar is a Visayan shaman, driven by a passion for preserving her family’s Philippine healing heritage. Herbalaria creates contemporized wellness products that are made in ritual with Filipino traditional botanicals, love, and good intentions.

SCENT: Latinx with Plants is a small woman of color owned business in Boyle Heights whose focus is to celebrate and uplift people of color in the plant world. We hope that through plant parenthood, people will be able to deepen their connection with nature and the Earth, and tune into the healing that caring for plants can offer us.

Food Trucks and Pop-Ups

• L.I.T.S
• MARAVILLA LATIN CUISINE
• SAMUEL'S CATERING
• CAKES BY CHANTE
• SOUL FEELS GOOD VEGAN GARDEN
• BURGERLY
   

Policy and Rules

Your safety is our top priority. Please read the full covid-19 safety guidelines.