April 27, 2022

Inhabiting the Night: Temporality in Public Space
MacArthur Park, Los Angeles

Community partners: Levitt Pavillion, Art Division, Carmelo Alvarez

UCLA students and researchers gathered with an interdisciplinary group of practitioners, artists, and community members to experience MacArthur Park after dark and explore nighttime as a place. The event, hosted by UCLA's (Un)Common Public Space Group, featured a presentation and guided NightSeeing™ walk by Leni Schwendinger, a light and nighttime design expert, who provided commentary to raise awareness about public space at night. A group of over 35 participants were guided along a planned route through MacArthur Park to observe and experience nighttime conditions, including lighting design, infrastructure, and social activity. Dialogue between Schwendinger, community stakeholders, and walk participants enriched understanding of light and dark, and sparked conversations about how to support and sustain nighttime conditions within and around the park. 

The event connected ongoing public space research at UCLA with the surrounding city by engaging the knowledge and perspectives of community-based organizations near MacArthur Park. The pre-walk gathering and presentation was hosted by Art Division, a longstanding neighborhood organization adjacent to MacArthur Park that engages young adults in the visual arts. Representatives from the Levitt Pavilion, an historic outdoor venue located in the park that presents accessible live music programming for the community, joined the walk and provided commentary, alongside longtime local resident, arts organizer, and historian, Carmelo Alvarez.

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Make Space: Do-It-Yourself Urbanism

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Common Ground: A Festival for Intergenerational Public Space