The Arts in West Adams, Universal Play, and Student Housing.

By Laura Meyers

1). BOROUGHS OF LOS ANGELES
Saturday, March 4 7-10 p.m. The William Grant Still Arts Center, 2520 S. West View Street (west of Crenshaw, just off of Adams) The public is cordially invited to attend the opening reception for "Boroughs of Los Angeles," a collaborative juried fine arts show jointly sponsored by the USC School of Fine Arts and supported by USC, UCLA, Otis, Cal Arts, and Art Center. The reception will feature the music of the Sam Brawner Trio. Free. The William Grant Still Arts center is a facility of the City of Los Angeles Cultural Affairs Department. 323-734-1164/65

2). INTRODUCING THE DORCHESTER ARTS SALON
Sunday, March 12 Noon to 5 p.m. 2881 West 15th Street ( Harvard Heights)

WAHA members Leanna and Dean Harada are opening their home on Sunday, March 12, for the first Dorchester Salon event. In cooperation with Phenom Art, they're turning their home into a living gallery to present a selection of the serigraphs and collagraphs by Mid-Century California Modernists Ginger Osgood and R. Freeman Worthley (for more information about the artists, visit www.phenomart.com). The Haradas' home and studios will be open from noon until 5 p.m. You're invited to come by and enjoy the art, drinks and food.

Dorchester Salon will be opening its doors on an ongoing but informal and irregular basis, bringing visual arts, music, theatre and film to Harvard Heights. For more info call 323-893-5961.

3). PUBLIC WORKSHOPS FOR THE PROPOSED OFF-CAMPUS HOUSING ORDINANCE
Saturday, March 4 10 a.m. - 2 p.m. Saturday, March 11 10 a.m. - 2 p.m. Exposition Park Inter-Generational Community Center (EPICC) 2nd Floor, Community Hall, 3990 South Menlo Avenue

As many of you know, there has been an increasing housing shortage for students, not just near USC but also near other college campuses around town. In West Adams we have seen a growing number of developments that are designed to house multiple students, without necessarily providing for enough parking or other elements that help keep a residential neighborhood feeling as if it is residential. These two public workshops and a Public Hearing will help answer your questions and take your input about a draft proposed Off-Campus Housing District Overlay Zone ordinance, which (if passed as proposed) would allow special planning districts to be established near college campuses, including USC.

The two workshops will be identical. You may drop into either of the workshops anytime between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. and Department of City Planning staff will be available to answer questions, address any concerns, and clarify the intent of the proposed ordinance. The Public Hearing will be a formal hearing conducted by a hearing officer with a recorded transcript. Additional information is provided below and in the attached PDF copy of the Public Workshop and Public Hearing schedule for the proposed University Off-Campus Housing Overlay District.

The actual public hearing on the matter is now scheduled for Tuesday, March 14, at 6 p.m. at the California Science Center, Donald P. Loker Conference Room, 700 State Drive, in Exposition Park. Free parking will be available at the Science Center Parking Structure.

4). UNIVERSAL ACCESS PLAYGROUND DESIGN
Saturday, March 11 11 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. CD 10 District Office Community Room, 1819 South Western Avenue

Children with disabilities are routinely excluded from playgrounds. But, we in West Adams will soon have a new, universally-accessible playground at the Benny H. Potter West Adams Avenues Memorial Park.

Come discuss design ideas for the fully-accessible playground and play space at a meeting with Shane's Inspiration, 10th District Councilmember Herb Wesson, and the Los Angeles Department of Recreation and Parks. The new playground will offer accessible and "sensory-rich" equipment that can be enjoyed by all children, with or without disabilities. And it will be the first such playground in our entire area! Space is limited. Please RSVP to Marjorie Stark, 818-752-5676.

5). SUBMIT YOUR NEWS

We welcome your contributions to the WAHA E-News and West Adams Heritage Association's monthly publication, "West Adams Matters." Please understand that we do have deadlines. Material for the print newsletter should be submitted no later than the 1st of the prior month (i.e.: April 1 for the May issue). If your event is scheduled for early in a month, we suggest you request coverage for the prior month (i.e.: May issue for a June 3 event), because it's entirely possible that not all of our members will have received their newsletter by then (we do try hard…). We reserve the right to edit submitted material. For the WAHA E-News, we prefer to only send it out once or twice a month, circa the 5th and the 20th. Please don't wait until two days before an event to let us know about it. It may not be sent out. EXCEPTION: If you suddenly hear of an important city hearing or other public meeting that is important to West Adams, we will endeavor to send out a special bulletin. Submit your material to Laura Meyers, editor, lauramink@aol.com