#1 Art & Design Event
The Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles’s imaginative benefit draws attention for its experiential events tied to exhibits and artists. The affair takes a no-holds-barred creative approach: the April 2013 event paid homage to marijuana. Next: April 2014
#2 Art & Design Event
Los Angeles County Museum of Art’s “Art + Film” gala is relatively new on the scene, having debuted in late 2011. But it’s already a major mainstay with a big celebrity tie-in. This year’s event will honor artist David Hockney and filmmaker Martin Scorsese with a performance by Sting. Leonardo DiCaprio co-chairs with Lacma trustee Eva Chow. Next: November 2, 2013
#3 Art & Design Event (up from #4)
The 18-year-old Los Angeles Art Show is billed as the longest-running venue for contemporary, modern, historic, and traditional art in the country. The 2012 show hosted more than 100 galleries and drew more than 50,000 visitors with its two-show concept that separated modern and contemporary works from historical and traditional works. Last year the Palm Beach Show Group acquired the Los Angeles Art Show: Modern & Contemporary and the Los Angeles Fine Art Show: Historic & Traditional. Next year, the organizers will build on the concept of two distinct shows under the banner of the Los Angeles Art Show and will offer programming like lectures, tours, exhibits, and after-parties, beginning with an opening-night benefit. Next: January 15-19, 2014
#4 Art & Design Event
The Hammer Museum’s Gala in the Garden moved back to October last year (after shifting to September in 2011) and will this year partner with luxury fashion brand Bottega Veneta. The event has sold out in each of the past 10 years and is an important date on the fall social calendar. Next: October 5, 2013
#5 Art & Design Event
One of the county’s most prominent social events, the Orange County Museum of Art’s Art of Dining benefit honored David Lynch at the Balboa Bay Resort in May. Next: Spring 2014
#6 Art & Design Event
The Los Angeles County Museum of Art Collectors Committee is a weekend-long program that takes place each spring and ends with a gala dinner at the museum. In a record-breaking night, the 28th annual event raised more than $3.2 million toward nine new acquistions. JPMorgan Chase sponsored. Next: April 25-26, 2014
#7 Art & Design Event
The Los Angeles Antiques, Art & Design Show moved from the spring to new fall dates last year, and this year it has a new location: 3Labs in Culver City. The event kicks off with an opening-night party benefiting Lacma’s Decorative Arts and Design Council. Next: October 9-13, 2013
#8 Art & Design Event
Westweek at the Pacific Design Center is the center’s largest annual design event—and it’s a decades-old institution. The 2013 event had a heavy focus on the intersection of Hollywood, entertainment, and design. Next: Spring 2014
#9 Art & Design Event
The San Diego Museum of Art’s Art Alive is 32 years old. The museum’s signature fund-raiser draws 12,000 and is one of the longest-running and most widely attended events of its kind in the United States. At this year's event there were 103 floral designers on hand to create the exhibition of arrangements. Next: April 11-13, 2014
#10 Art & Design Event
Photo L.A. announced it will take its 23rd edition to a new location: the L.A. Mart. Billed as the first and longest-running photographic art fair in town, the exhibition is departing Santa Monica for the massive 60,000-square-foot exhibit hall downtown and will feature lectures, roundtable discussions, and docent tours. Next: January 16-19, 2014
#11 Art & Design Event (up from #15)
In 2013, Dwell on Design transformed more than 200,000 square feet of exhibition floor at the Los Angeles Convention Center and saw nearly 31,000 attendees—a 12 percent increase over last year. Combined with Dwell Design Week, a series of local events hosted in showrooms around town, the design showcase attracts close to 35,000. Next: June 2014
#12 Art & Design Event
The theme for this year's Laguna Beach Festival of Arts and Pageant of the Masters was “the big picture,” a salute to classic art that inspired iconic filmmakers. During the annual event, real people pose to look like the subjects in classical and contemporary artworks. Next: Summer 2014
#13 Art & Design Event
Venice Art Walk & Auctions benefits Venice Family Clinic, this year taking in $650,000 for the cause. It bills itself as the largest event of its kind in Southern California, attracting about 3,000 annually. Next: Spring 2014
#14 Art & Design Event
Art Los Angeles Contemporary, now in its fifth year, is the International Contemporary Art fair of the West Coast. It will return to Santa Monica’s Barker Hangar, with its 40,000 square feet of exhibition space, and will present 70 top galleries from around the world. Next: January 30-February 2, 2014
#15 Art & Design Event
The Mission Federal ArtWalk San Diego will celebrate its 30th anniversary next year. It’s the largest event of its kind in the region; this year it filled 17 blocks of downtown San Diego's historic Little Italy district with more than 350 artists. Next: April 26-27, 2014
