Like many of us, I was bummed to hear about the passing of Dolly Parton last week. 

I got into Dolly after watching Ken Burns’ epic Country Music series during the pandemic with my father-in-law. A true must-watch, in my opinion. 

The doc profiles how relentlessly creative Dolly was, and in honor of that, I decided to focus this issue on ideas on art and creativity.

Whether you buy it, pursue it, or make it yourself, here are a few ideas to put the art into the art of client entertainment.

— Robbie

The Other Art Fair is a four-day pop-up where independent artists showcase and sell their work inside Barker Hangar in Santa Monica.

It’s run by Saatchi Art and positioned as the approachable alternative to the usual fantastically out-of-my-price-range art fairs. There will be thousands of original artworks, and many of them will be priced in the low hundreds. Plus, you’ll actually be able to meet the artists who created them. 

For client entertainment, Thursday 9/24 is opening night and will have the launch-party energy with immersive installations, live performances, a DJ, food trucks, and a fully stocked bar. 

This one intrigued me as an affordable option where everyone maintains a degree of autonomy as they wander around with a drink and take in the artwork. Barker Hangar is a former airplane hangar off Santa Monica Airport and, alongside all the artwork, creates an impressive backdrop if your group is into grabbing photos and videos to post.

Added value: As a smooth operator in my broke 20s, I used to go to art gallery openings as a way to appear classy, get free wine, and impress a date. Those days are long in the past, but I still find these types of events a great conversational backdrop to pleasant and relatively self-guided evenings.

It’s finally here! The spaceship has landed! 

Opening September 22, the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art is George Lucas and Mellody Hobson's new museum in Exposition Park. 

One of the most consequential museum openings in the world, especially for Star Wars fans, this presents a great opportunity to get your clients out and capitalize on the hype in a galaxy just next to USC.

The building itself is an actual marvel that looks otherworldly (quick IG video of the creation). Inside the museum, Star Wars in Motion is the inaugural cinema exhibition. You’ll see props, costumes, and vehicles from the films. It’s not all Star Wars: the inaugural exhibition also features comics, cartoons, anime, and other works that Lucas refers to as “the people’s art.”

An important note is that galleries close at 5pm on Wednesday and Thursday, so unless you can convince a client to ditch work early, Friday would be the main after-work option since they stay open late (9pm).

After cruising the galleries, you can grab dinner at the rooftop restaurant aptly named Skywalker Grill. If you would rather keep it casual, the on-site Café also runs until 7pm on Fridays.

Basics:

Added Value: When I was in 5th grade and had to stay home from school one day, I watched the original Star Wars trilogy for the first time. Up there with my wedding day and the Cubs’ 2016 World Series win, this was a transformative experience for me. 

The buzz around the museum will be ramping up through the fall, so if you have a team you think might be interested, grab a reservation farther out and see if they’ll join you.

Major Wavez Lab runs private sneaker customization classes led by working artists at their Eagle Rock studio.

The experience usually begins between 5pm to 6pm, and over the course of 3-4 hours you’ll cut, glue, sew, and paint your way to a pair of completely personalized sneakers. The in-house artists are there to lead you through the process, so no one needs to be a Picasso to walk out with something that looks cool. 

The go-to shoe to decorate is the white Nike Air Force 1, which they sell on-site for $150 (sizes women’s 5 up to men’s 15). You can also bring your own shoes, which don't have to be white. Their only recommendations about shoes are that you make sure they’re leather-based and avoid high-top basketball shoes. 

You can bring in any food and drinks you like. Joy on York (Taiwanese) and Triple Beam Pizza are solid, crowd-pleasing options nearby. 

Major Wavez Lab has locations in San Jose and Las Vegas as well if you are entertaining out of market.

Added Value: This is one I’ve heard a lot about and was excited to research. I love this idea not only for the unique, hands-on experience, but also the fact that you’ll be top of mind every time someone asks your clients where they got the cool shoes!

Ever been hanging with a client and conversation just runs dry? Whether it’s recent and topical, or general and evergreen, the Oasis is about giving you one idea for helping in that moment.

Megastars say you can come to me.

If Dolly does come up when you’re with clients and you end up discussing live music, here’s an interesting post I saw on how the touring habits of Harry Styles and other megastars have evolved. 

More big acts are now posting up for longer stints in fewer cities and expecting fans to come to them. Harry's current tour is 68 shows across just seven cities. Beyoncé played half of the Cowboy Carter tour in three venues. 

The obvious reason for this is that it’s way more profitable since the costs of hauling the whole set from city to city have skyrocketed.

The downside is that smaller cities that used to get an evening of Harry grooving to ‘Watermelon Sugar’ now miss out on the show, along with all the hotel, restaurant, and bar revenue that goes with it. By contrast, the big cities where he’s playing more shows are crushing it with fans coming in from out of town to see the performance and filling hotels, restaurants, and bars. 

All of which is a great reminder that being in LA is its own perk where we are almost always on the list. 😎

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