Can I just start out with my rant against the “Color of the Year” from Pantone? Gonna anyway. As an artist and designer, I sometimes pay attention to what Pantone has to say. In preparation for the show we did last month, we went to Pantone’s site and took a look around at what the projected color for 2026 would be. They implied it would be teal. That would have been great, especially after the last two colors they chose, Mocha Mousse and Peach Fuzz. Nope. For some odd reason they chose white, excuse me, Cloud Dancer. We need calm and a reboot, according to Pantone. Excuse me? We have dumpster fire in Washington DC, and you are encouraging calm and a reset by releasing white as color of the year. Talk about tone deaf. Talk about ignoring the freakin’ white elephant in the room. And the only individuals I’ve seen liking it are white women. Not all, thankfully, but some. Really? Fortunately the internet has answered with some good renames, such as Landlord White, Robe White, “the color of mediocrity”, and certainly a dystopian choice. Pantone deaf has been trending. How do you feel about this controversy?
Now onto local news. Every weekend in December is filled with shows opening, holiday sales, shows closing, holiday parties, and more. Below I’ll list some of your options, and some save the dates to start the new year. But first, go to Poet’s Place and check out this month’s poetry that Linda Kaye has been gathering.
The LA Art Show ( (www.laartshow.com), LA’s largest and longest-running fair, returns for its 31st edition January 7–11 at the LA Convention Center, featuring over 90 international exhibitors under director Kassandra Voyagis. Highlights include Dublin’s Oliver Sears Gallery, Palm Beach’s Provident Fine Art presenting Sylvester Stallone’s abstract works, and London’s Pontone Gallery showcasing artist and drummer Chris Rivers.
Exhibitions include the first public showing in over four decades of Karl A. Meyer’s 1980s woodcut prints (LICHT FELD Gallery, Switzerland), Yigal Ozeri’s cinematic figurative works (Corridor Contemporary), and J&J Art’s “Elegant Freedom” by Jinny Suh, reimagining Korean tradition.
The fair debuts its Latin American Pavilion, curated by Marisa Caichiolo, spotlighting memory, migration, and identity while amplifying underrepresented Latin American voices. DIVERSEartLA, also curated by Caichiolo, returns with “The Biennials, Art Institutions and Museums in the Contemporary Art Ecosystem,” exploring how art circulates through global biennials and museums as engines of innovation, engagement, and dialogue. LA Art Show takes place January 7 - 11 at LA Convention Center (1201 S Figueroa St, Los Angeles, 90015) and tickets start at $40 with the American Heart Association serving as the charity beneficiary, receiving 15% of proceeds
Save the Date!
The West Coast’s Largest Bead & Artisan Marketplace Begins the New Year at the Pasadena Convention Center
The Pasadena Bead & Design Show returns to the Pasadena Convention Center January 16–18, welcoming the public to a vibrant, curated marketplace of beads, gemstones, artisan jewelry, textiles, artwear, findings, and handcrafted works. Now in its 18th year of biannual shows — and held in Pasadena since 2008 — the event brings together over 300 exhibitors including studio artists, tradespeople, and makers from across the country.
