CMA LA: An Evening at the Library - Central Library Visit + Luceros y Penumbras Presentation w/ Curator Todd Lerew

Pop-Ups After Hours at the Central Library 

Thursday, November 5 | 5:45 to 7:30 p.m. | CMA Members Only Calling all pop-up book lovers! 

CMA members are invited to a private evening at the DTLA Central Library to see the world's largest pop-up book up close, plus some rare treasures from the library's archive. 

Meet Luceros y Penumbras 

The name roughly translates to "Starlight and Shadows," and this thing is a showstopper. It weighs more than 1,800 pounds and opens to 31 by 20 feet, beating the previous Guinness World Record. Chicano artist and printmaker Daniel González designed it with paper engineer Matthew Reinhart, drawing on LA imagery, the library's history, and his own life. It was so big it couldn't fit through the library's doors, so they built it in sections, carried it up to the second floor, and reassembled it inside the Rotunda. 

We'll get a guided viewing with Todd Lerew, the exhibition's curator and Special Projects Director at the Library Foundation of Los Angeles. The book is on display through mid-January, but trust us, you'll want the private, behind-the-scenes version. 

A Peek Inside the Toy Movable Collection

Next, we'll head to Meeting Room A for a private presentation of pieces from the library's rarely exhibited Toy Movable Collection, an archive of more than 2,000 intricate pop-up and interactive books. Fun fact for our crew: the collection also highlights Southern California's overlooked role in the global history of pop-up book production. If you make things for kids, you'll walk out inspired. 

Arrival

5:45 p.m. Arrival and welcome (meet in the lobby outside The Library Store). Please arrive no later than 6:00 pm. 

Address

630 W 5th St, Los Angeles, CA 90071 

Parking 

Thursday parking after 3 p.m. is just $1 with your library card at 524 S. Flower St. 

This event is for CMA members only, and space is limited, so get your tickets today. Membership will be confirmed week of the event.