The CicLAvia route on Sunday, April 6, runs between downtown L.A. and LACMA. Riders are sure to encounter a myriad of sights along the route: from high rises in the civic center to the density of Koreatown and MacArthur Park to the built-up thoroughfare of Wilshire Boulevard.

CicLAvia's Iconic Wilshire Boulevard route

Between the two bookends of the route is Charles White Elementary School, where the exhibition Kaz Oshiro: Chasing Ghosts is currently on view. The show features the work of this Los Angeles–based artist, who uses techniques of trickery to create objects out of canvas that, at first sight, appear like their real-life analogues. Oshiro also worked with students to create works commissioned for this installation. The artist also selected a number of works from other artists, including Lee Krasner, John Altoon, and Mark Grotjahn to complement his works on view.

Artist Kaz Oshiro works with a student on a collaborative painting project.

Students use brushes and squeeze-bottles to contribute to Oshiro’s collaborative wall painting.

The school will be open for CicLAvia visitors from noon to 4:30 pm on Sunday. The project is part of an ongoing collaboration between LACMA and Charles White Elementary School, of which Kaz Oshiro is the sixth installment. The unique space—an art gallery within an elementary school—has served as a site not only for the display of art, but also to allow students to interact with and create works of art.

Mobile Mural Lab,  a truck that acts as a big canvas that visitors can paint on, will be on-site to further the idea of working on a large scale. Participants can contribute to the truck mural using nontraditional objects. To keep with the cycling theme of CicLAvia, participants can use old tires to roll paint onto the mural. Everyone is encouraged to visit both LACMA and Charles White on this day and kids will receive a special prize for making both trips! Each site will have its own special art making project that you can present at the other location to redeem a prize.

Kaz Oshiro, Dumpster (Yellow with Blue Swoosh), 2010, gift of Steven Hull and Tami Demaree, Yasmine Benyamini, and Samuel Kashani

CicLAvia fosters community connection by making the big city of Los Angeles accessible via the scale of the human body (bike and foot). LACMA is also working to weave together this large community by extending its collection and its work with artists beyond the museum and into neighborhoods throughout the city. Be sure to check out Oshiro’s playful and deceptive sculptures, have a bite at a nearby food truck, and continue on to LACMA, where we’ll be waiting to say hello.

Linda Theung, editor