Jerry Moss Plaza
Jerry Moss Plaza (Plaza) is a beautiful 35,000 square foot outdoor urban oasis and destination for free and low-cost programs such as The Music Center’s highly popular Dance DTLA, along with festivals, concerts, special events and other art-making experiences. The “Plaza for All” welcomes all and brings to life the strength and diversity of Los Angeles County and with a range of dining options, refreshing gardens, an iconic fountain and views of Grand Park and City Hall.
The Music Center’s three original theatres are united by the Plaza. The Plaza’s location was planned so it would form a unit with what is now Grand Park to the east and the Department of Water and Power building to the west, creating the largest open, landscaped area of any downtown in the United States. The original Music Center was united by a central sunken plaza designed by landscape architecture firm Cornell, Bridgers and Troller in association with Welton Becket & Associates. Its refined architectural design was reflected in the original landscaping, combining water, trees, ground cover and patterned pavement to create the atmosphere of a formal courtyard.
In January 2018, The Music Center closed the plaza for a major renovation helmed by the award-winning Los Angeles-based multidisciplinary architecture and design firm Rios Clementi Hale Studios, now known as Rios. The architects not only updated the plaza’s infrastructure but also created a more welcoming space along with five new buildings: Lisa Specht Welcome Center, Abernethy’s (a full-service restaurant), The Mullin Wine Bar, and permanent public restrooms. The plaza had a major public grand opening in August 2019 and, in 2020, was renamed Jerry Moss Plaza following a $25 million benefaction by Tina and Jerry Moss to support free and low-cost programming. The reimagined plaza creates a fifth venue for The Music Center campus.
In its architecture and civic design approach, Rios raised the plaza to one single accessible level with 48,000 square feet of flexible, usable outdoor space, reconfigured the Grand Avenue staircase and added two new escalators on either side of what is now the Terri and Jerry Kohl Stairs on Grand Avenue as a new “front door” for The Music Center. The plaza redesign allows for more open space for public events and performances, enhances the connection to the community and visually connects The Music Center to Grand Park, leveraging the synergies between two major county assets.
New drought tolerant landscaping enriches the hardscape surface of the Plaza, including 20 new “Geijera parviflora” (Australian Willow) trees, which have low water requirements and were chosen for their shade and graceful foliage character. Two new gardens allow wining and dining al fresco: The plaza’s Blue Ribbon Garden is adjacent to The Mullin Wine Bar and the Fredric Roberts Garden is next to Go Get Em Tiger. The gardens feature Melaleuca quinquenervia (Paperbark) trees plus California and other evergreen plantings in a vibrant lime green color palette. Each of the gardens has historical globe lighting fixtures that sat on the original plaza and were restored and relocated to illuminate the garden spaces.
The public and artists alike appreciate the two new 12’ x 20’ plaza LED screens, which are equipped with sensors and cameras. The screens provide the opportunity to create “art” on the plaza through multiple interactive experiences that incorporate people and movement throughout the space. Imagined by the artists of Music Center partners yU+co, the LED screens feature live feeds, machine learning and various filters that allow plaza visitors to generate their own living video art in realistic or abstract ways as their movement and actions on the plaza are reflected on the LED screens. The Lisa Specht Welcome Center also features a 6’ x 20’ interactive touch screen that provides information and personalized guidance for visitors about the entire Music Center complex; The Music Center’s resident companies and TMC Arts, The Music Center’s programming engine; events, food and beverage options; and members of The Music Center community.
As part of the renovation, The Music Center moved the Jacques Lipchitz-designed “Peace on Earth” sculpture due west from its previous location in the center of the plaza’s fountain. The sculpture is now a focal point on the Hope Street side of The Music Center complex in the Rose Hills Foundation Courtyard. Additionally, the “Dance Door” designed by Robert Graham, was re-positioned in the Fredric Roberts Garden on the east side of the plaza.
TMC Arts programs Jerry Moss Plaza as both a civic and cultural space. In addition to arts programming, TMC Arts showcases artistic experiences on the plaza’s LED screens and also offers guests the opportunity to come together and share, actively or passively, in dialogue about civic issues and matters critical to each other, to the many communities in Los Angeles and to society overall. That can include showing the latest political debates—representing all sides of the political spectrum—town hall meetings, panels, talks and the like.
Thank You to our Generous and Visionary Donors to Jerry Moss Plaza
The renovated Jerry Moss Plaza completes a dream and opens the door to a future where The Music Center is at the heart of deepening the cultural lives of every resident of L.A. County. The Music Center will continue to uplift this vision by activating the plaza with innovative and inspiring arts experiences for all to enjoy.
Featured on Jerry Moss Plaza
-
Fri Mar 17 6:00 PM
Sat Apr 22 6:00 PM
A TMC Arts Program Our Common Home
Jerry Moss Plaza
This interactive public art exhibition fuses art and technology to echo our troubled relationship with the planet. Four large-scale interactive pieces can be physically explored on the LED screens on Jerry Moss Plaza, while a fifth collective artw...Show More
This interactive public art exhibition fuses art and technology to echo our troubled relationship with the planet. Four large-scale interactive pieces can be physically explored on the LED screens on Jerry Moss Plaza, while a fifth collective artwork extends the experience online. Using face, hand and full body tracking, Our Common Home allows users to influence digital artworks in real time, while exploring how our individual decisions have a global impact.
Show LessFree
Learn MoreFree
-
Sat Apr 22 11:00 AM
A TMC Arts Program Very Special Arts Festival Community Day (Rescheduled)
Jerry Moss Plaza
With the health and safety of our guests and performers as our first priority, we have rescheduled The Music Center's Very Special Arts Festival Community Day to April 22, 2023, due to the inclement weather forecast for Los Angele...Show More
With the health and safety of our guests and performers as our first priority, we have rescheduled The Music Center's Very Special Arts Festival Community Day to April 22, 2023, due to the inclement weather forecast for Los Angeles February 23-25, 2023.
Made possible by the generosity of Music Center Board Member Mimi Song, Founder and Chair of the Board of Superior Grocers
Join the fun at The Music Center’s Very Special Arts Festival Community Day! This free, inclusive one-day festival is perfect for children of all abilities and their families and a great way to spend a Saturday. Hosted in Downtown L.A. on Jerry Moss Plaza at The Music Center, the Very Special Arts Festival celebrates the artist in all of us.
From free performances to family-friendly art making activities, this special event is an opportunity to experience and interact with the arts.
Show LessFree
RescheduledFree
-
Wed Mar 08 8:00 PM
Sun Apr 09 6:30 PM
Center Theatre Group Twilight: Los Angeles, 1992
Mark Taper Forum
Nearly thirty years after the Los Angeles uprising following the Rodney King verdict, Twilight: Los Angeles, 1992 returns home to the Mark Taper Forum to be reimagined with an ensemble cast for a new generation of audiences. A powerful pi...Show More
Nearly thirty years after the Los Angeles uprising following the Rodney King verdict, Twilight: Los Angeles, 1992 returns home to the Mark Taper Forum to be reimagined with an ensemble cast for a new generation of audiences. A powerful piece of living record and one of the most important works in the history of the Taper, Twilight... is a stunning and seminal play that explores the devastating human impact of the five days of uprising following the Rodney King verdict. From nine months of over 300 interviews conducted during the year following the uprising, playwright and scholar Anna Deavere Smith crafted a play that goes directly to the heart of the issues of race and class. Twilight... offers stark insight into the complex and pressing social, economic, and political issues that fueled the flames in the wake of the verdict and ignited a conversation about policing and race that continues today. Originally commissioned by and produced at the Mark Taper Forum, this 30th Anniversary Production is set to captivate our city once again.
Show Less -
Sat Mar 25 7:30 PM
Sun Apr 16 2:00 PM
LA Opera Pelléas and Mélisande
Dorothy Chandler Pavilion
Lost in the forest, a prince encounters an ethereal beauty with a mysterious past (and lush locks that would make Rapunzel envious). But after she's brought home to his family, she begins to grow increasingly close to his handsome younger brother....Show More
Lost in the forest, a prince encounters an ethereal beauty with a mysterious past (and lush locks that would make Rapunzel envious). But after she's brought home to his family, she begins to grow increasingly close to his handsome younger brother.
Debussy's sensual, exquisitely nuanced score casts a hypnotic spell, capturing an enigmatic dream world where forbidden love blossoms.
Conducted by James Conlon, this fascinating lyric masterpiece stars two riveting young performers, soprano Sydney Mancasola and baritone Will Liverman, as the doomed lovers, and Kyle Ketelsen as the jealous prince. The magnificent Susan Graham makes her role debut as Geneviève, mother of the two rival brothers, and the legendary bass Ferruccio Furlanetto returns as King Arkel, the family patriarch unable to grasp the tragedy unfolding before him.
Show Less -
Tue Jan 24 11:00 AM
Thu Jun 29 11:00 AM
A TMC Arts Program Weekly Food Trucks
Grand Park - Olive Court
Indulge and treat your tastebuds to the diverse cuisine Los Angeles has to offer with Grand Park! Join us weekly Tuesdays - Thursdays at Grand Park’s Olive court right across the splash pad and discover new bites for all you foodie lovers.Indulge and treat your tastebuds to the diverse cuisine Los Angeles has to offer with Grand Park! Join us weekly Tuesdays - Thursdays at Grand Park’s Olive court right across the splash pad and discover new bites for all you foodie lovers.Show Less -
Fri Mar 17 6:00 PM
Sat Apr 22 6:00 PM
A TMC Arts Program Our Common Home
Jerry Moss Plaza
This interactive public art exhibition fuses art and technology to echo our troubled relationship with the planet. Four large-scale interactive pieces can be physically explored on the LED screens on Jerry Moss Plaza, while a fifth collective artw...Show More
This interactive public art exhibition fuses art and technology to echo our troubled relationship with the planet. Four large-scale interactive pieces can be physically explored on the LED screens on Jerry Moss Plaza, while a fifth collective artwork extends the experience online. Using face, hand and full body tracking, Our Common Home allows users to influence digital artworks in real time, while exploring how our individual decisions have a global impact.
Show LessFree
Learn MoreFree
-
Sun Apr 02 7:30 PM
LA Phil Herbie Hancock
Walt Disney Concert Hall
From paragon of Blue Note cool to space-age synth wizard, Herbie Hancock seems like he’s been everywhere and done everything—but every time he comes around, he’s got a new discovery to share. The LA Phil’s Creative Chair for Jazz graces the Walt D...Show More
From paragon of Blue Note cool to space-age synth wizard, Herbie Hancock seems like he’s been everywhere and done everything—but every time he comes around, he’s got a new discovery to share. The LA Phil’s Creative Chair for Jazz graces the Walt Disney Concert Hall stage once again, and the only thing you should expect is the unexpected.
Show Less -
Sat Mar 25 7:30 PM
Sun Apr 16 2:00 PM
LA Opera Pelléas and Mélisande
Dorothy Chandler Pavilion
Lost in the forest, a prince encounters an ethereal beauty with a mysterious past (and lush locks that would make Rapunzel envious). But after she's brought home to his family, she begins to grow increasingly close to his handsome younger brother....Show More
Lost in the forest, a prince encounters an ethereal beauty with a mysterious past (and lush locks that would make Rapunzel envious). But after she's brought home to his family, she begins to grow increasingly close to his handsome younger brother.
Debussy's sensual, exquisitely nuanced score casts a hypnotic spell, capturing an enigmatic dream world where forbidden love blossoms.
Conducted by James Conlon, this fascinating lyric masterpiece stars two riveting young performers, soprano Sydney Mancasola and baritone Will Liverman, as the doomed lovers, and Kyle Ketelsen as the jealous prince. The magnificent Susan Graham makes her role debut as Geneviève, mother of the two rival brothers, and the legendary bass Ferruccio Furlanetto returns as King Arkel, the family patriarch unable to grasp the tragedy unfolding before him.
Show Less -
Sat Apr 01 8:00 PM
LA Phil LA Phil New Music Group with Brad Lubman
Walt Disney Concert Hall
This Noon to Midnight anchoring all-Reich concert culminates with a remarkable collaboration between composer Steve Reich and artist Gerhard Richter. Richter will provide a computer-generated film of his painting 946-3. The r...Show More
This Noon to Midnight anchoring all-Reich concert culminates with a remarkable collaboration between composer Steve Reich and artist Gerhard Richter. Richter will provide a computer-generated film of his painting 946-3. The result: a stream of images interpreted by music and a musical composition visualized by film images.
Show Less -
Fri Mar 17 6:00 PM
Sat Apr 22 6:00 PM
A TMC Arts Program Our Common Home
Jerry Moss Plaza
This interactive public art exhibition fuses art and technology to echo our troubled relationship with the planet. Four large-scale interactive pieces can be physically explored on the LED screens on Jerry Moss Plaza, while a fifth collective artw...Show More
This interactive public art exhibition fuses art and technology to echo our troubled relationship with the planet. Four large-scale interactive pieces can be physically explored on the LED screens on Jerry Moss Plaza, while a fifth collective artwork extends the experience online. Using face, hand and full body tracking, Our Common Home allows users to influence digital artworks in real time, while exploring how our individual decisions have a global impact.
Show LessFree
Learn MoreFree
-
Wed Mar 08 8:00 PM
Sun Apr 09 6:30 PM
Center Theatre Group Twilight: Los Angeles, 1992
Mark Taper Forum
Nearly thirty years after the Los Angeles uprising following the Rodney King verdict, Twilight: Los Angeles, 1992 returns home to the Mark Taper Forum to be reimagined with an ensemble cast for a new generation of audiences. A powerful pi...Show More
Nearly thirty years after the Los Angeles uprising following the Rodney King verdict, Twilight: Los Angeles, 1992 returns home to the Mark Taper Forum to be reimagined with an ensemble cast for a new generation of audiences. A powerful piece of living record and one of the most important works in the history of the Taper, Twilight... is a stunning and seminal play that explores the devastating human impact of the five days of uprising following the Rodney King verdict. From nine months of over 300 interviews conducted during the year following the uprising, playwright and scholar Anna Deavere Smith crafted a play that goes directly to the heart of the issues of race and class. Twilight... offers stark insight into the complex and pressing social, economic, and political issues that fueled the flames in the wake of the verdict and ignited a conversation about policing and race that continues today. Originally commissioned by and produced at the Mark Taper Forum, this 30th Anniversary Production is set to captivate our city once again.
Show Less -
Sat Apr 01 12:00 PM
A TMC Arts Program: Arts Grown L.A. Sorensen Park and The Music Center Presents Los Cambalache
Sorensen Park, Whittier, CA
Experience the arts in your local community! Our Arts Grown L.A. program brings Music Center Performing Artists to communities and libraries all over L.A. County.
Experience the arts in your local community! Our Arts Grown L.A. program brings Music Center Performing Artists to communities and libraries all over L.A. County.
Show LessFree
Learn MoreFree
-
Tue Jan 24 11:00 AM
Thu Jun 29 11:00 AM
A TMC Arts Program Weekly Food Trucks
Grand Park - Olive Court
Indulge and treat your tastebuds to the diverse cuisine Los Angeles has to offer with Grand Park! Join us weekly Tuesdays - Thursdays at Grand Park’s Olive court right across the splash pad and discover new bites for all you foodie lovers.Indulge and treat your tastebuds to the diverse cuisine Los Angeles has to offer with Grand Park! Join us weekly Tuesdays - Thursdays at Grand Park’s Olive court right across the splash pad and discover new bites for all you foodie lovers.Show Less
Prohibited Items and Activities on Jerry Moss Plaza
For the safety and enjoyment of all guests who visit Jerry Moss Plaza, please note that the following items and activities are prohibited.
- Bathing in pools or fountain
- Camping
- Damage to plants or property
- Entering fountain pools at the Mark Taper Forum
- Feeding the birds
- Explosives
- Firearms
- Fires
- Lawn umbrellas
- Littering (including pet waste)
- Narcotics or illegal drugs
- Overnight lodging
- Outside alcohol
- Outside furniture
- Professional-grade photo and video equipment, including but not limited to: tripods, drones, microphones, cameras, lights, reflectors, etc.
- Public intoxication
- Electric scooters
- Rollerblading
- Skateboarding
- Smoking (including vapes) except in designated smoking areas
- Tents
- Tripods
- Unauthorized driving or parking
- Unauthorized photo or video shoots
- Unauthorized solicitation
- Unauthorized vending
- Unleashed animals
- Weapons