Datebook: Events, classes, exhibits for the week ahead

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We’ve listed select home and garden events below. Suggest your own via reader comments. Submissions must be fewer than 75 words and must be for one-time events with legitimate value to other readers. No store promotions and no frivolous links, please. L.A. at Home staff will determine which submissions will be made public, but we won’t edit the comments.

Monday: Los Angeles architect Frank Gehry, shown above at Disney Hall, lectures as part of the UCLA Architecture and Urban Design ‘Beyond the Fringe’ series. 6:30 p.m. Free; seating is first come, first served. Parking available in Lot 3 for $10. Broad Art Center Auditorium, UCLA. (310) 267-4704.

Wednesday: Chris Paine will talk about how he transformed a Midcentury Modern home into Marrakesh House, a model for sustainable living, at the Wise Power Expo. Kevin O’Donnell will present part of Al Gore’s Climate Project, Nancy Barb will offer a blueprint on how to get off coal and André Villasenor will discuss what it means to become an EPA Green Power Community. 6:30 p.m. Free. Windward School, 11350 Palms Ave., Mar Vista.

Thursday: Lili Singer lecture series continues with a field trip to Nuccio’s Nurseries in Altadena and a nearby lush, drought-tolerant residential garden. Reservations required. 9:30 a.m. to noon. Organized by Los Angeles County Arboretum & Botanic Garden. $20. (626) 821-4623.

Friday through Sunday: More than 250 artists including ceramists and furniture makers will be represented at the juried Contemporary Crafts Market. 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Santa Monica Civic Auditorium, 1855 Main St. $8. (310) 285-3655.

Saturday and Sunday: Thousands of California plants will be for sale at the Grow Native Nursery at Rancho Santa Ana Botanic Garden. 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Sunday. Free. 1500 N. College Ave., Claremont. (909) 625-8767.

Saturday: Jenna Didier, Materials & Applications founder and principal of Fountainhead Design, presents the free lecture “Rainwater Catchment for Fun and Profit.” 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Demonstration follows. Silver Lake branch of the L.A. Public Library, 2411 Glendale Blvd., Los Angeles. (323) 739-4668.

Saturday: As Part of the Sidney D. Gamble Lecture Series, Gamble House curator Anne Mallet will lecture on “Patterns for a Movement: The Arts & Crafts in England and Scotland.” 4 p.m. $12. Ahmanson Auditorium, Art Center College of Design, 1700 Lida St., Pasadena. (626) 793-3334.

Saturday: Descanso Gardens celebrates Japanese arts, crafts and culture at its annual Japanese Garden Festival. 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. Included in regular Descanso admission of $3 to $8. 1418 Descanso Drive, La Cañada Flintridge. (818) 949-4200.

Sunday: Performance and installations will be featured in the all-day “Let Them Eat LACMA” event held in conjunction with the closing of “EatLACMA.” Fish tacos from the Food Pyramid by Didier Hess will be served from 5 to 6 p.m. followed by the puppet show “Tilapia Island, the End.” Noon to 8 p.m. Included in general admission of $10 to $15; children free. Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 5905 Wilshire Blvd., Los Angeles. (323) 857-6000.

ONGOING

Brown Bag Tuesdays: The Gamble House, the Arts and Crafts landmark designed by Charles and Henry Greene, continues a weekly lunch program. Visitors can picnic on the rear lawn or terrace of the 1908 estate between 11:30 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. each Tuesday. Twenty-minute docent-led tours will be given at 12:15 and 12:45 p.m. for $5. 4 Westmoreland Place, Pasadena; (626) 793-3334. Reservations: (626) 449-4178.

Coy Howard: “From Hand to Mouse, From Furniture to Architecture,” the first in a two-part exhibition by the Southern California Institute of Architecture’s faculty member Coy Howard. Show features 50 images of Howard’s speculative architectural projects and a selection of furniture designs. 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily through Sunday. SCI-Arc Gallery, 960 E. 3rd St., Los Angeles.

Installation: “Light Frames,” an outdoor installation by Los Angeles architect Gail Peter Borden, consists of a hand-assembled dome and an enclosed “chapel” built out of translucent vinyl plastic. 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily through mid-March. Free. Materials & Applications, 1619 Silver Lake Blvd., Los Angeles. (323) 739-4668.

Spider Pavilion: Tickets for the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County’s annual attraction are timed for admission at half-hour intervals. Open daily from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., with the last tickets sold for 4:30 p.m., through Sunday. $1 to $3. 900 Exposition Blvd., Los Angeles. (213) 763-DINO.

— Lisa Boone Photo credits: Los Angeles Times