KCRW Summer Nights with CAAM (June 20)

Celebrate summer at a free, all-ages KCRW Summer Nights party with the California African American Museum (CAAM). Leave it all on the dance floor with live sets from KCRW DJ J.Rocc and guest DJ Monalisa, then step inside for after-hours access to CAAM’s exhibitions, including Willie Birch: Stories to Tell and Free and Queer: Black Californian Roots of Gay Liberation. Enhance your evening with food trucks and a beer garden. Grab your spot and join the party!

KCRW members get special perks all season long — think exclusive members-only events, food & drink discounts, dedicated lines, merch deals, and special surprises at events. Check back for more details soon!

The California African American Museum (CAAM) in Exposition Park explores the art, history, and culture of African Americans, with an emphasis on California and the West. In addition to presenting a dynamic slate of exhibitions and public programs, CAAM houses a permanent collection of more than five thousand works of art, artifacts, and historical documents, and a research library. Admission is free.

May 5 – October 21, 2026

The first-ever career retrospective of renowned artist Willie Birch, this exhibition brings together groundbreaking works from the early 1970s to the present that chronicle his unique vision of Black American life and the interconnected nature of global art forms. Born and raised in New Orleans and trained in Europe, Baltimore, and New York, Birch often speaks about “retentions,” a term he uses to describe evidence of one culture’s narratives and traditions within another. Throughout his career, Birch has explored particularly how African traditions have been retained in music, art, and culture in America as part of the Black experience and beyond.

The exhibition is organized chronologically and in three major sections, beginning with Birch’s work in the early 1970s, continuing through his shift toward papier-mâché in the 1980s, and closing with his more recent large-scale charcoal and acrylic works on paper. Through his work across decades, as an artist, community organizer, and cultural provocateur, Birch questions why certain things are retained and others not, unearthing uncomfortable truths about American identity, but also offering possibilities for greater cultural awareness, aesthetic innovation, and expansiveness in the stories we tell.