Who said L.A. is ugly?  At every turn we find flashes of art and beauty tucked in among the blight.

Take, for example, the LA><ART gallery’s billboard project.  Every month a new artist takes over the billboard above the Culver City gallery space.  In March, I caught an untitled work by Matt Lipps.  (Read about it here.)  I was visiting the gallery with my “Contemporary Art and Institutions in L.A.” class from Occidental College.

Untitled (Women's heads) by Matt Lipps on view above the LA><ART gallery. / Daina Beth Solomon

But you don’t have to be a student to be on the lookout for art – and other instances of beauty – in the city.

Last week, Hector Tobar wrote in the LA Times ten “guidelines” for being a “real Angeleno.”   He encouraged readers to add their own.  My contribution might be this:  Real Angelenos know the city isn’t a visual paradise.  But they know that beauty is everywhere, and keep their eyes – and mind – open to finding it.  They know that acts of discovery and surprise make Los Angeles an incredible place to live.