Los Angeles County Museum Of Art

When John Baldessari's retrospective "Pure Beauty" opens at the L.A. County Museum of Art on June 27, expect to see several generations of artists on hand for the opening-week events. For as long as he has been making art in Los Angeles, Baldessari has also been, in a less tangible way, making artists: offering suggestions, encouragement and above all conversation to students eager to follow in his footsteps by living a life of art. Follow they did, with their own gallery shows, museum shows, teaching gigs and some commercial successes that have at times even surpassed their teacher's.

Elizabeth Taylor is scheduled to be on hand as one of the hosts of the Los Angeles premiere of "Ultrasuede: In Search of Halston," a documentary about the life and career of the influential fashion designer Roy Halston Frowick. She was among the celebrities who wore his creations in the '60s and '70s. The screening, which is open to the public, is being held Wednesday at 6:30 p.m. at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art in conjunction with the museum's costume council. A reception will follow the screening.

In time to correspond with the L.A. Opera's presentation of Richard Wagner's "Ring" cycle, this LACMA exhibition "Myths, Legends and Cultural Renewal: Wagner's Sources" will explore the Germanic myths, folk tales and legends that inspired Wagner, Goethe, the Brothers Grimm and other Germanic artists. Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 5905 Wilshire Blvd. $12. Noon to 8 p.m. Thursday; Noon to 9 p.m. Friday; 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. (323) 857-6000; http://www.lacma.org.

Of all the phrases crafted by the pugnaciously free-thinking movie critic Manny Farber, none has proved more time-resistant than his distinction between "white elephant art" and "termite art." The former, Farber stated in an influential 1962 essay, is self-important, over-controlled, pseudo-profound and more concerned with winning prizes and wowing critics than with engaging audiences. In this camp, Farber placed the movies of such '60s European art-house idols as Michelangelo Antonioni, François Truffaut, Tony Richardson and other directors whose method was to "pin the viewer to the wall and slug him with wet towels of artiness and significance."

The Los Angeles County Museum of Art is interested in stepping into the breach as curator and conservator of the Watts Towers starting this summer as a severe budget crisis saps the city of Los Angeles' ability to continue those functions. Olga Garay, executive director of L.A.'s Department of Cultural Affairs, said she had "a very encouraging meeting" Monday with two top museum officials, LACMA President Melody Kanschat and general counsel Fredric Goldstein, over enlisting the museum's know-how and fundraising connections on behalf of a national historic landmark that's owned by the state and operated and maintained by the city.

According to the sacraments of global cinema, the Russian director Andrei Tarkovsky was a kind of latter-day saint of the big screen. Exiled from his homeland, monastically devoted to his craft, he was often misunderstood by audiences baffled by his glacial panning shots and soulful effusions. His films were more exalted than actually seen, more slavishly imitated than truly assimilated. Susan Sontag cited him as a favorite filmmaker. George Clooney and Steven Soderbergh toasted his spirit with their 2002 remake of his 1972 "Solaris," itself a homage to "2001: A Space Odyssey."

Never underestimate the power of Martin Scorsese to galvanize a room full of movie buffs. The director drew cheers and standing ovations when he appeared Wednesday evening at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art to discuss the fate of the institution's imperiled weekend film program. The discussion with LACMA director Michael Govan covered film-preservation and museum topics. But many attendees expressed frustration over the lack of a clear statement about the 40-year-old screening series, which the museum has said would end in June.

The Los Angeles County Museum of Art saw its investment portfolio lose nearly a quarter of its value during its 2008-09 fiscal year, which coincided with the worst worldwide financial debacle since the Great Depression. The $254.7-million pile of cash and investments shrank to $196 million, a 23% drop, according to figures in the audited financial statements that LACMA recently posted on its website. The most worrisome development for LACMA -- as for many nonprofits -- has been the recession's effect on fundraising.

There are movie stars and then there are movie stars -- performers who have such a unique and often indescribable quality that their very name connotes the magic of the cinema. Audrey Hepburn was definitely a movie star . "Everybody loves Audrey," says Ian Birnie, director of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art's film department. "No one ever looked or sounded like Audrey Hepburn -- not even remotely. She stood in complete opposition to the '50s bombshell women -- the Marilyns, the Jane Russells and Janet Leighs."