The J. Paul Getty Museum presents The Making of a Medieval Manuscript, an exhibition examining how manuscripts were produced in Europe and the Mediterranean region during the medieval period from about 500 to 1500. 

The exhibition opens on Tuesday, Aug. 4, and continues until March 14, 2027, at the Getty Center and will feature Christian manuscripts from Europe, Armenia, and Ethiopia, as well as objects of Jewish and Muslim origin.

“The exhibit explores the creation of medieval manuscripts, from parchment making, writing, and illuminating to the final binding, and will include samples of the tools and materials used for each phase of production.

The manuscript-making process will be examined from start to finish, beginning with specially treated animal skins (parchment). Animal pelts, typically from calves, sheep, or goats, were soaked in a caustic lime solution to loosen and remove fur, cleaned with water and stretched on a wooden frame, while a knife with a curved blade was used to scrape the surface until the desired thinness was achieved. An example of the lengths taken to smooth the parchment surface can be seen in a manuscript containing chess problems, a work written and painted on parchment made from calfskin where traces of hair follicles have been removed through laborious scraping and sanding.

The Getty

“Saint Luke” from Irmengard Codex, shortly after 1053, German Tempera colors, gold, and ink on parchment (Courtesy The  Getty Museum)

The Long Beach Creative Group is holding an open call for Off The Wall: Three-Dimensional Art.  

Off The Wall is an exhibition focused on three-dimensional art of all kinds, including, but not limited to, sculpture, assemblage, ceramics, and fiber arts. It includes art that embodies the great diversity of techniques, materials, and concepts driving contemporary 3D art.  The exhibition will be presented in the Rod Briggs Gallery, located at 2221 E Broadway in Long Beach, from Saturday, Oct. 3 through Saturday, Nov. 14.

This exhibition was proposed by Walter Focht, who, along with Michael Biagotti and Bernard J Vyzga Jr, will serve as jurors. The deadline for submissions is Sunday, Aug. 30th.

If artists haven’t already created a free CaFe profile, they will need to do so before they can submit work. There’s a $20 submission fee.  You can find requirements and submission criteria here. 

The Getty

Gentle Giants (Courtesy Adams Square Mini Park Gas Station)

Gentle Giants by Raphaele Cohen-Bacry is on display at the Adams Square Mini Park Gas Station now through  Friday, Oct.  2, and presents a gathering of tall, hand-formed characters who share the space with a calm, watchful presence. 

Each giant stands as part of a loose family, connected not by a single story but by a shared spirit. Accompanying the giants are smaller, lighter forms, suggestive of birds, scattered throughout the gas station. T

Together, the figures and birds create a gentle ecosystem, one that feels alive but unhurried.  Gentle Giants offers an experience rooted in reassurance and imagination. The exhibit invites children and adults alike to encounter scale with ease, to find friendliness in the unfamiliar, and to see how even the simplest materials can hold a sense of magic.

The suspended installation is made up of collaged paper figures all created from black paper and painted fragments. Collage guides Cohen-Bacry’s work as both technique and philosophy – embracing difference, reclaiming discarded materials, and building forms that feel vulnerable yet resilient.

The Getty

Courtesy of Adams Square Mini Park Gas Station