On August 7th, Downtown L.A.’s The Hive Gallery threw another shindig, and I, as a patron of the arts, made it my absolute duty to attend. This time, it was their third-annual “Bee-Rotica” show with “Erotrospective: The Best of Bluegirl.” Sounds pretty titillating, right?

I always jump at the chance to go to the Hive because I know that they can put on a killer opening, and this night didn’t disappoint. On Saturday, July 3rd, The Hive Gallery hosted a group show featuring the work of Van Saro, Leyla Akdogan, L. Croskey, Jun Duras, Gaia Bracco, and Charles Swenson as well as their 26 resident artists. With so much art and the promise of live shows and burlesque dancers, how can you not have a good time?

On Father’s Day weekend, June 19th and 20th, Pasadena hosted their 18th annual Chalk Festival in which over 500 artists from across Southern California came together to create 175 chalk murals on Paseo Colorado. If that sounds impressive, that’s because it was; the artists actually made history by setting the Guinness World Record for the Largest Display of Chalk Pavement Art. That involves a lot of organization, and a lot of chalk.

In honor of the upcoming E3 Expo, on June 15th, The Hive hosted B3, a video game-themed show that featured their 26 resident artists, 70 group show artists, and 10 performances. Being a slight video game nerd myself, I was particularly intrigued with the prospect of an entire exhibition dedicated to gaming’s pop cultural influence. I wasn’t disappointed; The Hive turned into a happening, game-friendly place, where underground art lovers and gaming nerds could mingle, drink, and play Mortal Kombat.

In honor of ForYourArt’s Public Art Party in Beverly Hills, Sprinkles was giving out free red velvet cupcakes to those in the know. And you were going to need that sugar rush if you wanted to explore this expansive art-fest to enjoy the public art of Beverly Hills, like Roxy Paine’s Erratic (also known as that giant steel boulder on Santa Monica), up close.