Programs
The Hammer is a cultural center that contributes an assorted range of free public programs six evenings a week throughout the year, including lectures, readings, symposia, film screenings, musical performances, and other events. The Billy Wilder Theater opened at the Hammer Museum in late 2006, after a $5 million gift in 2004 from Audrey L. Wilder, the widow of Billy Wilder, enabled the museum to resume building a 300-seat theater left unfinished at Hammer's death. Its 2006 opening coincided with the centennial of Wilder's birth. The venue houses the Hammer's public programs and is also the new home of the UCLA Film & Television Archive's well-known cinematheque. The museum also hosts a dialog series called "Hammer Conversations." Participants have included the writers Joan Didion, Jonathan Lethem, George Saunders, the filmmaker Miranda July, comedians Jeff Garlin and Patton Oswalt, playwright and screenwriter David Mamet, magician Ricky Jay, artists Tom Morello and Sam Durant, and many others. Most notably, 2,000 people packed the museum's outdoor courtyard to hear Gore Vidal speak about the Iraq war the night before the bombing began in March 2003. National Public Radio affiliate KCET hosts a podcast of selected Hammer Conversation programs; the series is also syndicated through iTunes.
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