Public tours are now available (when there’s not a retreat for heavy-duty politicos in session), but tickets for a tour of the residence are extremely tough to snag: they’re issued on a first-come, first served basis on the 1st and 15th of each month, and sell out immediately. You can, however, always visit the beautiful new Frederick Fisher-designed visitor center (with newly landscaped gardens) during regular visiting hours, sans ticket.

For the grown-ups on your holiday list, may we recommend that ARTExpress is the perfect gift for the art and architecture enthusiasts in your life—it’s a gift that keeps giving all year long–and beyond. Give us your gift list, and we’ll do the rest! (Be sure to contact us by December 20th, if you need your gift to arrive by December 25th.)

To see what’s happening, visit the official website: pacificstandardtime.org. You can experience everything from the rise of printmaking in SoCal (Norton Simon Museum), to the amazing life history and work of the iconic Beatrice Wood (Santa Monica Museum).

In our next issue, ARTExpress will focus on Los Angeles and the SoCal scene, so as you visit and re-visit these fabulous exhibitions and events you’ll be up-to-the-minute on where best to dine, stay, shop, and more . . . Stay tuned!

The one Canada is excited about is, of all things, an ice-fishing warming hut! Now that you’ve seen Frank Gehry’s Guggenheim in Bilbao, and enjoyed a concert or two at his famed Disney Hall, it’s time to grab your fishing gear and set out for Winnipeg. After an open call for submissions was announced this month, Gehry threw his hat into the ring, and will now join four others in designing $10,000 shacks for Warming Huts v.2012: An Art + Architecture Competition on Ice, organized by Manitoba’s Forks North Portage Partnership. Each team will consist of architects and/or landscape architects who will be paired with an artist. (Don’t forget your down parka!)

Another amazing new project sits quietly tucked in the French countryside, below Le Corbusier’s famous chapel at Ronchamp. It’s Renzo Piano’s new convent, created for the Poor Clare Sisters, and it was a long fought, controversial addition to the landscape. The beautiful result is respectful of both the environment and Le Corbusier’s national monument.

Serving as the new home base for the Iceland Symphony Orchestra and the Icelandic Opera, Harpa’s upcoming schedule also accommodates everything from a special Björk performance, to a q&a with filmmaker Kevin Smith.  Its award-winning design (World Architecture Community)  features a multi-faceted glass facade, which is not only stunningly beautiful, but also provides plenty of natural interior lighting by day; at night, a system of LED lights makes the whole thing positively glow.  Designed by Henning Larsen Architects (with renowned artist Olafur Eliasson and Artec), the building is drawing so many visitors — above and beyond the performing arts crowd — that reservations at upscale on-site restaurant Kolabrautin are already hard to come by.  And keep in mind that this is all just leading up to the gala opening which was unfolding, literally, as we were writing this — on August 20th!

If your travel itinerary is a bit later than August, not to fear — there’s still plenty to see here, including the spectacularly renovated National Museum (47-million pounds worth of work, by the way).  The Victorian building, originally designed in the flamboyant style of the Crystal Palace, was given a thorough makeover by Scottish architect Gareth Hoskins, with acclaimed exhibition designer Ralph Appelbaum.  The stunning centerpiece is the Grand Gallery, four-stories high, with over 800 animal artifacts — suspended from wires and flying over visitors’ heads!  It’s dizzying fun hovering over a grounded, life-size cast of a Tyrannosaurus Rex, and it’s Britain’s single largest museum installation, for now.

Three other hot tips for cool Edinburgh: First, catch new sculpture (plus drawings) by Tony Cragg at the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art, through November 6.  Also, as you’re out sight-seeing, be sure to look down — especially if you’re near Waverly Station and climbing the “Scotsman Steps” — they’ve been given an artistic makeover in time for the Festival.  Italian artist Martin Creed (commissioned by the Fruitmarket Gallery) has transformed the once dingy stairs with layers of gorgeous marble of varying tints.  Work No. 1059, as it’s called, is being singled out as one of the standout “exhibitions” in town.  Finally, be sure to visit Inverleith House, at the Royal Botanic Garden.  On view now: Robert Rauschenberg: Botanic Vaudeville, and, outdoors, find Thomas Houseago: The Beat of the Show (large scale outdoor sculpture).

His own beautiful, painterly (did we expect anything else?) photographs can currently be seen on exhibit at the Lambert Collection in Avignon, France and, of course, in Houston; check out the Menil Collection’s gallery.  Designed by Renzo Piano, this amazing Menil “warehouse” is devoted solely to Twombly’s work.