2012 preview: The year in arts and culture

New York’s Museum of Modern Art is taking on the foreclosure crisis. The project re-imagines suburbia, while focusing on single-family homes, long commutes and the evolving American Dream. The exhibit, running Feb. 15 to July 30, is a creative mind meld of MOMA curators, government agencies, architects and Columbia University.  (Joe Raedle / Getty Images)

Jerry Seinfeld is hitting the road for a national tour, stopping in cities like Baton Rouge, La., and Las Vegas. Look for the veteran comedian and “Seinfeld” star in Hollywood on March 16 and 17 for four of his signature stand-up shows at the Pantages Theater.  (Peter Foley / EPA)

Choreographer Benjamin Millepied, a former New York City Ballet principal dancer, is attempting to bring a new dance company called L.A. Dance Project to prominence in a city known for multiple distractions -- dance not being one of the major ones. An ambitious, two-year (for now) project, the company has already started to appropriate works, like one culled from the late choreographer Merce Cunningham, and hopes to meld the different arts media. “The way companies have been doing it doesn’t work anymore. To me, we’re going to try to do our best to do interesting things, gather interesting artists and do projects that will not only be presented on the proscenium stage, but we want to go to where the young audience is,” says Millepied.   (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)

This three-act opera is framed around a political power struggle, but at its heart it’s the story of a father attempting to connect with his daughter. The three-hour performance runs Feb. 11 through March 4, and features the famed Domingo in what is considered one of Verdi’s more demanding baritone roles for the first time in Los Angeles.  (AFP / Getty Images)

The Hammer Museum has joined forces with nonprofit gallery LAX Art to tap into the huge community of young artists living in L.A. A team of curators is planning a show June 23 to Sept. 2 featuring marquee artists and lesser-known up-and-comers. The exhibition will take place at both spaces as well as public sites in the area.  (Lori Shepler / Los Angeles Times)

“50 First Jokes,” a long-running, popular New York comedy show, is picking up some traction in L.A. Fifty L.A. comedians, including Maria Bamford (pictured), tell their very first joke of 2012. The 2nd annual L.A. show is Jan. 6 at the Downtown Independent theater.  (Marsaili McGrath / Getty Images)

Prominent on the calendar for the L.A. Phil is the world premiere of “The Gospel According to the Other Mary,” a new oratorio by composer John Adams, the Phil’s creative chair, in May and June 2012. The Pulitzer Prize-winning composer is perhaps best-known for his 2002 piece “ On the Transmigration of Souls.”   (Robert Durell / Los Angeles Times)