SoCal Minds

Hot stuff around town to cut the chill and gloom

From Art Center College of Design, Japanese American National Museum, the Autry, Skirball & UCLA

With the gloom and a bit of a chill descending on the metropolis just before the weekend, it may be hard to get some gas in the old tank to get up and go partake of activites. But there's plenty, including the annual Car Classic in Pasadena, a celebration not only of the automobile but also its underlying technology and especially the care, craft, thinking and design that goes into a great vehicle. Of course education itself can take some curious twists, as a scholar will explore in a converation about the ignominious history of American Indian boarding schools, which will be part of a busy Saturday in Griffith Park, where there also will be a big show and sale of vintage American Indian baskets. In Little Tokyo, they'll be rockin', jammin' and takin' in lots of jazzy sounds as the Asian American Music Festival blows into town today and Saturday, when docents will launch a two-day class on the comrehensive history of Japanese Americans. And by the way, Caldecott-winning author Allen Say (aka James Allen Koichi Moriwaki Seii) will be launching, selling and signing 'Boy in the Garden,' his latest, beautiful looking book for kids on Sunday in Little Tokyo. This might be a good weekend to scoot over to the Westside to catch up and maybe even contribute to the global 1000 Journals project and exhibition, a unique opportunity to enjoy and share outstanding examples of quality writing, art, poety and other stuff shared in a special, personal medium. And for thos who insist they can best rest when they're dead, here's a different look at how Korean shamans once escorted, danced and conducted ceremonies to get folks out of here.

On a sunnier, warmer weekend, lots of smart things to do

From Pepperdine, USC, Claremont Graduate University, the Autry, UCLA & the Getty

With the shivering gray weather promising to break, there's lots of reasons to get around the city, including:

• With all the sheer lunacy coming out of Florida and New York, the folks in Malibu at lunch time today offer a serious discussion on religious freedom in America with two legal scholars and an expert from the Nootbar Institute.

• The formal RSVP deadline is past but those interested may still want to ring to see if space is available still for a gathering today of policymakers, educators and public health advocates who all will be responding to a Trojan call for action on childhood obesity. The all-day summit will be conducted with the co-sponsorship of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, Congressional Black Caucus and Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus.

•  She's the darling of the Hollywood crowd, what with all the new attention she has garnered with an absolutely delightful, Emmy-winning portrayal of her astonishing life. And while there will be only a select rare standing-room-only spots, the author-professor-scholar Temple Grandin will offer her intriguing take on how 'Animals Make Us Human' at lunch time today.

• He not only became a noteworthy artist himself (his 'Garden for Sally' is shown at right) but he also deeply touched and affected his many students' lives and careers. So, besides announcing the receipt of a $1 million challenge grant to establish an endowed chair in his honor, the folks in Claremont, starting today and running through the weekend, will put on a whole program in memory of Roland Reiss, the late painter-professor-department chair and creative force.

• In the movie capital of the world, of course, there are showings going on all the time. But the folks in Griffith Park, tonight and Saturday night will offer a spotlight to some distinctive films as part of the American Indian Film Institute Film Festival with plenty of premiers of shorts (such as 'Shi-shi-etko,' a still from which is shown at right) and features by and about Native Americans. And it will be a weekend away, but set that home recording system now, as Turner Classic Movies formally recognizes the key industry role played by the Bruins' film and television archive with a back-to-back run of 13 films restored by the institution's talented artisans.

• Though tickets have already largely been snapped up, a few still are trickling out for the distinctive opportunity to see major acting talent take on theatrical classics in the unique setting of the Getty Villa. What's it like for the likes of Carey Perloff, Olympia Dukakis, Manoel Felciano, Bonfire Madigan Shive and Pamela Reed  to do Sophocles' 'Elektra' outdoors with a live audience?

L.A. revises, revisits ill-fated legacy with David Siqueiros

From the Getty, the Autry and MOLAA

The pain-staking claw-back of the shameful Los Angeles legacy of a member of Los Tres Grande has taken another step forward this week, even as the works of the famed revolutionary artist David Siqueiros get an ample local spotlight. Siqueiros, who had been ejected from Mexico for his rebellious activity there, arrived in Los Angeles to teach at the Chouinard art school and to labor on three pictures for exhibition locally. He also was commissioned by local civic leaders to create an Olvera Street mural of the sort that would bring he, Diego Rivera and Jose Clemente Orozco international acclaim as founders of a modern Mexican art movement. But Siqueiros' 'America Tropical,' with its depiction of a crucified Mexican Indian, an American eagle and two revolutionary soldiers, inflamed already red-hot sentiments in L.A. about race, immigration and activism; the work, with its artistic advances in technique, was ordered painted over, eventually whitewashed and forgotten until the rise of the Chicano movement in the 1960s. The folks from the Westside powerhouse on the hill have put up millions and their world-renowned conservators' skill to work with the city of Los Angeles, which is also investing millions, to let the public see the process and the repaired Siqueiros, with a step in that effort marked this week in civic ceremonies. Meantime, the folks in Griffith Park and in Long Beach will open major exhibitions dedicated to Siqueiros, America Tropical and his talents, too, as a landscape painter. As blog postings from the park note, the artist holds an iconic role for Latinos in the city, inspiring an activist collector with a running show in Eagle Rock and inspiring a civil rights community figure to consider not only Siqueiros' creative capacity but also his life as a force for social reform.

Photos: Siqueiros, l, in 1971 by Luis Garza; assistant Robert Bredecio in front of 'America Tropical' before whitewashing

The difficult task of conserving, as opposed to restoring, a shunned mural masterwork

In Long Beach, a weekend opening for exhibit of muralist's formidable landscapes

In Griffith Park, an exhibit to focus on 'censorship defied' by a Los Tres member in L.A.

How an Eagle Rock gallery owner, collector 'keeps faith' in a giant of Mexican art

Legal activist links art, censorship, repression and drive for social justice

For other Latino muralists, scandal of neglect, decay can pose challenges, too

With summer fleeting, many weekend diversions for all

From Skirball, UCLA, Pacific Asia, LACMA & the Autry

I know, I know, I know, I know, I know (repeat 26 times, please) ... can't leave the fun things alone, there are too many diversions around town this weekend, including:

• In Westwood, Korean artistic and cultural creations get a spotlight with the opening Sunday of two free exhibitions, one devoted to contemporary ceramics from noteworthy artisans and the other to joyful figurines of clowns, tigers, acrobats and other characters, all of which are used to adorn coffins. Both displays are free and offer insights, curators say, into Korean life -- the ceramics illustrating a creative 'liveliness' even in the approach to every day objects and the dolls expressing both a desire for joy in the next world while appreciating the transience of this existence. And, by the way, in the Mid-Wilshire on Saturday afternoon, those who appreciate art from the peninsula may wish to take in a traditional Buddhist sutra painting lecture and demonstration.

Contemporary ceramics, coffin dolls of Korea will go on display

• In Griffith Park, those who set out Saturday can take in a two-fer, stopping by to see the 'How the West Was Worn .. by Michael Jackson Exhibit, while also absorbing multiple presentations that deal with 'Empowering Women: Art and Commerce.' This event will feature basket weavers, women artists from a collective, the signing of a book on how 1800s women got by on only a little, a panel discussion on women leaders and how they're transforming California and an appearance by 'Spirit Vessel' creator and teacher Nadiya Littlewarrior.

• With summer fleeting and the heat lessening some, here's two chances to don some different duds and to step out and into some different aesthetics. In Pasadena tonight, put on those cheongsams, qi pao, ao dai, sari, hanbok and sashay over to an 'Evening in 1930s China,' an event connected with the exhibition, 'China Modern: Designing Pouplar Culture,' for which there will be a special Saturday afternoon tour with curator Kalim Winata (shown in photo at right). On Saturday, get into a whole different thang and garb to dash to the Mid-Wilshire for an evening event that celebrates the manliness of the art of Thomas Eakins and Catherine Opie with some cutting dashing, Victorian Industrial-inspired Ultimate Steampunk Outfits, assisted by the folks at Clockwork Coture.

• On the Westside, those who can skirt around the messy 405 Freeway construction will find a Saturday afternoon free screening of a film that may answer a lot of questions for fans of soul legend Bill Withers. 'Still Bill' interviews an all-star array of cultural figures to give context and perspective to the top-selling musical figure who overcame a childhood stutter, caught the barest few lucky breaks when he left the Navy and moved to L.A. to seek a recording career and went on to hit the charts with unforgettable songs like 'Ain't No Sunshine,' 'Lean on Me,' and 'Just the Two of Us.' And, then, because he wanted a real family life, Withers walked away from it all. What was that all about?

What happened to stellar soul career of iconic musician Bill Withers? 

Click here for the official Withers site

In Griffith Park, an exhibit pays homage to Michael Jackson

From the Autry

Well, it's yippp ti yi yay, moon-walking aficionados and fans of the King of Pop. Over at the historical palace that cowboy entertainer Gene Autry helped to build, they've put up an exhibit of memorabilia of the late Michael Jackson, a collection amassed over the years by designers Dennis Tompkins and Michael Bush. How the garb and gear of the rock-'n'-pop prince -- including his legendary glittery glove, famous boots, noteworthy spectacles and other materials -- got collected and got over to Griffith Park is a backstory in itself. And lest anyone doubt why MJ might be a suitable spotlight personality for an institution focused on the West, well, these gyrations to 'Cisco Kid' offer an amusing clue or two.

Click here for information on 'How the West Was Worn by .. Michael Jackson'

Autry's 'Trading Posts' blog tells how MJ collection moon-walked to Griffith Park

Museum will celebrate 'King of Pop' birthday Aug. 29

Friday light, looking toward a weekend with lots to offer

From Pacific Asia Museum, the Japanese American National Museum, the Getty & the Autry

Whoa, this remarkable cool, comfortable SoCal summer can't last forever, can it? While SoCal Minds will enjoy the clime with a Friday lite posting, take it, too, as a sign for one and all to get out and keep moving around town to take in an array of mind-extending stuff, including:

• In Pasadena, the highly cultivated eye of curator Kalim Winata turns from books on what's made in India and China to how popular culture emerged in 'China Modern,' an exploration and exhibit that opens Friday. Traveling from the late Qing through Shanghai and all about the People's Republic, the show offers a graphic look at how the historic figures like Mao and modern southern beauties get mashed-up to popularize everything from politics to pomades.

How popular culture gets designed in 'China Modern'

• In Little Tokyo, it will be a busy weekend as the museum moves nearer to marking its 25th anniversary, partly by inviting some key players on Saturday to recall how an iconic exhibit got put together. The remembrances of the volunteers who recovered the intern barracks from the desolation and decay of their Heart Mountain, Wyo., site, then will be followed on Sunday by a paid-event that celebrates a century of good eating in the neighborhood, with a tour and tasting of noteworthy eateries.

Click here and scroll down, through for this weekend's events

• It may be aptly provocative in titular fashion. And certainly with the esteemed scholar involved it won't be a case of headline silliness. But the audience for the free Sunday talk up on the hill simply will have to decide if this question gets answered: Why did Italian artists draw? Go explore how the simple presence paper propelled the profound Renaissance revolution in art in the hands of titans such as Michaelangelo, Mantegna, DaVinci and Titian; space is limited, reservations are required. That's a 1518 Pontormo study shown on the right, by the way.

Click here to learn more about, rsvp for talk on 'Why Italian Artists Drew'

• In Griffith Park, courtesy of the folks at Bank of America, this will be a free museum weekend and a perfect chance finally to catch up Sunday afternoon with Laura Skandera Trombley, who not only serves as president of Pitzer College but also is one of the preeminent scholars on the legendary Mark Twain. She has appeared all across the region talking about her new book and its revelations about Samuel Clements' 'Other Woman.' Lots of attention to the famed western storyteller on this, the centennial of his death, including the much anticipated, upcoming release of the autobiography whose publication he barred until long after he was gone.

Click here for more info on Mark Twain lecture

Prime time for fans of Twain, football, Roy Rogers

From ALOUD, CalArts & the Autry

Let's do a quick dash through some literary, artistic and collectibles matters of note around the area: For those who can't get enough dish about one of America's greatest homespun writing master, Laura Skandera Trombley, president of Pitzer and one of the preeminent scholars on the topic, will take on the dark, troubled last years of Mark Twain in a free talk downtown at 7 tonight; space is limited and reservations are required. For those Lakers, Dodgers, Trojans or other sports nuts who want another artistic view of the athletic world, the folks in Valencia provide an excellent shout-out for prominent alum Catherine Opie and her now open LACMA exhibit on high school football (as exemplified by 'Josh, 2007,' shown at right, from the Eugene Sadovoy Collection). And lastly, while lots of attention got paid to the fate of the taxidermied specimen of horse-flesh known as Trigger, the folks over in Griffith Park ay they just couldn't pass up nabbing stuff at a recent auction of Roy Rogers memorabilia and they're posting about it and the legendary cowboy on their blog.  

In Griffith Park, a big weekend for Navajo rug collectors

 From the Autry

Who in the great West hasn't gazed with admiration at a Native American tapestry and coveted a rug for possible addition at a fair price to a personal collection? The folks in Griffith Park this weekend will be conducting Navajo weaving demonstrations and an auction of pieces ranging in price from $100 to $10,000 as well as bringing in H. Jackson Clark, a third-generation trader and owner of Toh-Atin Gallery in Durango, Colo., to direct the sales and discuss his collecting specialty. To get an idea of what the weekend event will be like, there's a blog post here as well as an online opportunity to view auction items here and to get the full program skinny here. Among the items on display (but not for sale) will be a prize rug y weaver Mae Jim (shown at left).

Rocks, baby books, recordings: Oh, the stories they tell

From the Autry, UCLA & Pomona

Oh, the things that get collected, and, oh, my, what they tell us about ourselves:

• In Griffith Park, curators have combined the best of modernity and the recent past to give online audiences an earful. This may be the summer of Wagner and his Ring cycle with that masterwork dominating the cultural scene with its Los Angeles Opera performances and all the associated attention from seemingly every institution in town. But hearken back to a time when Los Angeles pioneer Charles Lummis still was around and inviting all kinds of swells to his Highland Park home and it is now possible to catch an online listen to an opera performance from the turn of the century. The wax cylinder recording is part of a cyber exhibit spotlighting some of the more than 900 captured rarities, most Native American or California Latino folk songs.

In Griffith Park, divas, Native American and Hispanic folk artists sing out from the past

Click here for Autry's online Opera Collection spotlight

• In Westwood, curators at the Bruin biomedical library looked twice at a 2003 donation from Barbara Rootenberg, an antiquarian bookseller with a specialty in the history of medicine. Included in her gift was the first of what would become a major collection of baby books, those parental ledgers, often only partially filled out, that were supposed to let moms and dads take note of and even to collect bits from key developmental moments of their growing little darlings' lives. The tomes, which the folks in Westwood found few collecting, and, thus, were able fast to amass more than 1,000 key volumes with relatively little fuss, already have given researchers important historical insights into everything from public health to advertising, marketing , art and sociology.

In Westwood, going ga-ga over historical bits contained in baby books

• In Pomona, researchers have combed piles of loose rocks hoping to unearth more surprising history about the heretofore unknown sophistication of Chumash Indian civilization on the Channel Islands, a legacy that now, perhaps, has a slightly more precarious existence even with the protections offered because the area is a federal park. The anthropologists always fear that campers and tourists unwittingly may disturb important archeological sites, if only because they root around and drag stuff off, sometimes just to show park rangers and to ask if the objects they find have any significance. Alas, that can destroy key evidence as to what experts are learning already about the Chumash and particularly their lives on Santa Cruz Island. A Pomona prof says the Native people, in the pre-Colombian era, played a huge role as regional, water-borne merchants. They became exceptionally savvy in their exchanges and those rocks on the isle, a flint-like substance called chert, became important for a reason: They were employed as drills and other tools, so the Chumash could work olivella shells from island beaches into an early currency; Santa Cruz, thus, was once an island mint -- and some of the Native people amassed real wealth as they measured it in days of yore, the prof says.

From Pomona, new finds about the trading, wealth of Channel Island Chumash

How to ensure that heirloom quilt won't wilt

From the Autry National Center of the West

Eeee, gadzooks, friends: Yes, grannie's prized heirloom quilt might look a little natty. But above all, don't just toss it into the ol' Maytag or send it to the corner dry cleaners. Curators in Griffith Park on Saturday will describe what should be done to properly conserve valued textiles -- handle them with care -- in a public program that is free with museum admission. They also will take participants through the galleries to discuss their painstaking work, which they have previewed and discuss on the Trading Posts blog, on pieces such as the prized Eurithe LaBarthe quilt, as shown at right in the Danielle Klebanow photo.   

Click here for more informatino on weekend textile consevation program