-Dunning Lecture Series, Pasadena Museum of History, Andrea Thabet on “Simon Says: How Norton Simon Transformed a Failing Art Museum into a Cultural Powerhouse” (Tuesday, September 12, 2017)
-HSSC Tour of Rancho Los Cerritos with a Garden Lunch (Saturday, September 30, 2017)
-Lecture, Pasadena Museum of History, At Home Series, Kenneth Marcus on “Musical Metropolis” (Tuesday, October 3, 2017)
-12th-annual Los Angeles Archives Bazaar, Doheny Memorial Library, University of Southern California (Saturday, October 21, 2017)
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Dunning Lecture Series, Pasadena Museum of History, Andrea Thabet on “Simon Says: How Norton Simon Transformed a Failing Art Museum into a Cultural Powerhouse” (Tuesday, September 12, 2017)
As part of the George A.V. Dunning Lecture Series, Dr. Andrea Thabet will discuss the construction and dissolution of the Pasadena Art Museum between 1969 and 1975, when business tycoon and art collector Norton Simon rescued the failing museum and transformed it into a West Coast cultural powerhouse. Founded as the Pasadena Art Institute in 1922, by 1954 the Institute had acquired modern art collections of tremendous importance and underwent a reinvention of sorts. Renamed the Pasadena Art Museum (PAM), plans were put in place to construct a new building at the corner of Colorado Boulevard and Orange Grove Avenue. PAM’s re-opening in 1969 was deemed a victory for modern artists carving out their own cultural spaces, yet by 1974, PAM was drowning in construction debts. After exhausting all other possibilities, museum trustees allowed Simon to assume financial and operational management of the museum. Combining his own extensive collection of Old Masters and Impressionist art with PAM’s collections, Simon revamped the museum’s policies, renovated the gallery space, and changed the name to the Norton Simon Museum within two years. Many in the bohemian art world saw Simon’s rescue of PAM as a hostile takeover that signaled the end of L.A.’s vibrant modern art movement. Without a doubt, it dealt a serious blow to the modern art scene for both collectors and artists. However, Simon’s decision to house his internationally renowned art collection on the West Coast in Los Angeles, would ultimately prove to be a cultural boon for the metropolis. The Norton Simon Museum is now widely considered one of Southern California’s cultural jewels, with one of the most “remarkable private art collections ever assembled.”
Registration information is available on the Pasadena History Museum website. Admission is $15 for HSSC and PMH Members and $20 General Admission.
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HSSC Tour of Rancho Los Cerritos with a Garden Lunch
Saturday, September 30, 2017
10:00 am-1:00 pm
The tour will include the house, the gardens, and unique opportunity to have lunch on the grounds in a private garden.
Rancho Los Cerritos is located at 4600 Virginia Rd, Long Beach, CA 90807.
The house tour of the historic Monterey-style adobe will be a one-hour walking tour which includes work areas like the mayordomo’s room and blacksmith shop as well as living spaces like the parlor, library, and master bedroom. The garden tour includes the vibrant gardens that grace the property today including trees that date back to the mid-19th century, as well as lush landscaping designed in the early 1930s by notable landscape architect Ralph Cornell. Then we will have lunch in the grounds. (Vegetarian option available, just email hssc@thehssc.org.)
The adobe ranch house, built in 1844, is the most important “artifact” at Rancho Los Cerritos, and the museum collections are aimed toward researching and sharing information about the house. For this reason, our collections include objects and archival materials that are directly associated with the Rancho and its owners, occupants and workers from prehistoric times through 1955.
Furnishings in the exhibit rooms depict the work and leisure of both the owners and workers on a 19th century ranch. Handcrafted and mass produced objects demonstrate the changes occurring in America’s Victorian years, as well as the transition from a rural landscape to populated cities. Using various Bixby family reminiscences, many of the rooms are furnished with furniture, glass, ceramics, metals and tools from the 1870s.
Tour registration (which includes lunch) is $35 for members of the HSSC, $45 for non-members, and $25 for students. HSSC members and students should email hssc@thehssc.org for the discount code. Go to https://hsscsept30tour.eventbrite.com to register. Registration deadline is Saturday, September 23, 2017, at 5pm. No on-site registrations. The tour is limited to 25. Refunds available until Saturday, September 23, 2017, at 5pm. You may also call 323-222-0546 to make reservations.
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Lecture, Pasadena Museum of History, At Home Series, Kenneth Marcus on “Musical Metropolis” (Tuesday, October 3, 2017)
HSSC President Kenneth Marcus will speak about “Musical Metropolis” at a Pasadena Museum of History (PMH) At Home Series member event.
The Pasadena Museum of History At Home series, which combines presentations by outstanding speakers with visits to architecturally unique homes. PMH Members are encouraged to enjoy one or more evenings of history, culture, food, and companionship with fellow PMH members. Programs begin at 6:00 pm. All programs take place at least in part outdoors. In case of rain, please consider your reservation a donation. Please note these events include walking and steps. Please no high heels. Tickets are $30 per person, per lecture. PMH members can reserve tickets on the PMH website or by calling 1.800-838-3006.
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12th-annual Los Angeles Archives Bazaar (Saturday, October 21, 2017)
Saturday, October 21, 2017
9:00am-5:00pm
Doheny Memorial Library, University of Southern California
Free Admission.
The HSSC will display artifacts from its collection and have material about upcoming events.
