Thursday March 29 to Wednesday April 4, 2001
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ARLIS/NA
29th Annual Conference Thursday March 29 to Wednesday April 4, 2001 |
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About Los Angeles ... weather | attractions | dance, music & theater | musuems | nature | uniquely LA
Los Angeles, California
"Los Angeles is the metropolitan equivalent of an Escher staircase. No one can say for sure where it begins or ends. . . .a place with nine area codes and seventeen freeways, a city [actually many cities] so large it can have good and bad weather simultaneously." (Lee Green, American Way Magazine, June 1999)
This is true. But lucky you, who are coming to the ARLIS/NA 2001 conference, you don’t have to drive the freeways--unless you want to. And with our absolute weather guarantee (see L.A. Weather, below), what’ve you got to lose? You are going to see Los Angeles, El Pueblo de Nuestra Senora la Reina de Los Angeles de Porciuncula, where it began 220 years ago and, if you drive 27 miles on Sunset Blvd., where it ends. (This is a really good thing to do–a driving trip west on Sunset takes you through layers of history and culture from Olvera St. downtown through the Strip in West Hollywood, past bucolic UCLA, the mansions of Bel Air, the Self-Realization Fellowship, and then--the Pacific Ocean.) But if you are up for it, the ARLIS conference can take you south to the Watts Towers, east to East L.A., northeast to Pasadena, northwest to the Getty Center, and west to Santa Monica as well.
Consider this: simply by traveling to downtown L.A., you will experience great architecture, world-class libraries and museums, and a dazzling array of walkable (yes!) neighborhoods: El Pueblo Historic Monument & Olvera Street, Little Toyko, Chinatown, Pershing Square, Bunker Hill, the Garment District, and the Music Center. Most of these are within walking distance of the hotel, but if you get footsore, the Dash (25 cents) is a downtown shuttle, running every 5-15 minutes. And downtown L.A. now has both the Metro Rail with art environments in every station ($4.7 billion can get you subways AND art) and Angels Flight–our twin 100-year-old restored funiculars.
If you haven’t been to L.A. since 1985 (the 13th conference), or maybe even 1977 (the 5th), we have a few surprises in store. The Getty Center--you know about that (Richard Meier, 1997), but wait ‘til you stand there on a travertine terrace, gazing at once at the ocean, the mountains, and downtown L.A.. Then there’s the L.A. County Museum of Art, almost totally rebuilt starting in 1986 with the Anderson Wing (Hardy Holzman Pfeiffer), the Japanese Pavilion in 1988 (Bruce Goff/Bart Prince), the addition of the former May Company Department Store (now LACMA West) in 1999, and in 2000 the renovated Ahmanson (permanent collection) Wing.
And downtown: You saw Frank Gehry’s Temporary Contemporary in 1985 (still there, renamed the Geffen Contemporary); a plaza now connects it to the beautiful new Pavilion of the Japanese American National Museum (Gyo Obata, 1999) on the edge of Little Tokyo. Take the Angels Flight funicular up to Arata Isozaki’s (1986) glowing red sandstone Museum of Contemporary Art. Or take Lawrence Halprin’s (1990) Bunker Hill Steps (something like the Spanish Steps–really!) from the amazing L.A. Public Library, which has married its historic 1926 Bertram Goodhue building to a dramatic 1993 Hardy Holzman Pfeiffer addition. Then there’s the Latino Museum, the California Science Museum, the California African American Museum, and--further afield--the Autry Museum, the Museum of Jurassic Technology, the Museum of Tolerance. . . well, you get the idea.
Say, did you hear . . . there are now more museums in Los Angeles than any other city in the world?!!
We absolutely guarantee sun for most every day of our conference! Seriously, weather in the Los Angeles area at the end of March and the beginning of April is invariably sunny with temperatures in the mid-60s to low 70s. Average precipitation in April is 1.07". Of course a "Santa Ana," with winds blowing off the desert, could bring the temps up, or unseasonable storms from the north might cause them to drop. But neither of these scenarios is likely. Plan on bringing a light jacket or sweater for evenings, when temps may fall into the low to mid 60s, and for potentially chilly hotel meeting rooms.
This list of highlights represents only a taste of the many attractions available for visitors. Additional information on Los Angeles attractions and tours will be supplied at the Registration Desk during the conference. A "Local Attractions Guidebook" emphasizing downtown L.A. restaurants and other facilities is being prepared and will be included in the conference packet you receive at the Registration Desk. See also the Los Angeles links on this web site.
Not included in most tourist guidebooks is the fact that L.A. is a mecca for aficionados of 20th century domestic architecture. In fact, the city motto is: "L.A., the City of Homes." When you get just a short distance away from the downtown area, look around, as treasures abound everywhere off the main boulevards. Best to have the latest edition of Gebhard and Winter’s A Guide to Architecture in Los Angeles & Southern California in your backpack.
Webmaster's note: there is also a web site for maps to the star's homes ...
About ten blocks north of the Wilshire Grand is the Music Center, home of the L.A. Opera, the L.A. Philharmonic, the Ahmanson Theater, and the Mark Taper Forum. Unless you’re staying past April 11, you’ll miss the opera (Don Pasquale is on April 11-29). But the Philharmonic will feature Esa-Pekka Salonen conducting Ravel’s Ma mere l’oye and both Sibelius’ and Beethoven’s 7th Symphony on March 28. Then on April 5 , 6, or 8, you can see Yakov Kreizberg conduct Bartok’s Two Rhapsodies for Violin and Orchestra and Dvorak’s Symphony No. 9. Call: (323) 850-2000 for tickets and further information.
Theatrer is also available at the Music Center March 29 — April 4 at the Mark Taper Forum where Alan Alda is scheduled to star in Tuva or Bust. And on April 1, the Ahmanson Theatre will showcase Peter Hall’s version of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet. Call: (213) 628-2772 for tickets and further information.
On the south end of Downtown is the USC campus and another music venue: USC Thornton School of Music Alfred Newman Recital Hall. Call: (213) 740-3233 for further information. Just north of the USC campus is its theatrer affiliate, the 24th Street Theatre at 1117 W. 24th St. Call: (213) 745-6516 for information.
Check out the links to all major Los Angeles museum web sites on the ARLIS/NA 2001 Conference Web Site or go to the ArtScene web site for complete listings: <http://artscenecal.com> Here are a few phone numbers:
Downtown:
Elsewhere:
This is usually a great time to travel throughout California, so plan on renting a car if you have a few days before or after the conference. The ocean water will be on the chilly side, but the beaches will doubtless be lovely--at least for viewing, or walking, or biking, or roller-blading down the bike path. You can rent bikes <http://www.paradine.com/BikePaths/SantaMon.html> or rollerblades at all the major beaches. The beach in Santa Monica at the end of Ocean Park Blvd. is one of the nicest. Another kind of nature can be seen at Venice Beach a couple of miles south. Hiking in the Santa Monica Mountains is spectacular. Combine your hike with a visit to the Will Rogers State Historic Park (310) 454-8212. The deserts are still relatively cool and probably flowering like crazy. If you rent a car, you might get to see our famous poppy fields <http://www.calparksmojave.com/poppy/> in bloom in the high desert just north of L.A. (Call first: Antelope Valley California Poppy Reserve near Lancaster, (661) 724-1180.) Mountain roads are still closed at the highest elevations, but views of snow-caps can be dramatic. Seems like we should say something about our palm trees. Many of the most prevalent, Washingtonia robusta, tall, skinny, and slightly silly looking, were planted for the 1934 Olympics. Los Angeles and the Palm Tree was the title of an exhibition a few years ago. No more unique to L.A. than our sunsets, but what would an L.A. sunset be without ‘em?
(Webmasters note: try clicking on some of the elements of the picture on the first page to get to more nature links. Also plenty of links on the Fun, fun, fun page under the Great Outdoors)
(web master's note: there are links to some of these places on the museums & fun, fun, fun & architecture pages)
Watts Towers and Art Center
The Watts Towers is perhaps the nation’s best known work of folk art sculpture. The three main Towers range in height from 100 to over 113 feet. They were constructed from steel pipes and rods, wrapped with wire mesh, coated with mortar, and embedded with 70,000 pieces of porcelain, tile, and glass. Using simple hand tools, cast off materials, (broken glass, sea shells, generic pottery and ceramic tile) Italian immigrant Simon Rodia spent 30 years (between 1921 and 1955) building this tribute to his adopted country. The Watts Towers is one of only nine works of folk art listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The Towers are located at 1765 East 107th Street in Los Angeles. Telephone: (818) 880-0350 or (213) 847-4646. A visit to the Towers will be included in the Mural Conservancy of L.A. tour scheduled for Saturday and Wednesday mornings.
Kentucky Fried Chicken Postmodern
"Viewed from the street, the effect of Grinstein/Daniels’ KFC is of a neo-Constructivist collage. Food service is on the ground floor, with a soaring, high-ceilinged eating area above. An unusually humane space for the world of fast food." (Dian Phillips-Pulverman with Peter Loyd, Los Angeles: A Guide to Recent Architecture, London: Artemis, 1994, 216.) East of Larchmont Village at 340 North Western Ave.
Hollywood Sign
In 1923, Harry Chandler, publisher of the Los Angeles Times, paid an L.A. advertising man, John Roche, $21,000 to erect a sign that read "Hollywoodland" as part of a campaign to sell housing tracts in Beachwood Canyon in East Hollywood. He insisted the letters be at least 50 feet high and that 20-watt bulbs be placed eight inches apart around each letter. On a clear night, his sign could be seen from Catalina Island off the coast 40 miles away. In 1947 the city acquired the land and wanted to pull the sign down, arguing that it detracted from the mountainside’s natural beauty. But the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce came to the rescue, offering to remove the "Land" portion and spruce up the remaining letters. The Chamber has the copyright and earns royalties every time this symbol adorns a T-shirt. Don’t try climbing up there. Beachwood Canyon residents take a dim view of those who attempt it.
La Brea Tar Pits
"In the heart of the mid-Wilshire museum district is an attraction no other U.S. city can boast: a graveyard for saber-toothed cats, dire wolves, imperial mammoths, and Los Angeles’ first known murder victim. Nothing can top the spectacle of sticky black asphalt oozing out of the ground in the middle of Los Angeles, spitting out some of North America’s oldest bones." (Cecilia Rasmussen, Curbside L.A., Los Angeles Times, 1996, 57.) The George C. Page Museum provides a paleontological laboratory and a context for the visitor. Just east of the L.A. County Museum of Art and across the street from the (reopened) L.A. Craft and Folk Art Museum, 5801 Wilshire Boulevard. Watch your step!
Bodhi Tree Bookstore
"The aroma of incense drifts around the store and sitar music slices the air. Customers peruse vegetarian diet guides, books on holistic healing and material dealing with a wide range of spiritual and philosophical issues. The store also offers non-book items ranging from bells and flutes to herbal toothpaste." (Cecilia Rasmussen, Curbside L.A., Los Angeles Times, 1996, 118.) 8585 Melrose Avenue (West Hollywood)
Mann’s Chinese Theater/Hollywood Walk of Fame
Formerly Grauman’s, the Chinese Theater on Hollywood Blvd. is ground zero for fans of the old Hollywood. The theater is well worth a visit with its pagoda roof and lavish interior, built in 1927 in the grand style, it was restored recently, and remains the ultimate symbol of Hollywood immortality with its unique forecourt of celebrity hand and footprints. East and west on Hollywood Blvd. between Gower and Sycamore, and on Vine St. between Sunset and Yucca, is the Hollywood Walk of Fame with the names of over 2,000 of your faves. 6925 Hollywood Blvd.
Sunset Strip/Sunset Blvd.
You have to be here (Sunset Blvd. between LaCienega and Doheny) at night, or best of all, just before sunset, as the lights and the (truly amazing hand-painted) billboards are coming on and the western sky is turning red. Here in West Hollywood, is Tinseltown itself, with many remnants of an earlier period like the St. James Club and the Chateau Marmont recently restored. If you’re driving, take a detour up Sunset Plaza Drive for views of the city and many wonderful hillside houses.
Silent Movie Theatre
This small, well-loved theatre, the only place in the United States to continuously screen silent films, was the subject of scandal a few years ago when one of its owners was murdered and it was discovered his partner did the deed. Now run by a young aficianado, Charlie Lustman, it is open Tuesday-Sunday at 8 .pm, with a Sunday matinee at 1 pm. Tuesdays are devoted to early talkies. All shows have live musical accompaniment. It’s at 611 N. Fairfax. Call ahead (323) 655-2520; it’s often sold out on weekends. The web site is delightful <http://www.silentmovietheatre.com>
Celebrity Cemeteries
Hollywood Cemetery is on Santa Monica Blvd. between Van Ness and Gower Streets and is the final resting place for many legendary film stars. Silent star John Gilbert is here, as are Douglas Fairbanks, and many others. This is where the mysterious lady in black paid her annual visits to Valentino’s grave. A quiet neighbor of UCLA is the charming Westwood Memorial Cemetery where you’ll find Marilyn, Roy Orbison and Frank Zappa, et al. East of L.A. in Glendale is the original extraordinary Forest Lawn Memorial Park. 206 landscaped acres of the departed also house an infamous collection of replica statuary, shrines, and a stained-glass version of "The Last Supper." The entrance is on Glendale Ave., northeast of the terminus of Glendale Blvd. at San Fernando Rd.
2 Rodeo Drive (Enzo Zicenzino/Kaplan McLaughlin Diaz, 1990)
"Not since Malibu’s J. Paul Getty Museum has Los Angeles seen such lavish pastiche. Located on the retail street that claims to be the most expensive in the world, this shopping centre spells ‘class’. To lure shoppers in, Hollywood versions of a European shopping street, public square and the Spanish Steps in Rome have been built over a subterranean parking lot. The development has shop fronts on Wilshire Blvd. and Rodeo Drive and a new cobbled pedestrian street, Via Rodeo, that bisects the site. . . . Not to be missed is the complimentary valet parking lot below. Continuing the experience of lavish surroundings, this space has been finished to a level for human habitation." (Dian Phillips-Pulverman with Peter Loyd, Los Angeles: A Guide to Recent Architecture, London: Artemis, 1994, 184.) And don’t miss the "real" Rodeo Drive, the shopping habitat of the original rich and famous. (Rodeo Drive north of Wilshire Blvd. in Beverly Hills.)
Museum of Jurassic Technology
Subject of a Pulitzer Prize-winning book by Lawrence Weschler (Mr. Wilson’s Cabinet of Wonder, New York: Vintage, 1996), visitors expecting dinosaurs will instead be confronted with a quirky display devoted to the radar-equipped Deprong Mori bat, a horn that grew from a woman’s head, miniature dioramas of RV parks, and many other arcane artifacts. Simultaneously a critique of and a paean to museums, the founder is former movie miniaturist David Wilson. 9341 Venice Blvd. (North of Culver City.) Telephone (310) 836-6131. A visit to this museum is included in the Saturday tour to Santa Monica (Tour 10).
Self-Realization Fellowship
This genuinely delightful, very California, garden retreat (but open to the public) is at the western reach of Sunset Blvd. (south side of the street) just before the ocean. On 10 acres belonging to the Fellowship founded by Yogi Paramahansa Yogananda of India, this oasis was opened in 1950 and is dedicated to meditation, tolerance, and cross-cultural appreciation. 17190 Sunset Blvd. (Pacific Palisades) Telephone: (310) 454-4114.
Venice and its Canals
Venice-by-the-Sea (just a few blocks inland from the ocean, south of Venice Blvd.) was the dream of developer Abbot Kinney, who in 1892, built his dream city of homes, hotels, interconnecting canals plied by a fleet of gondolas, and a large Chautauqua auditorium. After many years of deterioration, the hotels and the auditorium are gone, but a massive community effort has restored the canals and this bucolic community of homes ranging from Victorian to postmodern is now one of the most desirable (and expensive) neighborhood beach communities. Rowboats and canoes have replaced the gondolas, and duck families entertain the many artists (and wealthy film industry) homeowners. Nearby, the Venice Pier area has been creatively renovated. Have breakfast or lunch at the Sidewalk Café on the Venice Boardwalk and observe this quintessential scene of jugglers, tattoo artists, bodybuilders, rollerbladers, and sand dunes, palm trees, and seagulls.
Griffith Park Observatory & Planetarium
Visible from the entire Los Angeles basin, Griffith Observatory is Los Angeles' premiere example of Thirties Moderne architecture. Movie fans associate it with James Dean and Natalie Wood in the final scene of "Rebel without a Cause." Since its opening night on May 14, 1935, Griffith Observatory has been a unique landmark in Los Angeles. Perhaps because of its prominent site, its extraordinary and spectacular architecture, or for the exposure to the cosmic wonders it offers, Griffith Observatory occupies a special place in the hearts of both visitors and long-time residents of our community. It is at once a science museum, a major public planetarium, a public telescope, and an extremely romantic spot. Admission to the building is free; there is a charge for the planetarium. Call (323) 664-1181 for information. 2800 East Observatory Road, on the south edge of the Park. Visit their website at http://www.griffithobs.org
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last revised 11.30.00