FOLIO Spring 2016 - Pasadena Arts Council

Spring 2016 Volume 10 Issue 1
Pasadena | City of Art and Science
The Publication of Pasadena Arts Council
Pasadena Arts Council (PAC) is a nongovernmental, not-for-profit organization that
provides resources, programs and services
to artists, arts and cultural organizations,
audiences, young people and visitors to
Pasadena. The agency offers an independent
voice for promoting a vibrant cultural
community by facilitating, empowering and
advocating for the arts.
pasadenaartscouncil.org
• Find information about cultural events
• Subscribe to our e-bulletin
• Learn more about the intersection of art
and science
• Track EMERGE projects
• Discover resources for artists, organazations,
audiences and visitors
Robert Crouch, Executive & Artistic Director
Yann Novak, Manager of Online Services
Holly Witham, Finance & Accounting
Winona Bechtle, EMERGE Program Coordinator
Knowledges Awarded
$35,000 Award From Mike
Kelley Foundation For The Arts
Channing Hansen, Quantum Painting 42 yarn and wood, 84” x 160”, 2014
Knowledges, a project of PAC’s EMERGE program, was
recently awarded $35,000 from the Mike Kelley Foundation for
the Arts. Led by Project Director and Curator Christina Ondrus,
Knowledges is an artist-organized initiative whose mission
is to foster dialogue between contemporary art and unique
geographic locations of under-examined cultural influence by
organizing site-specific explorations and events.
In 2017, Knowledges will invite artists to develop site-specific
temporary installations at the Mount Wilson Observatory
located 33 miles from Downtown in the Angeles National Forest.
Working directly with Observatory staff during special-access
tours of the complex, artists Scott Benzel, Jeff Cain, Krysten
Cunningham, Erik Frydenborg, Channing Hansen, Gregory
Michael Hernandez, Alice Könitz/Los Angeles Museum of Art,
Karen Lofgren, Rosha Yaghmai, and Margaret Wertheim/Institute
for Figuring will spend a year developing works in various media
for sites throughout the Observatory grounds. The public will
access the installations over a full weekend in June 2017. Along
with programs, performances, lectures, screenings, tours of the
Observatory, and telescope viewing sessions, the event will offer
a rare opportunity for both artists and the public to experience
this historic site in depth.
Cover:
Food writer Jonathan Gold with Kogi’s Roy Choi
Photograph by Rick Gough
KCHUNG Radio Receives Creative Capital Award
KCHUNG Radio in residence at the Hammer Museum, 2014
KCHUNG Radio, a project of PAC’s EMERGE
program, recently received funding from Creative
Capital to produce News Body, a site for mobile, roving
broadcast that brings live interviews and reporting
as well as production training to any site, event
and community in southern California. Operated by
KCHUNG collective members, News Body creates a
moveable signal, a hyper-local live radio transmission
for listeners within a one-mile radius of the vehicle.
In addition, News Body will make KCHUNG’s sitespecific programming accessible to a worldwide
audience through online audio streaming, on-location
and in real time, as well as by producing in-depth news
programs and building a searchable online archive of
past programming. News Body will create opportunities
for spectacle, performance and live engagement that
imagine new uses and definitions for news in our
communities.
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A literary stroll in the Playhouse District:
LitFest Pasadena’s fifth birthday
By Larry Wilson
The Vroman’s Paseo • Photograph by Rick Gough
LitFest Pasadena, celebrating our
fifth anniversary on Saturday, June
4, was born out of obsession -- as
which of the small arts organizations
sponsored by the EMERGE program of
the Pasadena Arts Council wasn’t?
Who lights up such a pipe dream
without obsession? No one’s in it for
the money, and though we might be in
it at first for grand glory, that notion is
quickly enough quashed by the day-today.
But small glories -- they abound.
Our obsession started with the idea
hatched by local writers Jervey
Tervalon and Jonathan Gold that
literary festivals should be fun, most
especially for the authors. If they are,
they’ll be fun for the audience, too.
They shouldn’t be overshadowed by the
bureaucracy of it all. There should be a
place to gather for food and drink. The
panels should be finely curated. And
it should all feel like it’s from a place
rather than from mere anyplace.
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So that’s what we did. Along with cofounders Tom Coston of the Lightbringer
Project and the Doo Dah Parade,
still our field marshal; Kat Ward, our
first managing director; and Phoebe
Wilson, our creative director, we went
deep into our obsession. We raised
big money at complex fundraisers thanks to dozens of highly generous
Pasadenans, and went after grants. We
rented Pasadena’s Central Park, not an
inexpensive proposition what with the
fire marshal inspections and the police
officers on duty for the whole day. Riot
at the literary bash! Poets gone bad!
Send in the National Guard!
We rented tents and massive stages
that we named after three late great
Pasadena writers: Octavia Butler,
Harriet Doerr and Julia Child. A trio of
superb prose stylists unmatched by any
town in the state! How could we go
wrong? We then rented out, at below
cost, dozens of covered booths to small
publishers and bookstores and assorted
nonprofits. We established award
ceremonies, including the ongoing
Pasadena Prize in Prose for the best
short story by a local high school
student.
We set a date: March 17. St. Patrick’s
Day fell on a Saturday that year, a
perfect choice for a day of revelry. A
tremendous amount of work forged
in committee meetings over pizzas
and beer in the Athenaeum’s Hayman
Lounge created what looked to be a
plan, with many dozens of authors set
to read and yak.
And then as the day approached, I
became obsessed with the weather. It
was driving me crazy, the predictions
of one of the largest rainstorms in years
in Pasadena for our coming inaugural
go. Soon enough I was quite mad.
The show must go on, right? Maybe
rain would be a good thing -- maybe it
would make it all more ... fun.
Outdoors. In a grassy park. In the mud.
But the great food writer Jeanne
Kelley, then just getting famous in the
Southland for her urban farm-to-table
books and recipes, was all set to
make Guinness floats in celebration
of all things Irish! Ice cream and beer -- what could be better? The authors
were booked -- and a thousand other
packages were boxed, the bows tied.
But there was the weatherman, plus
the way the wind was blowing. By
Wednesday of that week my colleagues
had finally talked me down. The
coming storm was real. We wouldn’t
cancel -- we would postpone. We
alerted the media. We picked a happy
date in May.
On that St. Patrick’s Day, we gathered
anyway in the evening at Sumi Chang’s
Europane to celebrate what might have
been. She kept her place open late for
a party, and catered it with her usual
genius. We had Irish whiskey after the
wine and beer. Toasts were made. It
had poured like nobody’s business all
day long and if I had been allowed to
carry on it would have been a disaster.
It went great in May, with hundreds
of book lovers and authors gathering.
Same the next year, only bigger.
The year after that the moveable fest
headed for the Playhouse District,
beginning at Vroman’s Bookstore with
a huge crowd in the outdoor plaza for
the debut of former Gourmet Editor
Ruth Reichl’s first novel, “Delicious!,” in
conversation with the L.A. Times’ Laurie
Ochoa, with free fancy food from
Robert Simon’s Bistro 45 in honor of
Ruth giving him his first, career-making
review, and grand wines from Everson
Royce. Free wine? Free is what LitFest
Pasadena is all about. Then to further
events and readings at the Pasadena
Playhouse, Zona Rosa and other
storefronts down El Molino Avenue.
Wrapped it all up over margaritas at
El Portal. The Playhouse District is our
literary hub, and with LitFest Pasadena
ensonced now each late spring, it is
even more so.
Won’t you join us again on Saturday,
June 4 2016 to toast year five?
Jonathan will be talking about the
documentary made about his Southern
California food life, “City of Gold.”
Novelist Janet Fitch (“White Oleander,”
“Paint it Black”) will lead an audienceinteractive event on flash writing. We’ll
be panelizing on Writing in the Time
of Black Lives Matter, Humor Writing
in the Time of Donald Trump. Octavia
Butler and her legacy of Afro-Futurism
and artful comics creator Jaime
Hernandez of “Love and Rockets”
fame will be given the LitFest Pasadena
Award for lifetime achievement in the
arts. Three local high school students
will be presented with a Pasadena
Prize in Prose. A dozen more events
are in the offing.
Check it out at LitFestPasadena.org
Come see what we’ve made of ours and
then go follow your own obsession.
Larry Wilson is artistic director
of LitFest Pasadena. Write him at
lawrencephilipwilson@gmail.com.
Novelist Shanna Mahin and memoirist Jillian Lauren • Photograph by Rick Gough
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Poems by Ron Koertge
Drawings by Debbie Thornhill
Death Comes Home
from a business trip. He’s been gone
for days. All he wants to do is sit
in the bathtub with a glass of bourbon.
He likes the cat to come in and peer
at the water. Maybe test it with one
black paw. Otherwise he wants
to be alone.
Pretty soon he feels better. The cat
is old, so he carries it into the kitchen.
His wife has sent the children
to her mother’s.
She asks, “How was it?” “Awful.”
“Poor baby. Well, I’m making
cornbread.”
He watches her fill a square pan
and slip it into the oven with such
tenderness that he whimpers a little.
Cornbread and beans. If he could die
and had a last request, that is what
he would ask for.
Car Wash in Echo Park
Just me, the kid, and random vatos
hosing down our precious autos.
A carvac hiccups, coughs and whines.
With hard work, fenders almost shine.
A single boom box emits notes,
and from our unsuspecting throats
the dark blue of a song we know
rises like a u.f.o.
Sky-Vu Drive In
We belt it out. Then almost blush,
lean harder on the worn scrub brush.
First you’re 16 making out
in the back row.
I call my kid who says good-bye
to other kids who don’t reply.
Then you’re married
sitting up close so you
can watch your kids
swing and slide, sprawl
and cry.
We drive away, as cool as ice.
She taps my hand. “You guys sang
nice.”
Before you know it,
you’re in an Electra
two rows behind
the snack bar with the dog
asleep on a blanket
in the back.
Stars dangle
just out of reach –
those famous eyes,
the silvery rivers
of their famous breath,
their famous lips.
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Flashback
Rich people open their carved doors. I eat
the unicorn soigne then read some poems.
I’m signing a few books when I notice cameras
in every room and I’m reminded of my short
career as a thief.
I fondled the books while the tough guys I ran
with plundered and swore. “Hurry up, stupid!
Get the silver.”
I liked the feel of those first editions. I liked
the alarms going off, the sprint to the car,
the getaway.
Ron Koertge of South Pasadena, who taught English and
poetry at PCC for 35 years, is the author of many celebrated
novels, including Stoner & Spaz, Strays, and The
Brimstone Journals, all American Library Association Best
Books for Young Adults; Shakespeare Bats Cleanup, an
American Library Association Top Ten Sports Books for Youth
Selection; and The Arizona Kid, an American Library
Association pick for “one of the ten funniest books of the year.”
A two-time winner of the PEN Literary Award for Children’s
Literature, Ron’s poetry is published by Pasadena’s Red Hen
Press.
But with a couple of priors, I was looking at time
on the river. So I split. Moved to L.A.
Cleaned up my act.
Debbie Thornhill of Northridge has studied at L.A. Academy
of Figurative Art, 3 Kicks Studio and the Animation Institute, and
is never without her sketchbook.
I tell this story to my hostess. “Really!”
she says clutching the triple strand of pearls
at her neck, pearls I happen to know aren’t real.
Poetry and artwork courtesy of the artists and LitFest Pasadena
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The following generous individuals, corporations, foundations
and government agencies have supported
Pasadena Arts Council this year.
Thank you!
$50,000+
Peter and Rebecca Knell
Anne Rothenberg
Steven and Kelly McLeod Family
Foundation/The Gamble House
$25,000 - $49,999
California Arts Council
Los Angeles County Arts Commission
National Endowment for the Arts
$10,000 - $24,999
Jet Propulsion Laboratory
Lefkowitz Family Foundation
Scheidemantle Law Group P.C.
$5,000 - $9,000
John Bryson
Dan Bane
City of Pasadena Cultural Affairs
Division and Pasadena Arts &
Culture Commission
Cynthia Bennett
Nancy Hytone Leb
Wayne Hunt
Jerry & Terri Kohl Family Foundation
Dianne M. Magee
Mondriaan Fund
Stephen Nowlin
Southern California Edison
Wells Fargo Foundation
$2,500 - $4,999
CicLAvia Inc.
Michael Greene
Paul and Heather Haaga
Pasadena Convention & Visitors
Bureau
Steve Roden
Typecraft
$1,000 - $2,499
Olin and Ann Barrett
MaryLou Boone
Sigrid Burton and Max Brennan
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$1,000 - $2,499 (continued)
Brack and Betty Duker
Jim and Gail Ellis
Georgianna Erskine
Sydney and Ray Feeney
Kathie Foley-Meyer and Irving Meyer
Simon and Charlotte Harrison
Harvey and Ellen Knell
Pete and Becky Kutzer
Pasadena Arts League
Pasadena Showcase House for the
Arts
J.C. and Pamela Massar
Pasadena Arts League
Wendy Munger and Leonard Gumport
Peggy Phelps
Susan Roden
Fritz and Susan Seitz
John and Andrea Van de Kamp
$500 - $999
Bill and Claire Bogaard
Frederick Fisher & Partners Architects
Roger and Eden Gillott
Adelaide Hixon
The James Irvine Foundation
Tom and Laney Techentin
Betsey Tyler
Under $500
Joan Aarestad
The Amgen Foundation
Ted Bosley
John and Louise Brinsley
John and Susan Caldwell
Julie D. Clayton
Walter and Zan Cochran-Bond
Michael and Diane Cornwell
Marguerite Cummings
Jennifer Fleming DeVoll
Jim and Kitty Dillavou
Dave Doody
David and Rebecca Ebershoff
Ciara Ennis
Christine Franke
Under $500 (continued)
Mary L. Gerke
Elizabeth Greenberg
James Griffith and Susanna Dadd
Shoghig Halajian and Johanna
Breiding
Ann Hassett and Bob Niemack
James Hayes and Catherine Keig
Celia Hunt
Brenda Hurst
Eugene and Jane Imai
Patricia Ketchum
Dr. Alice J. Key
Donna Stein and Henry Korn
Joan Leb
Bonnie Ledyard
Greta Mandell
Elana Mann
Kerry and Vicki McCluggage
Jane and Barry McCullough
Annamarie V. Mitchell
Jeannette Muirhead
Susan Olsen
Catherine Partridge
Katie Poole
Clifford J. Present
Fred and Jeanne Register
Arthur Rieman
Sarah Russin
Fran Scoble
Dorothy Scully
Michael Seel
Sara B. and Walter T. Shatford
Rosemary Simmons
Patsy J. Smith
David Spiro
Ben and Robin Stafford
Gretel Stephens
Robin Stever and Ricardo Barrantes
Barton and Pamela Wald
Crown City Symphony
Lawrence and Phoebe Wilson
Zuriani Zonneveld
Gifts received 2015 – 2016
SAVE THE DATE
2016 AxS Gold Crown Award
September 19, 2016
The Cold Water Reef, by the IFF Core Reef Crafters. Photo courtesy of the Institute for Figuring (IFF).
Since 1965, Pasadena Arts Council’s Gold Crown Award has honored individuals and organizations for exceptional
achievement in the visual, performing, and literary arts. The award recognizes the great importance of these contributions to the
cultural fabric of Pasadena, promoting a more effective, inclusive and thriving arts community.
The AxS Award celebrates the allied importance of both the arts and the sciences to the dynamic tenor of our time. It
commemorates, in Pasadena, a textured conversation between the sciences and the arts that has long been emblematic of the
city’s history, and is equally fused with its future.
PAC is excited to announce our 2016 Honorees:
William J. and Brenda L. Galloway (2016 Gold Crown Award)
Supervisor Michael D. Antonovich (2016 Gold Crown Award)
The Institute for Figuring (2016 AxS Award)
Pasadena residents William and Brenda Galloway have a deep commitment to the arts, both locally and nationally. In
1999 the Galloway’s made a major gift to Pasadena City College’s Sculpture Garden Plaza, which now bears their name.
It was an historic contribution to PCC, elevating the profile of the sculpture garden as a venue for world-class sculpture. The
Galloway’s are major contributors to the National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington, D.C., and
in 2015 William was elected to the Board of Regents of The Smithsonian Institution.
Los Angeles County Supervisor Michael Antonovich, a native of Los Angeles County, has served the two million residents of
the County’s Fifth Supervisorial District since 1980. In 1984, Supervisor Antonovich and Caroline Ahmanson established the Los
Angeles County High School for the Arts Foundation, and under his leadership the Foundation worked with Assemblywoman
Teresa Hughes to sponsor Bill AB851, establishing Los Angeles County High School for the Arts as a specialized secondary
school in 1985.
The mission of the Institute For Figuring is to contribute to the public understanding of scientific and mathematical themes
through innovative programming that includes exhibitions, lectures, workshops, and community based projects. Founded in
2003, the IFF has developed projects for museums, galleries, colleges, and community groups around the world, including the
Andy Warhol Museum, The Hayward, Art Center College of Design, and the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History.
This year’s event will be held September 19 at Descanso Gardens. If you would like to make a gift in honor of our awardees,
please call our offices at 626-793-8171, or send a check payable to Pasadena Arts Council to 65 S. Grand Avenue, Pasadena
CA 91105.
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The following cultural organizations and businesses are
current members of Pasadena Arts Council.
Thank you for your support!
ORGANIZATIONAL MEMBERS
$500+
Muse/Ique
$250
Art Center College of Design
Descanso Gardens
Mayfield Senior School
Pasadena Conservatory of Music
$125
A Noise Within
Altadena Academy of Music
The Armory Center for the Arts
Boston Court Performing Arts Center
City of Pasadena
Crown City Symphony
The Gamble House
Kidspace Children’s Museum
Lanterman Foundation
Light Bringer Project
LitFest Pasadena
Los Angeles Children’s Chorus
Pasadena Arts League
Pasadena Heritage
Pasadena Museum of California Art
Pasadena Playhouse
Pasadena Presbyterian Church/Friends of
Music
Pasadena Showcase House for the Arts
Pasadena Society of Artists
Polytechnic School
Shumei Arts Council of America, Inc.
Theatre 360
BUSINESS MEMBERS
$500+
Choctál
Evie DiCiacciao Coaching & Consulting
Scheidemantle Law Group P.C.
$125
88 Keys Music Academy
Studio Fuse
EMERGE PROJECTS
3 Days Awake
Absolute Theatre
Actual Size Los Angeles
Ammunition Theater Company
EMERGE PROJECTS (continued)
Anthem
Argus Quartet
ARID Journal
The Art of Home Savings
Barak Ballet
Because China Arts
Big City Forum
Blue Milagro
...But Can She Play?
Century Arts & Culture Project
Curious Crossroads
Dorn Dance Company
Drawing From the Inside Out
Ear Meal Webcast
Eastside International
ECHO Community Arts
Emma Goldman: Love, Anarchy & Other
Affairs
Fallen Fruit
ForYourArt+
Friends of the Rialto
General Projects
The Golden Dome School
GuestHaus Residency
HOCKET
The Hope Chronicles
homeLA
IAMA Theater Company
Install: LA
KCHUNG Radio
Kewa Civic Concerts
Knowledges
Laurel Doody
Light on Shadow
LitFest Pasadena
Little Candle Productions
Los Angeles College of Music Scholarship
Fund
Los Angeles Conducting Workshop
Los Angeles International Student Film
Festival
Louder Than Words
The Love House Project
Lovely Bouquet of Flowers
Marcus Eley Chamber Music
Melinda Sullivan Dance Project
The Mirror, Mirror Project
The Mojave Project
Monte Vista Projects
Music Lifeboat
Negation/Reception
EMERGE PROJECTS (continued)
Next Level Projects
Olive
Opera Posse
Palomar Observatory Book Project
Pasadena Opera
Pasadena Schubertiade
Pasadena Writing Project
PasadenaPhotographyArts
Piano Intensive
Portraits of the Fallen Memorial
ProMusicDB
QueerFest
Rwanda & Juliet
SAIPRO
Salastina Music Society
SAPPA
Savage Players
Schubertiade of Los Angeles
Sculpture For Peace
Shades & Shadows
Shed Research Institute
SPArt
Stage Raw
Surrogate Gallery Projects
Ten West
Trailer Trash Project
Trop
Unconfirmed Makeshift Museum
Vagabond
Vicente Chamber Orchestra
VOLUME
Waking up Mary
wasteLAnd
Wayne Shorter: Zero Gravity
What’s Next Ensemble
Winter Light
Wisdom Arts Laboratory
Women’s Center for Creative Work
BOARD OF TRUSTEES
Nancy Hytone Leb, President
Steve Roden, Vice-President
Peter Knell, Treasurer
Michael Greene
Lena Kennedy
Dianne Magee
Stephen Nowlin
Robert Crouch
Executive & Artistic Director
Members current through April 30, 2016
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Discover a historic
HIDDEN GEM
in Southern California
From scenic hiking to boutique downtown shopping to creative dining
to perusing world-class museums, Pasadena embodies the California
lifestyle that travelers who venture off the beaten path will experience.
FOR MORE INSPIRATION, GO TO VISITPASADENA.COM
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Non-profit Org.
U.S. Postage
PAID
65 South Grand Avenue
Pasadena. CA 91105
Pasadena, CA
Permit #146
626.793.8171
pasadenaartscouncil.org
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