The creative culture of Los Angeles is thriving and what better way to celebrate our vibrant community than with a new platform to showcase our city’s diverse makers. Earlier this month, Mayor Eric Garcetti announced the launch of a pilot program, LA Original, to support our local creative economy and manufacturing through branding special LA products. With a logo, promotional campaign, and line of products from local makers, proceeds will support creative entrepreneur programs across Los Angeles. More than 20 companies and retailers have teamed up to create products that include T-shirts, bags, neckties, phone cases, glassware, skateboards, and jewelry. Products can be purchased online at laoriginal.com, at the Westfield Pop-Up Store, and at The Library Store–the only brick-and-mortar shop selling these special products throughout the program run!
4-piece Glass Set – DTLA – BOYLE HEIGHTS – ECHO PARK – SILVERLAKE. Made by: Sisters of Los Angeles.Los Angeles based apron company Hedley & Bennett designed two aprons for LA Original with the colors paying homage to our hometown sports teams – blue and white, grey and black.
Purchases from the LA Original program through December will support the Downtown Women’s Center’s “Made by DWC” program that teaches job training and maker skills to women transitioning out of homelessness, plus any purchase from The Library Store supports the Los Angeles Public Library—it’s a win-win for our community.
P.F. Candle Co. soy candles are hand made in their Boyle Heights factory by a team of 22. The fragrance is as complex and rebellious as its hometown, Los Angeles wraps a warm, woody base with night blooming jasmine and dry desert air, unfolding a luxe fragrance with earthy undertones.The Larchmont neck tie made by Pocket Square Clothing.The Venice pocket square made by Pocket Square Clothing.The wallet clutch made by Clare V.
Come downtown to The Library Store at Central Library and check out these locally-inspired products just in time for the holidays!
As Angelenos gear up for festivities surrounding Día de los Muertos later this month, what better way to honor the dead than with an eye-opening look at how other cultures around the world care for their dead. On November 1 at ALOUD, Caitlin Doughty, a mortician, New York Times best-selling author, blogger, and director of the nonprofit funeral home, Undertaking LA, will discuss her new book, From Here to Eternity: Traveling the World to Find the Good DeathwithLA Times Book Editor Carolyn Kellogg. Doughty is also a popular YouTube personality where she posts her hit video series, “Ask a Mortician,” which tackles topics from coffin births to confronting your own mortality.
So it’s no surprise that Doughty also loves watching flicks that engage with death in curious ways. Before she takes the ALOUD stage, we asked Doughty to share some of her favorite macabre movies. Here are Doughty’s recs below—all of which can be checked out from the Los Angeles Public Library.
Departures: “An Academy Award-winning Japanese film about one man’s experience in the funeral industry and his journey to become comfortable with dead bodies.”
A Certain Kind of Death: “A documentary about what happens to unclaimed and indigent dead in L.A. County. This is an amazing look at the flip side of the glamorous side of LA.”
Harold and Maude: “An older woman and a younger man find the quirky joy in death. A classic!”
Serving Life: “This movie documents an extraordinary hospice program where hardened criminals inside Angola Prison care for their dying fellow inmates.”
The Loved One: “LA has one of the strangest funeral industries in America. This is a 1965 comedy based on the funeral industry in LA. The film was based on a short satirical novel by Evelyn Waugh which was inspired by his visit to Forest Lawn. Bonus: It features Liberace!”
From Here to Eternity: Traveling the World to Find the Good Death Caitlin Doughty In conversation with Carolyn Kellogg, LA Times book editor Wednesday, Nov 1, 2017 | 7:30pm Click here to learn more about this upcoming ALOUD program.
This month the Los Angeles Public Library is celebrating Latino Heritage Month, and it’s especially timely as a new exhibition at Central Library recently opened to the public as part of the city-wide Getty initiative PST:LA/LA, a far-reaching exploration of Latin American and Latino art in dialogue with Los Angeles. Visualizing Language: Oaxaca in L.A. illuminates the diversity of L.A.’s history, culture, and identity by offering a fresh narrative that focuses on the indigenous Zapotec cultures of Oaxacan communities. The exhibition is anchored by a series of eight larger-than-life murals by the Oaxacan artist collective Tlacolulokos in the Central Library’s Rotunda that are in juxtaposition with the existing 1933 Dean Cornwell murals that tell a more traditional history of California’s colonization.
New exhibition transforms Central Library’s Rotunda. Photo by Jeff McLane.City Librarian John F. Szabo and Library Foundation President Ken Brecher celebrate the opening with artists Dario Canul and Cosijoesa Cernas and special guests. Photo by Gary Leonard.
Following the opening festivities at Central Library, we caught up with Amanda de la Garza Mata, the curator of the exhibition. De la Garza Mata, an adjunct curator at the Museum of Contemporary Art (MUAC) in Mexico City, had previously curated a show with Tlacolulokos in Mexico, but Visualizing Language marks their first collaboration in the States. Three years in the making, we asked De la Garza Mata about finally seeing this boundary-pushing project come to fruition and how the public library played a crucial role in creating space for this multi-cultural narrative of Los Angeles.
De la Garza Mata with Visualizing Language Producer Maureen Moore and the artists. Photo by Gary Leonard.
After months and months of preparation, what was it like for the exhibition to open to the public?
De la Garza Mata: The works are really engaging with the people who go to the Library—and not just necessarily to the see the murals, but all the Library users who may encounter the murals by chance. We have already experienced so many positive reactions from people from the community. People are seeing themselves represented by the murals, or they are feeling empathy for the struggles the murals represent in relation to migration and other aspects of migrant communities.
De la Garza Mata gives a tour of the exhibition. Photo by Gary Leonard.
Public art and murals have a long tradition in the art world. How do you think this project has re-imagined the role of public art?
De la Garza Mata: The Rotunda’s Dean Cornwell murals embraced a very official telling of the history of colonization. The Tlacolulokos murals depict a very different history—history from a community whose voice has never been heard in this way before. They’re not trying to represent a unified history where everyone feels attached to it or represented by it. Now in the Rotunda, you can see the differences in which people are portrayed in these two distinct murals such as the way women or indigenous people are portrayed, and that is the turning point in terms of public art—the possibility of public art that does not reproduce an official narrative around history or identity.
Artist Dario Canul of Tlacolulokos. Photo by Gary Leonard.
Part of Tlacolulokos’ objective as artists also is to promote empowerment, which directly connects to the mission of the public library to empower people by providing them with tools and resources. How do you see this shared sensibility represented in these murals?
De la Garza Mata: The artists understand the importance of the circulation of knowledge as a form of empowering people. In the murals you can see how they portrayed the importance of books, but not only books in the traditional sense, but the knowledge that comes from oral traditions, music, poetry, and other arts. One of the key points of the murals underscores how important it is to understand where you come from and how sometimes your cultural identity can be taken from you, for example, through the hardships of migration or being assimilated to a new culture.
Creating an alternate narrative is part of reclaiming one’s culture. How do you see the community engaging with their culture differently through the murals?
De la Garza Mata: There was a group of students from Mexican backgrounds who encountered the murals and they were very emotional about them. One student said that he felt that the boy in one of the murals was him—a young kid who had been excluded because of his origins and had suffered the consequences of migration. He represents someone who is trying to overcome struggles to take a different path than is dictated by marginalized groups.
Opening day festivities. Photo by Gary Leonard.
It’s currently Latino Heritage Month. Why do you think it’s important to celebrate culture in these broader ways?
De la Garza Mata: I believe that recognizing our cultural differences makes the city of Los Angeles a stronger city because it’s not differences that necessarily separate us, but that we don’t understand that each community has a different experience. Knowing peoples’ histories, knowing where they come from, knowing our neighbors and the people we interact with daily, also gives us the possibility to understand them in a different way, to see the similarities between our communities in order to understand how we can live together. This is a question that is not evident: how can we live together with so many backgrounds and heritages? I believe there is an opportunity through dialogue. We all have a profoundly deep need for a sense of belonging and being part of a community.
Visualizing Language: Oaxaca in L.A. is a collaboration between the Los Angeles Public Library and the Library Foundation as part of the Getty’s PST: LA/LA initiative. From now until January 31, the exhibition will be open to the public at Central Library along with a series of 70+ special programs at branch libraries across the city. Learn more about these programs, including guided tours of the exhibition, at http://oaxaca.lfla.org/.
This Saturday, September 16, the Los Angeles Public Library in a partnership with the Library Foundation of Los Angeles kicks-off a special project to take a closer look at the rich social fabric of our own city by focusing on the vibrant Oaxacan community in L.A. through the lens of indigenous Zapotec cultures. Visualizing Language: Oaxaca in L.A. showcases a new exhibition at the downtown Central Library along with a series of over 70 city-wide programs as part of the Getty’s PST: LA/LA initiative. Join us this Saturday between 12 and 5 for the opening of the exhibit which features new murals for Central Library by Oaxacan artist collective Tlacolulokos.
The new murals—currently being installed in the Central Library’s 2nd floor Rotunda—place an indigenous narrative at the forefront of the story of contemporary Los Angeles by juxtaposing with the Library’s existing 1930s murals by Dean Cornwell.
By considering how language, history, and migration play a role in the lives of Oaxacans and Angelenos, Visualizing Language: Oaxaca in L.A. aims to examine the past, present, and future of a multicultural Los Angeles—a place that is far more diverse than has often been depicted. The new murals will be on display in the Rotunda until January 31, along with a short documentary by Oaxacan filmmaker Yolanda Cruz that follows the creation of this new work. Here’s a sneak peek at the project, also created by Cruz.
Audiences will also have the opportunity to participate in programming across the city this fall and winter on a range of topics, such as film screenings, hip hop workshops, lectures on Meso-American history, explorations of textiles and pre-Columbian cuisine, and more. Additionally, ALOUD will feature six multilingual programs including conversations with the artists, a look at Oaxaca’s third gender, and readings of indigenous poetry. Renowned artist and Oaxacan cultural activist Francisco “El Maestro” Toledo, through the Centro de las Artes San Agustín (CASA), has also made a generous donation of Zapotec and Spanish-language books and resources for program participants. Other program highlights include:
Exhibition Opening Saturday, September 16, 12-5 PM Central Library’s Second Floor Rotunda
Performance from Grupo Folklórico Guish Bac, Banda Grandeza Oaxaqueña, a silk screening workshop with exhibition artists Tlacolulokos, special exhibition tours and refreshments.
Rebellion! Public Art and Political Dissent: Oaxaca in L.A.
Tuesday, September 19, 7:30PM
Inaugural ALOUD program featuring a conversation with the artist collective Tlacolulokos and artist Chaz Borjórquez on the power of public art from graffiti to the new murals in the Central Library’s Rotunda. Exhibition curator Amanda de la Garza will moderate the conversation.
Oaxacan Food Lecture Series withWriter Bill Esparza
Through a series of talks at neighborhood libraries across the city, Bill Esparza, a James Beard award-winner and Los Angeles-based journalist, will discuss the history of Oaxacan food in Southern California, along with a survey of the current “Oaxacalifornia” scene.
Fabric Dyes of Oaxaca withArtist Ashley Thayer
Learn about natural dyeing methods of Oaxaca with artist Ashley Thayer, who has been inspired by traditional Oaxacan dyes such as indigo and pomegranate.
For detailed program and exhibition information, visit lfla.org/oaxaca.
As the Library Foundation kicks-off its celebration of Pacific Standard Time: LA/LA, Lost and Found at the Movies will explore the breadth and diversity of Latino film culture in Los Angeles. On Friday, September 15, special guest Edward James Olmos will take the stage to share stories from his own life of growing up in L.A. and how his work as an actor and director was deeply embedded in the emergence of a new Latino cinema—one of rich, complex characters and narratives, including films like Zoot Suit, TheBallad of Gregorio Cortez, Stand and Deliver, and American Me.
As Lost and Found always likes to dig up untold stories of cinema history, this program will take a look at the fascinating history of Spanish language films created by the Hollywood studios in the early 1930s as well as films imported from Mexico and other Latin American countries. These films make up an underappreciated aspect of film culture that fostered a vibrant, Latin cinema community which thrived for decades in Los Angeles, sustaining a number of first-run Spanish-language movie theaters downtown, instigating the Hollywood studio system during the early days of talkies, and producing Spanish language products for both the burgeoning domestic market and international export, particularly Latin America. We’ll take a closer look at one of these most famous surviving films: the Spanish version of Universal’s 1931 Dracula—Drácula.
There are hundreds of other films, each with their distinctive qualities that feature actors who went on to have remarkable careers like José Bohr, Carlos Gardel, Dolores del Río, Antonio Moreno, Lupita Tovar, and more. The actors who starred in these films were a core part of the Spanish-language film culture of downtown Los Angeles that thrived for several decades from the 1920s to well into the 1960s. We’ll discuss these along with film archivist Alejandra Espasande-Bouza from the Academy Film Archive. L.A. audiences will be able to view many of these films this fall as part of PST through programming at the Academy as well as at UCLA.
Learn more about this upcoming program and make your free reservation for Lost and Found.
If you want to learn more about local history, check out the LAPL’s photo collection series Shades of L.A., which includes several of the above photos made accessible through a grant from the John Randolph Haynes and Dora Haynes Foundation. Read more about the life and work of Haynes in Tom Sitton’s book John Randolph Haynes, California Progressive.
Books, baseball, and ice cream–what more could you want from summer? With a bustling slate of ALOUD programs, a renewed partnership with the Dodgers, and an entire month dedicated to celebrating our Members, the Library Foundation has officially mastered the art of summer. Before we head into fall, here’s a look back at some of the special moments we’ve shared with our community over the last few months–all in the spirit of supporting the Los Angeles Public Library.
The Home Team Through a renewed partnership with the Los Angeles Dodgers Foundation and a pledge of $50,000 to support Summer at the Library, Dodger players, alumni, announcers and manager Dave Roberts led story-times at eight branch libraries. The Los Angeles Dodgers Foundation also motivated young Angelenos to keep learning through the summer by giving away over 500 tickets to Summer Reading participants, including a suite for lucky winners, and plenty of hats and t-shirts during story-time events.
Dave Roberts reads to kids at the Arroyo Seco Branch.Grant Dayton finds lots of young fans.Ross Stripling cheers on readers at the Chinatown branch.
Welcome to ALOUD!
“I don’t dance, I don’t sing, I don’t speak my tribal language. The only thing that connects me to millennia upon millennia of tribal tradition is storytelling. I am at my most indigenous when I am telling stories,” said Sherman Alexie recently at ALOUD. For more than two decades, ALOUD has been cultivating a loyal following of audience members who gather regularly around the year to hear stories from world-renowned authors, artists, scientists, philosophers, and more. This summer, ALOUD welcomed many first timers to ALOUD with three off-site events at the Aratani Theatre. Around 40-50% of these audiences were new to ALOUD, all coming out for some of the most buzzed-about books of the summer, including Roxane Gay with Hunger: A Memoir of (MY) Body, Arundhati Roy with The Ministry of Utmost Happiness (watch below), and Sherman Alexie with You Don’t Have to Say You Love Me.
Sherman Alexie signs books after his reading and performance.Journalist Ann Friedman converses with Roxane Gay.
We Love Our Members
Membership to the Library Foundation ensures that the Central Library and 72 neighborhood branches provide unparalleled and equal access to programs and services for all ages across the city, and as a way to give thanks for this critical support, we celebrated Membership Appreciation Month throughout July. With a series of special events, benefits, giveaways, and more, we had a blast giving back to our Members, including the super sweet Ice Cream Social, where Members were treated to over 300 complimentary scoops of Jeni’s Ice Cream.
Sugar highs at the Ice Cream Social.Members gather at Central Library for summer fun.Young patrons learn about circuitry by making LED flowers at the Ice Cream Social.
Thank you to our supporters for making this a great summer for all Angelenos!
From a small pueblo to one of the hottest real estate markets in the country, groundbreaking architects have transformed how Angelenos live. A few ofthese great houses remain, but over the years, many have been demolished. Take a peek at some of these historic dwellings in Sam Watters’ book, Houses of Los Angeles. This book is part of a collection from the John Randolph Haynes and Dora Haynes Foundation that we’re spotlighting this summer.
The top photo shows a late Victorian period home designed by George W. Morgan in 1887, that was declared an historic monument by the Los Angeles Cultural Heritage Board in June 1966. It was first located at 4501 North Figueroa (originally Pasadena Avenue), then in 1970, it was moved to Heritage Square Museum in Montecito Heights. The bottom photo shows the stately home of Doctor and Mrs. Haynes, located at 2324 South Figueroa. It was designed in 1912 in the classic style of a French town house by Robert D. Farquhar, a distinguished architect whose work in Los Angeles includes the William Andrew Clark Memorial Library, the California Club, and Beverly Hills High School, all of which are still standing. However, the Haynes house was demolished in 1952 to make way for the 110 Freeway.
Explore more about the history of L.A. as a place, how it’s organized and governed, and how it became the city it is today in these other books:
If you want to learn more about local history, check out the LAPL’s photo collection series Shades of L.A., which includes the top photo above that was made accessible through a grant from the John Randolph Haynes and Dora Haynes Foundation. Also, if you want to learn the history of your own house, check out the LAPL’s research resources.
We’re are thankful for our dedicated group of supporters every month of the year, but in July we full-out celebrate their commitment to the Los Angeles Public Library. Membership to the Library Foundation ensures that the Central Library and 72 neighborhood branches provide unparalleled and equal access to programs and services for all ages across the city.
As a thanks to our Members, throughout the month of July we’re offering many special benefits provided by our generous sponsors. Here are a few ways you can support the organizations that support the Library–all of which will make your summer a little sweeter!
—We all scream for ice cream! A delicious and lively gathering for Members at Central Library on July 23–the Ice Cream Social with complimentary treats provided by Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams.
—Imbibe for books! Enjoy Library-inspired cocktails that give back to the Library Foundation at Cafe Pinot, right off the steps of Central Library. Or while at Angel City Brewery, get 15% off merchandise when you show your LFLA Membership card.
—Transform your view of L.A.! Save on Skypace Admission and Skyspace Combo tickets at OUE Skyspace.
There’s also many great goodies from our other sponsors as part of giveaways, social media drawings, and special discounts. Click here to learn more about all of these benefits and how to access your Membership codes for these specials. And if you are not already a Member, consider joining today to take advantage of these July events! Your Membership to the Library Foundation enhances the Los Angeles Public Library’s high-caliber programs that nurture literacy, the imagination, and lifelong learning.
If you don’t know what to expect for this Monday’s Lost & Found at the Movies: The Dinner Game, you’re not alone. Series curator John Nein doesn’t know either, but that’s one of the delightful aspects of the series. What we do know is that movie history’s best and worst dinners frequently hinge around strange twists, unexpected guests, and drunken debauchery.
But here are a few things you can expect. If you’re wondering about IMDb founder Col Needham’s favorite films, we’ll ask him. He managed to meet a personal goal of seeing 10,000 movies before his 50th birthday, which was earlier this year, and he’s a prolific user of his own IMDb list-making (you’ll find some fun ones like top 10 Roman Empire films and an appreciation of 70s paranoia).
And as promised, we’ve assembled an unpredictable, irreverent group of self-avowed film lovers to play a “dinner game” that has been a staple at the dinners that Col and IMDb throw a few times a year at various festivals.
Our guests include the always hilarious actressMolly Shannon (Saturday Night Live, Superstar, Other People), filmmakerMiguel Arteta (Chuck & Buck, The Good Girl, Cedar Rapids), producer Lynette Howell Taylor (Captain Fantastic, Blue Valentine, Half Nelson) and Sundance Film Festival DirectorJohn Cooper.
By coincidence, both Molly and Miguel were at Sundance this year with these dinner movies:
And if you need to brush up on your dinner etiquette before you arrive, here are some helpful tips from a 1940s dinner party:
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