APRIL AT THE HUNTINGTON
—EXHIBITIONS—
Alex Israel at The Huntington
Dec 12, 2015 - Jul 11, 2016
Huntington Art Gallery
The Huntington presents an “intervention” in its historic Huntington Art Gallery of works by Alex Israel, one of the most recognizable emerging artists on the contemporary art stage. “Alex Israel at The Huntington,” integrates a significant group of Israel’s works—including paintings (freestanding and mural) and sculpture in sizes ranging from five inches to 16 feet—throughout the Beaux Arts building that once served as the residence of Gilded Age collectors Henry E. and Arabella Huntington.
The Artist’s Garden: American Impressionism and the Garden Movement, 1887–1920
Jan 23 - May 09, 2016
MaryLou and George Boone Gallery
During the only West Coast stop on a national tour, The Huntington’s presentation of “The Artist’s Garden: American Impressionism and the Garden Movement, 1887–1920” showcases a hand-picked selection of 17 paintings from the exhibition that originated at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, exploring the connections between the American impressionist movement and the emergence of gardening as a middle-class leisure pursuit.
A World of Strangers: Crowds in American Art
Oct. 17, 2015 - April 5, 2016
Huntington Art Gallery
Crowds are the temporary groups that strangers form at baseball games, parades, riots, and on city streets. Fickle and ephemeral, crowds can be joyous, destructive, or somber. As this focused loan exhibition of about 20 works shows, artists have represented groups of people as patterns of dots, murky silhouettes, and teeming, river-like currents of cars and machinery.
—PUBLIC PROGRAMS AND EVENTS—
Second Thursday Garden Talk
Exploring the Beauty of California's Native Flora
April 14 (Thursday) 2:30 p.m.
Vast flower fields once blanketed California’s mountains, deserts, and valleys; today, only small pockets remain. Award-winning photographer David Leaser brings renewed attention to these vanishing botanical treasures with his new collection of fine art photographs. In this illustrated talk, Leaser takes viewers behind the scenes for a close-up look at the innovative techniques he uses to capture California’s most breathtaking native flowers in extremely enlarged images that pop with bold colors, intriguing patterns, and exquisite detail. Free; no reservations required. Ahmanson Room, Brody Botanical Center
Shakespeare Day
April 16 (Saturday) 11 a.m.–3 p.m.
This year marks the 400th anniversary of William Shakespeare’s death; yet, even after four centuries, the appeal of his work remains timeless. His plays are rediscovered, reinterpreted, and reinvigorated by each new generation. The Huntington marks this milestone anniversary with a day-long celebration that will feature multiple takes on the Bard, from the traditional to the contemporary, presented by professional actors and singers as well as students. Members of the Independent Shakespeare Co. and the Guild of St. George will perform scenes from some of the Shakespeare’s best-loved plays in locations throughout the grounds. Theater students from the East Los Angeles Performing Arts Academy at Esteban E. Torres High School will offer excerpts from their recent Huntington-staged production of “Twelfth Night.” Members of LA Opera will perform songs from operas based on Shakespeare’s plays, and the Music Center’s touring ensemble, Will & Company, will present an adaptation of “Romeo and Juliet” geared to school-aged children. Interactive workshops and craft activities will round out the day, allowing children to explore Shakespeare and his world. Visitors can also view The Huntington’s rare “First Folio” edition of Shakespeare’s collected plays and other related works in the Library Exhibition Hall. General admission.
Teahouse Tour & Tea Experience
April 17 (Sunday) Noon, 1, 2 & 3 p.m.
Explore the traditions of the Japanese tea ceremony in a 90-minute program that includes a tour of The Huntington's ceremonial teahouse, Seifu-an, and its surrounding tea garden, followed by a participatory tea ceremony in the Ikebana House. Choice of four times. Tickets: $15. (For non-Members, Huntington admission is an additional required cost.) Registration: huntington.org/calendar
Southern California Gardener Series
Wildcrafted Cuisine: Flavors of the Local Landscape
April 17 (Sunday) 2 p.m.
Professional forager Pascal Baudar sees Southern California as a culinary playground, full of wild plants and other edibles that are ripe to be rediscovered and appreciated. He discusses a contemporary culinary approach to these truly local ingredients in a talk drawn from his book The New Wildcrafted Cuisine: Exploring the Exotic Gastronomy of Local Terroir. A book signing follows the talk. General admission; no reservations required. Ahmanson Room, Brody Botanical Center
MAY AT THE HUNTINGTON
—EXHIBITIONS—
Alex Israel at The Huntington
Dec 12, 2015 - Jul 11, 2016
The Huntington presents an “intervention” in its historic Huntington Art Gallery of works by Alex Israel, one of the most recognizable emerging artists on the contemporary art stage. “Alex Israel at The Huntington,” integrates a significant group of Israel’s works—including paintings (freestanding and mural) and sculpture in sizes ranging from five inches to 16 feet—throughout the Beaux Arts building that once served as the residence of Gilded Age collectors Henry E. and Arabella Huntington.
The Artist’s Garden: American Impressionism and the Garden Movement, 1887–1920
Jan 23 - May 09, 2016
During the only West Coast stop on a national tour, The Huntington’s presentation of “The Artist’s Garden: American Impressionism and the Garden Movement, 1887–1920” showcases a hand-picked selection of 17 paintings from the exhibition that originated at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, exploring the connections between the American impressionist movement and the emergence of gardening as a middle-class leisure pursuit.
Geographies of Wonder
May 14 - Sep 03, 2016
Geographies of Wonder, Part 1: Origin Stories of America’s National Parks, 1872-1933
The year 2016 marks the centennial of the National Park Service. To celebrate this anniversary, The Huntington presents two consecutive exhibitions (the second will open October 2016) exploring the origins and evolution of the national park idea through rare materials selected from The Huntington’s American history archives.
—PUBLIC PROGRAMS AND EVENTS—
Mother’s Day Brunch
May 7 & 8 (Saturday & Sunday)
Seatings at 10:30am, 12:30pm, 2:30pm
Join us Mother's Day weekend for a delicious meal under the dome of the Rose Hills Foundation Garden Court. A focal point of the visitor center because of its distinctive 36-foot-high glass dome, the Garden Court is a sheltered courtyard lush with spectacular palms and ferns. Exquisite scenery, a musical ensemble, and a mouth-watering menu make this the perfect way to celebrate Mother's Day. Tickets: $55 per person, children 4-12: $27.50, 3 and under: free. Advance reservations are required and can be made by calling 626-405-2246.
Fiber Arts Day
May 7 (Saturday) 10:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m.
The centuries-old crafts of spinning, weaving, and dyeing with natural plant dyes will be showcased in this program in The Huntington's Herb Garden. Skilled craftspeople will demonstrate the tools and techniques for carding and combing fibers such as cotton and linen, spinning the fibers into yarn or thread, weaving, and making natural dyes using herbs and other plant materials. General admission.
Carnegie Observatories Lecture Series
Exoplanets
May 2 (Monday) 7:30 p.m.
While it has been only 20 years since astronomers first discovered planets outside of our solar system, several of these so-called “exoplanets” are already known to have liquid water on their surfaces. In just ten years, scientists will have the technological ability to search for signs of life, like oxygen and methane, in the atmospheres of a few select exoplanets. Astronomer Kevin Schlaufman, Carnegie-Princeton Fellow at the Observatories of the Carnegie Institution for Science, tells the story of exoplanets to date, and outlines the progress being made in the search for life elsewhere in our galaxy. Free; no reservations required. Information: www.obs.carnegiescience.edu. Rothenberg Hall
Carnegie Observatories Lecture Series
The Secret Lives of Galaxies
May 16 (Monday) 7:30 p.m.
The Hubble sequence of galaxies resembles a simple classification chart, yet underneath the neatly aligned shapes and colors lie complex and violent histories. Through radio, infrared, UV, and optical astronomy, scientists can deduce these histories, and the future. Astronomer Katherine Alatalo, Hubble Fellow at the Carnegie Observatories, will tour the Hubble sequence, from "young" to "old" galaxies, exploring three avenues to galactic transitions: the quiet, slow fade; the violent merger; and the quietly violent evolution of a galaxy, likely due to a supermassive black hole in its center. By exploring how each piece of the puzzle fits with every other piece, says Alatalo, we not only understand the evolution of the Universe, but shed light on the most fundamental questions of how we got here. Free; no reservations required. Information: www.obs.carnegiescience.edu. Rothenberg Hall
# # #
About The Huntington
The Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens is a collections-based research and educational institution serving scholars and the general public. More information about The Huntington can be found online at huntington.org
Visitor information
The Huntington is located at 1151 Oxford Rd., San Marino, Calif., 12 miles from downtown Los Angeles. It is open to the public Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday from noon to 4:30 p.m.; and Saturday, Sunday, and Monday holidays from 10:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Summer hours (Memorial Day through Labor Day) are 10:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Closed Tuesdays and major holidays. Information: 626-405-2100 or huntington.org