Getty Tuesday: Photography and the Black Arts Movement, 1955-1985
The Getty doesn't have fancy frappes, so I started my visit with an iced mocha latte accompanied by a small bag of Garden Salsa Sun Chips.
One of these ducks hovered around my table while I snacked; a few minutes later I noticed both of them basking in the warm early March sun.
"Pictures told, for those who could not see themselves, of the strength and the beauty of the people, of the hostility and anger of the opposition, and of the promise of a world free of racism."
Julian Bond, 1940-2015
The National Gallery of Art in Washington DC, organized the exhibit and showed it there before it traveled over to here.
I didn't imagine counting how many photographs or how many rooms it all encompassed. Although I did imagine the Getty website would say something about that, it didn't, so I'll say it was extensive. I found the detailed but not endless descriptions most helpful
A lot of the pictures featured well-known leaders of the civil rights movement. It's no surprise most of the photography was black and white. Some were done in a private venue or by a regular person – participant or observer – with an unnamed camera and unidentified film; most were from newspapers, a few for magazines. I'd guess a press cameras (such as a Speed Graphic) captured most of the people and events, and the newspaper shots would have been printed at a resolution around 200 ppi or less. That overall style propelled the viewer back in time.
To end my day off, I'd planned and counted on Subway to celebrate Tuna Tuesday and continue the Sun Chips theme, but when I got there the small shopping center was closed because of a water main not draining, so I got El Pollo Loco instead. It tasted great and even provided leftovers!
Another Tuesday outing, this time to the museum complex for my first ever visit to the California African American Museum for some art, history, and culture.
Colorful collages line the walls.
Albert Chong, Aunt Winnie
Dominique Moody, Reunion, 1996. Collage front and back
Henri Paul Broyard, born 1989, Los Angeles. UGDA, 2021.
Acrylic and spray paint on canvas
I didn't get the title or the subject
Doyle Lane, born 1923 New Orleans, died 2002 Los Angeles. untitled, 1980-1989
Nine earthenware glazed fish
Dinosaur ironing board and irons
MLK Boulevard
Power to the people!
Engraved placard
How about this United Airlines DC-8?
After plans to visit the Getty Villa in Pacific Palisades on my day off fell through due to its being closed on Tuesdays, I ventured to downtown Santa Monica – DTSM – and the beach. At first I thought I'd wait for my monthly rundown before blogging any of it, but I got more good pictures than a summary blog can accommodate and I needed to write about the Third Street Promenade.
Third Street Promenade
During my first year in LA, Third Street Promenade was one of my best and favorite places to have fun; it was well-landscaped for pedestrians-only shopping and dining, packed with national retailers and some local ones, and included many spots along the way to sit, lounge, or socialize. Its current City of Santa Monica website describes it as world-class, and back then it probably qualified—or close to it.
Third Street Promenade in Spring 2016
Since 2016, online shopping has taken more of a hold (understatement), as it probably would have even without help from the Covid pandemic, so that's an obvious factor in what I saw on Tuesday. Related more specifically to Santa Monica, after the murder of George Floyd in May 2020, riots and looting in contiguous Los Angeles spilled over into Santa Monica and a police department that may have been capable of controlling and dispersing more conventional crowds and uprisings, but… this was different.
"I'm so old" I used to love browsing, shopping, and hanging out at malls, but as I recently blogged, the decline and death of the North American mall has disenchanted me and I'd basically quit the habit, anyway.
Returning to "what I saw on Tuesday." A ghost town trying to act brave. A dead mall that hasn't been buried or converted to another use necessarily pretending it won't always be like this. I didn't even try to count the number or percentage of storefronts without tenants. Though I don't recall Third Street Promenade ever being packed with people any time I visited, "sparse" is too generous a word for the current decimation of everything.
I didn't recognize the names of most of the stores! The only brands represented that I'd ever buy from were Barnes & Noble, Anthropologie, and Urban Outfitters. There was a Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf I determined to return to before I left, but instead I got a hazelnut frappe at CB&TL when I visited the pier after leaving the promenade.
In the category of "what can we make of this," although Tuesday was January 13th and Christmas is long over (even if you include January 6th, the day of Epiphany as part of the Nativity season), both brick and mortar and online retailers have taken down their Christmas trees, reindeers, and jingle bells because it's time to sell and shop for Valentine's Day, with maybe a thought for MLK Day and Black History Month along the way. But Third Street Promenade still was about trees and lights.
You don't need to search deeply to find articles that analyze all of this from almost any perspective. It doesn't make me feel nostalgic; it just makes me sad. It feels like an icon of so many pasts we knew yet don't truly want to return to, but we don't know what to do with the memories of those pasts or the realities of this present.
Santa Monica Pier
Because I was close to the beach, a visit to Santa Monica Pier was logical. I could pretend to be a tourist! Maybe you already knew that's where Route 66 ends?
I'll wrap this up with some pictures. I hope you enjoy them!
On the way back from the pier I met a flock of seagulls, but I was only quick enough to picture this one.
• City Paradise Lectionary Project for January
• Los Angeles has been experiencing worst ever wildfires that caused massive destruction of homes, buildings, and lives. We're thankful for the many out of state and out of country fire companies that have helped fight these fires. With aerial control being the default for this type of blaze, high Santa Ana winds were a major reason the fires spread so fast and far, because no one can fly any aircraft in a gale or hurricane..
• I attended the MLK Day celebration in Hawthorne again. It was exceptional! Here's the worship program cover and a couple of collages I made in google photos.
• The church treasurer gave me this bouquet on the last Sunday of January!!! Fresh flowers always are a treat, but these are exceptional. I don't know who got the other bunch.
