Dorano Jewelry Makes Special Days Sparkle

2nd February 20263rd February 2026 / May S Ruiz / Leave a comment

Also published on 2 February 2026 on Hey SoCal

The Dorano Jewelry store on Huntington Drive in Arcadia. | Photo by May S. Ruiz/Hey SoCal

Gold is regarded as a risk-averse asset and safe haven during times of uncertainty. And recent geopolitical instability sent the price of gold soaring to an unprecedented high of over $5,000 per ounce then plunged below that mark.

But long before the huge demand for it and the wild price swings grabbed financial news headlines, the enduring value of gold inspired songs from Neil Young’s “Heart of Gold” to Harry Styles’ “Golden.” The metal — universally enjoyed as a piece of jewelry — symbolizes beauty, longevity, power, status and wealth.

In certain Asian cultures, gold figures prominently in people’s customs and traditions. Newborn children in China are commonly gifted with a piece of gold jewelry; gold is also a part of the Lunar New Year celebrations. In Korea, a gold ring is usually given for a child’s first birthday. In India, gold is purchased during the annual Diwali festival to bring wealth and good luck.

For Garen Avetisyan, proprietor of the Dorano Jewelry store on Huntington Drive in Arcadia, jewelry and the craftsmanship behind it are his life’s work. Creating memorable pieces are a source of pride and joy for this immigrant from Armenia who now calls Glendale home.

A 14-karat yellow gold necklace and ring with fancy sapphires. | Photo by May S. Ruiz/HeySoCal.com

Avetisyan’s story is that of very immigrant’s journey from their homeland to a new place to build a new life. Born and raised in Yerevan, Armenia, he started working in the jewelry business when he was 18. In 2012, at the age of 37, he and his family migrated to California and the following year he opened Dorano Jewelry.

Making jewelry is an art and skill that Avetisyan honed back in Armenia. He relates, “I had family members in the jewelry business and I always enjoyed watching them work, so I decided to follow in their footsteps. I took private jewelry courses in Armenia and also spent years observing, reading and educating myself on the profession and training. I still continue to expand my knowledge to this day.”

Uprooting oneself and beginning anew in a foreign country is a huge challenge and Avetisyan knows it only too well.

“I began looking for a storefront for my jewelry business soon after my family and I came to California,” Avetisyan recalls. “Since I had only been in America for such a short period of time, I had no credit history. Therefore, a lot of people turned me down despite the fact that I was willing to pay for a few months in advance. It was very difficult to gain people’s trust. I stumbled across one location in Arcadia and spoke to the owner directly. Thankfully, after our conversation, he decided to give me a chance and that’s how my shop opened in Arcadia in early 2013.”

A display case at Dorano Jewelry. | Photo by May S. Ruiz/HeySoCal.com

The moniker he gave to his shop — Dorano Jewelry — is a portmanteau of sorts and has a special meaning. Reveals Avetisyan, “I always admired the Italian language and used it as an inspiration for my store name. ‘Oro’ is Italian for gold and ‘d’oro’ refers to something made of gold. I incorporated these words and created the unique name of ‘Dorano.’ I believe it reflects the elegance and timelessness associated with gold jewelry.”

While finding the location for his shop was a fortuitous initial step, making a success of the business seemed an insurmountable undertaking early on in his business venture. He struggled to make ends meet yet he persevered.

Avetisyan says, “The first few years were very difficult for me because I was starting over in a new country and speaking a language not native to me. I had no connections, no reputation and didn’t know a lot of people. But I chose to continue this journey because I felt a huge responsibility to continue my life’s work that I had begun in Armenia. I didn’t view this passion of mine only as a job but also a skill that had so much history and hard work behind it. I had confidence in myself and my ability and I knew that if people gave me a chance, they would also recognize value in my work.”

“I realized that I was making progress when customers would visit the shop and share that they were recommended by my other clients,” continues Avetisyan. “I was excited that word of mouth was growing because it meant I was building trust with the community. As more people became happy with the work and product I was providing them with, I knew that all the struggle was worth it and continued to work just as hard.”

Garen Avetisyan, jeweler/gemologist and proprietor of Dorano Jewelry. | Photo by May S. Ruiz/HeySoCal.com

There is no shortage of jewelry stores in the vicinity — every mall has at least one — where shoppers can buy a necklace, ring or a pair of earrings. But what could be more exceptional than owning a bespoke piece that reflects one’s individuality? Custom work is Dorano Jewelry’s niche and Avertisyan has set out to make his shop stand apart.

He declares, “Dorano Jewelry is unique due to our deep expertise and detailed attention to each client. The staff is skilled across all aspects of the business, including custom designs, appraisals, repairs, sales and more. Thus, customers receive all services in one place quickly yet efficiently. This helps us ensure consistency and quality, and build close relationships with all our guests.”

“Dorano Jewelry holds itself to a high standard and has maintained this benchmark of care since day one,” Avetisyan emphasizes. “The business first advertised on television and social media to try and spread the word. After our first year, we relied primarily on word of mouth, focusing on growing the business through trust and reputation. Over time, satisfied customers became the best promotion.”

Being able to offer a variety of services has served Avetisyan well. “Dorano Jewelry operates as a ‘one stop shop’ as the business is evenly divided among custom work, repair services and jewelry sales from our display,” he says. “Each of these areas makes up approximately one-third of our business, allowing us to serve a wide variety of customer needs.”

14-karat white gold ring with green tsavorites and diamonds. | Photo by May S. Ruiz/HeySoCal.com

Many people think bespoke jewelry is prohibitively expensive — a misconception that Avetisyan hastens to clarify.

“Custom jewelry is definitely affordable at Dorano Jewelry,” Avetisyan asserts. “The most requested items are engagement rings and wedding bands and we offer a large variety of options and customizable details to best fit our clients’ budget. Whether they are simple elegant designs to more intricate pieces, we work very closely with all clients to ensure they receive the best quality within their budget.”

But it isn’t just the product and service that make Dorano Jewelry different. Avetisyan clarifies, “Dorano Jewelry is more than just a jewelry store, it’s a community and welcoming space. We focus on building a relationship based on trust and connection, allowing clients to come to us for guidance and support. Through this genuine relationship, we celebrate the most meaningful life moments together — from engagements to weddings to family milestones. The community feeling is what makes this store so special.”

Repeat business and customer loyalty are vital for every business’s success. And Dorano Jewelry has been fortunate to have both.

“Sixty percent of our business is generated from existing clients while 40% comes from new customers,” says Averisyan. “The majority of our clients are locals — I would say about 80% are from Arcadia, Pasadena and nearby cities. The remaining 20% is from Santa Barbara, San Diego and even clients who now reside in Las Vegas and visit us sometimes.”

14-karat rose gold ring with pink quartz, diamonds, pink sapphires and rubies. | Photo by May S. Ruiz/Hey SoCal

Asked if there’s one particular piece he has created over the years that is memorable, Avetisyan quickly replies, “A client wished to design a custom ring based on a lost heirloom left behind by the client’s ancestors. We worked closely together to maintain the sentimental value of the ring based on the client’s memory and description of the heirloom. Our goal was to preserve its history while also customizing the ring to best fit the client’s style and needs. We used an amethyst for the center stone and incorporated Indian symbols reflected through shape and detailing, referring to custom 3D designs to guide us. We achieved a refined and timeless finish.”

“I specifically remember the extensive research involved with this piece,” Avetisyan expounds. “To fully understand what the client wanted and realize the client’s vision, I studied symbolism and cultural meaning to best design the historical elements with accuracy and respect. I had the chance to explore this cultural background, making the piece challenging to make but with a rewarding outcome. It was one of the coolest projects I completed, learning a lot in the process.”

Having a piece of jewelry created by Dorano Jewelry means acquiring something that evokes significance for the person wearing it. Whether it’s to celebrate Valentine’s Day, a birthday, a wedding or anniversary, jewelry makes any special occasion sparkle. But it can also be just a practical, wearable investment — and jewelry makes even the everyday shine.

Holiday Motor Excursion Showcases Rare Antique Cars

9th January 2026 / May S Ruiz / Leave a comment

Also published on 9 January 2026 on Hey SoCal

Peter Eastwood’s 1910 Stevens Duryea

For residents of the Michillinda Park neighborhood in East Pasadena, an ostentation of peacocks promenading on the boulevard is an everyday sight. But on a recent Sunday morning, we are pleasantly surprised to observe dozens of antique and vintage automobiles driving past our house.

It is a fascinating spectacle that invites further investigation. I take a break from pruning my roses and walk about 200 feet to Michillinda Park where I see several antique cars on the road while people chat by tables laden with pots of hot cocoa and coffee. I learn that this car show is an annual event and someone points out the organizers, Jean and Peter Eastwood, who are siblings and lifelong Pasadena residents.

A 1909 Pierce Arrow (left) and 1920 Model T Ford (right). | Photo by May S. Ruiz / Hey SoCal

I approach the Eastwoods and Peter proudly says that this is the 69^th year they’ve been holding this annual antique car show. He proceeds to give me the history of the event, which is known as the Holiday Motor Excursion (HME), but interrupts himself to inform me that he actually has the history written down somewhere.

Indeed for the 40^th anniversary of HME, Peter authored a write-up about how the event originated on behalf of the Eastwood family.

December 25th in Southern California is, more often than not, sunny and clear. It was on one of those Christmas days back in the early 1950s when the seed was planted that eventually grew into the Holiday Motor Excursion.

In Pasadena that Christmas morning, Doug and June Eastwood suggested to their five children, after opening their presents,“Let’s go to Uncle Warwick and Aunt Millie’s to see what (cousins) Joyce and Elaine got.”

Jean and Peter Eastwood. | Photo by May S. Ruiz / Hey SoCal

It did not take long for Richard, Sharon, Jean, Peter, and David to squeeze into Dad’s Model T Ford for the ride over there. After the cousins compared gifts, Warwick’s 1905 Buick was cranked up and a short trip around the corner took the families to Bill and Lola Collier’s house for a look at Nancy’s presents. This prompted Bill to take out his 1910 Maxwell and the three families went for a short ride. Then to Ward and Betty Kimballs’s house for Christmas cookies and tea.

It only took a year or two for the spontaneous Christmas Day itinerary to expand and visits were made to the homes of John Walgamott, Bob Coombes, Louis Cook, Dick Mendelson, and other Pasadena area Horseless Carriage Club friends.

The sight of a small caravan of antique cars crisscrossing Pasadena only hours after Santa had been there was always greeted with cheers from the neighborhood residents.

1920 Duesenberg racecar. | Photo by May S. Ruiz / Hey SoCal

Before long, club members from outside the area were feeling left out. The explanation that the Eastwoods were just out having some fun and that it really wasn’t an organized club event was not what they wanted to hear.

It was at this time in the mid-1950s when families in their antique cars started showing up at Doug or Warwick’s house on Christmas morning, not wanting to miss out on “the fun.” Over the years, homemade cookies had to be supplemented with store bought doughnuts and the first of several 100-cup coffee pots were put into service.

1911 Pope Hartford. | Photo by May S. Ruiz / Hey SoCal

Sometime in the late 1960s the event date was changed to the weekend between the holidays and the departure point was moved to the Pancake House located between Doug’s and Warwick’s homes. As the event grew in popularity, the Model T Club and other clubs with newer cars joined in. In the late 1980s, to maintain the flavor of early day motoring and to keep the event to a manageable size, participants were invited to bring vehicles built before 1933.

Over the years the HME has been fortunate to be invited to visit many wonderful family homes, collections, and businesses in the area. Many visits have been made to the Dean Hensley, Burton Burton, and Don Ricardo Collections, just to name a few.

Somewhere along the line the HME. was adopted as a Horseless Carriage Club of Southern California event but the Eastwood family still handles all the event planning. For over 30 years Warwick and Millie hosted the dessert stop at their home at the event’s conclusion. In 1994 they decided to take it easy and Gary and Sheryl Hunter eagerly volunteered to take over and host the party at their home in nearby Arcadia.

The popularity of the event can be gauged by the 450 nametags and 150 copies of driving instructions given out last year – not to mention 30 dozen doughnuts, 400 cups of coffee, and 200 cups of orange juice.

1925 White Yosemite Tour Bus (yellow car on left), 1923 Model T Ford (right); 1910 Jackson (in back)

At some later time, the Arcadia County Park became the Holiday Motor Excursion’s departure point. Cars arrive as early as 6:30 but the event officially commences at 7:30 and the tour begins promptly at 9:30.

“This year there are 110 participating cars,” discloses Eastwood. “I believe the oldest car this year is a 1909 Stanley (steam powered!). A few arrived on trailers but most are driven to the event. I know that two of the cars that came by trailer were from Arroyo Grand and Hanford, California.”

1929 Model A Ford. | Photo by May S. Ruiz / Hey SoCal

Continues Eastwood, “The tour route is usually around 30 miles. We drive about 10 miles winding through the picturesque neighborhoods of Arcadia and Pasadena. Then we stop at a different park for coffee and donuts provided by our club – the donut stop is part of the event’s annual traditions.”

“Then we carry on for another 20 miles through more scenic Pasadena neighborhoods along the arroyo and other areas,” Eastwood adds. “We then circle back for lunch at Clearman’s North Woods Inn or Clearman’s Galley on Huntington Drive and Rosemead Blvd. From there we take a short drive to a nearby club member’s house for dessert. The route changes every year because we want to keep people guessing. But we come to Michillinda Park every two or three years”

The Horseless Carriage Club (HCC) doesn’t promote the event to the public according to Eastwood. The information is posted on the club’s website for the car owners. HME shirts – the artwork for which was created by Disney animator and HCC member Ward Kimball – are available at the event and they are discussing selling them through the club website.

Model T Ford. | Photo by May S. Ruiz / Hey SoCal

Unlike other antique car shows, HME is not a fundraising affair. Eastwood clarifies, “The event is merely an opportunity for the car owners and their families to have some holiday fun. The emphasis is on the driving aspect. We are fortunate that we can enjoy our cars this time of year – many clubs in other areas don’t have the weather we have.”

After a while, the tables of drinks and donuts are cleared and club members get in their cars to resume the tour. The drivers and passengers of the antique cars happily wave to people who happen to see them making their way to their scheduled stop on the route. And at every stop bystanders and onlookers marvel at the exquisite automobiles.

What started for the Eastwood family as a fun Christmas day jaunt around the neighborhood has grown into an eagerly anticipated annual tradition for hundreds of car enthusiasts and even those who might know next to nothing about antique cars. Watching the beautiful rare cars we don’t normally see on our streets certainly puts a smile on our face. What a delightful treat!

Local Man Founds Rebuild Altadena from the Ashes of Eaton Fire

5th January 20265th January 2026 / May S Ruiz / 1 Comment

Also published on 5 January 2026 on Hey SoCal

A view of the Eaton Fire on Washington Blvd. in north Pasadena. | Photo courtesy of Grigory Heaton/Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Jan. 7, 2025, dawned bright, clear, and very windy in the San Gabriel Valley, with the mountain peaks clad in snow. Most Altadenans and Pasadenans went about their usual chores and workday despite the windstorm. But by the end of that fateful day the lives of several thousand people in these two towns would be upended.

According to news reports, shortly after 6 p.m., residents observed flames on a hillside in Eaton Canyon. While the fire itself was not large, 59 mph wind gusts pushed sparks across the canyon. The wind shifted the embers west into central Altadena and decimated a large swath of the unincorporated L.A. county area.

The Eaton Fire was the fifth deadliest and second most destructive wildfire in California’s history. Approximately 7,000 residential and commercial structures burned to the ground overnight, with 19 deaths reported. Most of the residents are still temporarily housed, residing in motels and extended-stay hotels in Pasadena and neighboring cities.

The Rose Bowl parking lot serves as the base for hundreds of firefighters. | Photo courtesy of Tom Stokesberry of the Forest Fire Service/Wikimedia Commons

An Altadena man, David Ly, and his family were among those who were displaced. He recalls the horrors they experienced.

“Jan. 7 started for us like a normal day,” says Ly. “We heard about a fire, but at first we didn’t think much of it. Fires happen, and you assume it’ll be contained. Later that day, my brother, who lives in the Highland Oaks area of Arcadia, called and said he could see the fire raging behind his house. He told us he was evacuating to our parents’ place and that we should do the same because the wind could turn at any moment. That’s when it became real and was truly one of the most traumatizing days of my life.”

“I remember going back on the morning of Jan. 8 thinking the fire was done because as I drove up Lake Avenue, everything seemed quiet,” Ly continues. “I had no idea I was literally driving into an area still burning. I saw homes on fire, and it was this surreal scene of memories literally disappearing. When I reached my own street, the power lines were down, and there was just this heavy sense of disbelief. I locked eyes with neighbors who were also there, and we just stood silently crying. By the time I got to where my house had been, it was all gone. You could still smell the smoke. I’ll never forget that feeling of seeing everything just, gone.”

Ly and his family proceeded to drive out to Dana Point that same day. Then they went to Phoenix to stay with family, to get some distance, and breathe. While it was a moment of disbelief and trauma, for him it was also when he began to realize how many others needed help. The past year had been a difficult journey, but it also gave him purpose — help others rebuild.

David Ly at one of the rebuild sites. | Photo courtesy of Rebuild Altadena

“Rebuild Altadena was born from the ashes of this fire, so we are not business as usual,” declares Ly. “Our focus is on rebuilding smarter and more fire-resilient, based on what this community has lived through. The concept behind it is rebuilding as a community. After the fire, it became clear that families were overwhelmed trying to navigate everything on their own — the County process, insurance, engineering, timelines, and rising construction costs.”

“We bring together a coordinated network of designers, engineers, and contractors who are focused almost entirely on Altadena,” Ly explains. “Just like our organization, their priority is helping this community rebuild – not chasing projects across Los Angeles. That’s where our Group Build approach comes in. It means our entire network is concentrated on the same area, working under the same County requirements and fire-rebuild conditions. By staying local, our partners are able to respond faster; keep pricing lower and more stable, even as tariffs and material costs fluctuate; reduce inefficiencies caused by labor shortages; share real-time knowledge from project to project; and move families through the rebuild process together. That level of coordination simply doesn’t happen when a contractor has job sites scattered across multiple cities.”

Rebuild Altadena uses bulk purchasing to protect homeowners from sudden cost spikes. By buying materials — including cabinets, tile, FirePoint plywood, HVAC systems, and lighting — in volume, the company can lock in pricing and reduce exposure to shortages and supply-chain disruptions.

“At the heart of everything we do is a neighbor-first philosophy,” emphasizes Ly. “Rebuild Altadena exists to make sure families who want to come home can do so with a rebuild that is reliable, locally built, transparent, and fire-resilient. This isn’t about shortcuts or volume — it’s about rebuilding Altadena smarter, safer, and with accountability that lasts long after construction is complete.”

The company is supported by a network of about 25 building professionals, comprised of contractors, designers, structural and civil engineers, surveyors, permit expeditors, and specialists in fire-hardening and resilient construction.

“We also have key staff members who bring deep lived experience and local leadership to the work,” Ly says. “One example is Steve Lamb, a fifth-generation Altadenan who lost his home in the Eaton Fire. Steve previously served on the Altadena Town Council and is a residential designer whose career has focused on historical preservation. His background reflects the values of this community — respecting Altadena’s architectural character while helping it rebuild stronger and safer. People like Steve don’t just contribute professional expertise; they carry the history, pride, and long-term vision of Altadena.”

David Ly and the Rebuild Altadena team. | Photo courtesy of Rebuild Altadena

“And our network continues to grow every day,” adds Ly. “More individuals and companies reach out because they want to help. They see the need, they believe in the mission, and they want to be part of rebuilding our town the right way.”

Since its founding, there have been four Rebuild Altadena Fairs, each growing dramatically as the community and industry partners have rallied behind the effort. Each Fair brings in 50 to 70 building professionals — architects, designers, engineers, builders, SBA representatives, county officials, material suppliers, and fire-hardening specialists. These events have drawn up to 2,000 attendees, making them one of the largest community rebuild gatherings in the region.

“When we first started, the goal was simple: give fire-affected families a place to meet architects,designers, the SBA, the County, and builders — all in one room, without barriers or confusion. But the Fairs have evolved into something much bigger,” Ly explains. “Our most recent event included: fire-hardening materials; 3D visual walkthroughs of rebuild designs; Vicon exterior fire-sprinkler demonstrations; a full Rebuild Zone where homeowners could see, feel, and compare real materials; windows and doors; tile and flooring options; roofing systems; lighting by Maison Enterprises; and other essential components of a resilient rebuild. It’s become a true one-stop experience where families can get educated, meet their teams, and touch the materials that will become their future homes. For many residents, the Fair is the first moment they feel clarity and hope again.”

The site gets ready for rebuilding. | Photo courtesy of Rebuild Altadena

Starting in the new year, one major Rebuild Altadena Fair every three months is being planned. These quarterly events allow Ly’s team to keep homeowners updated, introduce new technologies, and bring in additional experts as the rebuild landscape evolves.

“Families are still facing very complex concerns in the rebuild process, and these Fairs help address the biggest challenges we hear every day,” states Ly. “These include navigating the County process which is unfamiliar and stressful, especially for families who lost everything overnight. People are overwhelmed by engineering corrections, plan-check timelines, fire-zone requirements, inspections, knowing what to submit and when.”

“Additionally, homeowners are concerned about rising construction costs and insurance gaps,” Ly says further. “Many homeowners worry their insurance payout won’t cover today’s costs. They need guidance on budgeting, materials, and how to avoid unnecessary expenses.”

“Fire-hardening and long-term safety are also major concerns,” declares Ly. “Residents want to rebuild stronger but often don’t know which materials are best, what new codes require, and how exterior fire sprinklers, roofing, windows, doors, and siding work together. This is why we bring FirePoint sheathing, Vicon exterior fire sprinklers, and other fire-resilient products to the Fairs.”

“And then there are temporary housing pressures,” Ly cites. “Families are still paying rent out of pocket. Delays hurt not just emotionally but financially, creating urgency for clear timelines and dependable teams.”

The first fire-resilient rebuild.| Photo courtesy of Rebuild Altadena

“Another worry is knowing who to trust,” says Ly. “After a disaster, homeowners are approached by dozens of contractors and consultants. Many fear choosing the wrong people. Rebuild Altadena was created so residents have vetted, local professionals they can rely on. The quarterly Fairs give families a place to get answers, explore materials in person, meet trustworthy experts, and move forward with confidence.”

Out of roughly 4,500 single-family homes lost in the Eaton Fire, Ly estimates that about 60% to 70% of residents intend to rebuild, though everyone is moving at a different pace depending on insurance, finances, and the County process.

“Most families are still in the design, engineering, or plan-check stages, working through approvals and corrections,” Ly says. “A smaller number have reached construction. And we’re very proud that one of the very first rebuilds in Altadena is a Rebuild Altadena project. By the one-year anniversary of the fire, that home will be in painting and finishing stages.”

“Not only is it among the first to rise from the fire, it’s also the first home in the entire burn zone to use fire-resilient materials like FirePoint Sheathing, which is designed specifically to withstand extreme heat exposure,” Ly explains. “For many families, that home represents hope — a sign that rebuilding is possible, and that we can do it smarter and more resilient than before.”

Rebuild Altadena is currently supporting more than 30 homes in the design and planning phase, which includes architectural design, engineering, and county plan check.

The first Altadena Rebuild home is expected to be completed around the first anniversary of the Eaton Fire. | Photo courtesy of Rebuild Altadena

“On the construction side, two homes began construction in mid-December,” Ly says further. “We anticipate three additional homes breaking ground in the first half of January, assuming permitting and utility coordination stay on track. Aside from the first home that will be in finishing stages, the timelines for the other rebuilds vary based on lot conditions, design complexity, utilities, and fire-hardening requirements. For most projects, a realistic expectation is 12 to 18 months from permit issuance to completion.”

Ly is also rebuilding. And being one of the first rebuilds in Altadena comes with its own unique set of challenges, one that every family after him will face as well.

“For example, we’re dealing with major utility uncertainties,” Ly explains. “Southern California Edison still hasn’t confirmed whether they’re going overhead or underground with the new electrical system, which affects design, trenching, and timelines.”

“Because of new fire codes, many homes — including mine — now require interior fire sprinklers,” cites Ly. “That means a lot of families must upgrade their water meters, and one of our clients was quoted an astronomical price by the water company just to make that change. These are things no homeowner planned for.”

“And that’s why Rebuild Altadena has taken on a strong advocacy role,” Ly declares. “We’ve already helped the community win important battles: eliminating unfair fire hydrant flow test fees for each individual home; challenging cross-lot drainage requirements that didn’t make sense for wildfire survivors; pushing back on County fees and conditions that were originally designed for single new homes being built in an established neighborhood — not for a town where thousands of homes burned overnight.”

“We didn’t ask for this disaster,” asserts Ly. “We lost our homes, our stability, and in many ways our sense of place in a single night. Families should not be burdened with excessive fees and code upgrade costs that were never intended for a mass-rebuild situation. So yes, I’m rebuilding — but I’m also fighting every day for the families behind me, making sure the path gets a little clearer and a little fairer for all of us.”

Rendering of a future rebuild. | Photo courtesy of Rebuild Altadena

“Altadena is in a complicated place right now,” Ly says further. “There’s a mix of grief, frustration, determination, and hope all happening at once. Physically, many lots are still empty, and that can make it feel like time has stood still. Simultaneously, there’s real movement happening — plans being approved, foundations going in, and the first homes starting to rise. Progress is uneven, but it’s real.”

“Emotionally, people are tired,” laments Ly. “Many families are still displaced, paying rent, navigating insurance, and waiting on approvals. There’s frustration with the pace of utilities and permitting, and uncertainty about what comes next. But there’s also a strong sense of resolve. Neighbors are more connected than they were before the fire. People are sharing information, showing up for one another, and pushing for fair treatment together. You see it at community meetings, at the Rebuild Altadena Fairs, and even just on the street.”

An article in the Los Angeles Times in November 2025 featured the first house that was rebuilt after the Palisades Fire. The developer-owned showcase home, which was constructed within six months, was an advertisement of sorts for Thomas James Homes. The company has a library of home plans available for faster rebuilds and claims a rebuild typically takes 12 months.

Asked if this can be done in Altadena, Ly replies, “I saw that article, and it’s an impressive accomplishment. But comparing the Palisades rebuild to Altadena isn’t exactly apples to apples. In the Palisades example, the contractor rebuilt his own model home — a single property, on a standardized lot, with no insurance complications, and no displaced family depending on it. That allowed him to fast-track the process and present a ‘template’ home.”

The Rebuild Altadena office on Marengo Avenue in Pasadena. | Photo courtesy of Rebuild Alatdena

“But Altadena is different,” expounds Ly. “We pride ourselves on our diversity — our lots, our architecture, and our neighborhoods are not cookie-cutter. Many of us don’t want pre-designed, identical boxes placed across the community. People want to rebuild homes that reflect who they are, not a one-size-fits-all model. And with that individuality comes complexity: unique slopes and topography; older utility systems; unanswered questions from SCE about overhead vs. underground power; interior sprinkler requirements that force water meter upgrades; soils, drainage, and grading challenges; insurance delays; and County processes that were never designed to handle over 4,500 rebuilds at once.”

“So while it’s inspiring to see a house rebuilt in six months, making that promise in Altadena would be unrealistic — even irresponsible,” Ly continues. “False promises give families hope in the short term, but they cause real pain when they fall apart. What we are focused on is speed with integrity — rebuilding smarter, stronger, and with fire-resilient materials. Our goal is to eventually streamline to a point where 12-month rebuilds become achievable.”

What would success look like and what accomplishments does Ly envision for Rebuild Altadena?

“Success for Rebuild Altadena isn’t measured by how fast we rebuild homes,” states Ly. “It’s measured by whether families feel supported, empowered, and protected throughout one of the hardest experiences of their lives. Success is thousands of families back home, living in a safer, stronger, more unified Altadena. That’s what we’re fighting for every day.”

Very soon now, a Rebuild Altadena house will be completed. It will most probably be celebrated not only by the family that moves in, but by the thousands of other families who are still displaced. Each house that rises from the ashes of the Eaton Fire provides them with a glimmer of certainty that one day in the not-too-distant future they will be back — exhausted by the ordeal they’ve been through, but very happy to return to the town they call home.

Altadena Forever Run to Benefit Those Affected by the Eaton Fire

29th December 2025 / May S Ruiz / Leave a comment

Also published on 29 December 2025 on Hey SoCal

Firefighters spray water from a hose during the Eaton Fire. | U.S. Forest Service photo taken by Capt. Jason Benton / Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

The Eaton Fire of January 7, 2025 will be endlessly seared in the collective memories of the Pasadenans and Altadenans who experienced the largest blaze in the history of the San Gabriel Valley. Overnight 19 people died and 9,000 structures were reduced to ashes, among them 80 homes at Upper Hastings Ranch in Pasadena and over 4,500 in Altadena.

Large corporations and private citizens across the country responded immediately to the disaster – sending cash, food, personal items, and other basic necessities to the various collection sites that opened during the days following the fire.

All through the year, several non-profit organizations emerged in Altadena to continue to support those who were affected even as the rest of the country moved on to other important matters. Community leaders have worked ceaselessly to keep the momentum going and thought of ways to ensure we didn’t forget that thousands of Altadenans are still grappling with the aftermath.

Two individuals – Victoria Knapp and Ethan Marquez – are collaborating on an event to benefit those who were affected by the Eaton Fire. They are co-chairing the Altadena Forever Run which will be held at 8:00 am on Sunday, January 4, 2026 at the Mariposa Junction in Altadena.

Thousands of runners and community members will gather for a10K, 5K and 1K family run raising critical funds for residents still recovering from the Eaton Fire – including individuals and families who remain displaced, are living in vehicles, or are running out of short-term rental assistance.

Victoria Knapp is a longstanding Altadena community leader and organizer whose civic work has focused on connection, recovery, and purposeful engagement. A former Pasadenan, she made Altadena her home in 2011, where she spent the next 15 years deeply involved in community life. She played a central role in crisis communication and community coordination after the fire, helping residents navigate loss while fostering collaboration among neighbors, small businesses, and local organizations throughout the recovery period. She is a firm advocate for community-based initiatives that bring people together with purpose and meaning, including the Altadena Forever Run, which reflects her belief that shared action – like running together – can be a powerful force in healing and resilience.

Ethan Marquez is a 26-year veteran of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department with a career spanning custody, patrol, training, and command assignments. He was on the scene during the Eaton Fire, playing a critical role in emergency response and community coordination. In August 2025, he was promoted to Captain of Altadena Station, where he continues to emphasize operational excellence, public safety, and community partnership. A dedicated endurance runner and philanthropist, he runs marathons while pushing his son in a wheelchair to raise awareness and funding for Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy research, using running as both advocacy and a deeply personal expression of service.

“The Altadena Forever Run is about honoring what we’ve lost, supporting those still recovering, and reaffirming our commitment to one another,” state Knapp and Marquez. “After the Eaton Fire, our community showed that resilience isn’t just about rebuilding homes, it’s about standing together, staying connected, and moving forward with purpose. This run reflects the heart of Altadena: strong, compassionate, and forever connected.”

The course passes through neighborhoods and foothill corridors impacted by the fire, featuring on-course storyboards that highlight survivor experiences and ongoing recovery efforts. Organizers say one of the most meaningful aspects of the event is the regional turnout, with runners traveling from across Southern California and beyond to stand in solidarity with Altadena residents.

Community leaders and first responders are expected to attend – including Robert Luna and Kathryn Barger. The Los Angeles Laker Girls will also be on site to cheer on runners and support the event atmosphere. The Altadena Forever Run is supported by corporate and community partners, including SoCalGas, GoFundMe, East West Bank, First City Credit Union, and Toyota of Pasadena.

Proceeds from the event directly support Altadena residents who continue to face housing instability and are seeking viable pathways to rebuild and return home. Although the emergency response has ended, many residents continue to recover in the long term with limited resources.

But through the tireless efforts of dedicated individuals and the support of the community, Altadenenas will get through this unfathomable tragedy and get back on their feet stronger than ever before.

Library Foundation of Los Angeles Launches ALOUD Fall 2025 Season

15th September 2025 / May S Ruiz / Leave a comment

Also published on 15 September 2025 on Hey SoCal

Jessica Strand. | Photo courtesy of the Library Foundation of Los Angeles

The Library Foundation of Los Angeles’s (LFLA) ALOUD Series returns this fall with a slate of timely conversations and urgent questions shaping our world today. Prominent creatives, cultural critics, and writers will discuss themes that include the rise of authoritarianism to the politics of tech platforms, and examine Black female friendship, queer joy, and new works by literary icons. These talks – some of which are free to the public – will take place at the Mark Taper Auditorium at the Central Library in Los Angeles at 7 pm from September 18 through December 10.

Distinguished political journalist and New York Times bestselling author Ben Rhodes opens the season that showcases vital new works by National Book Award finalist Angeles Flournoy, transgender artist and activist Tourmaline, acclaimed writer Susan Orlean, award-winning novelist Gish Jen, James Baldwin scholar Nicholas Burges, and legal scholar and tech policy expert Tim Wu.

Guest moderators and conversation partners include the new Executive Director of the ACLU of Southern California Chandra S. Bhatnagar. Emmy-award winning writers and actors Lena Waithe, Issa Rae, and Ashley Nicole Black, and Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Tony Kushner who will be joined by a cast of notable actors.

Image courtesy of Library Foundation of Los Angeles

The season closes on a mirthful note with a pair of enjoyable programs featuring NY Times Cooking recipe creator and Cookies author Vaughn Vreeland and a special evening with lead puzzle editor at the NY Times Games Joel Fagliano and guests to mark the release of Puzzle Mania!

Selecting the themes for these discussions rests on LFLA’s senior director of programing and strategic engagement Jessica Strand. To shape the series, she partnered with the ACLU of Southern California and the New York Times for a balanced line-up aligned with the organization’s mission.

With her literary pedigree, East Coast credentials, and engagement with L.A.’s civic life, Strand is perfectly suited for the role. Her father was the Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Mark Strand; she has authored ten cookbooks and previously ran the Books at Noon series for the New York Public Library.

From left: Jessica Strand, Genevieve Ko, Emily Weinstein, and Eric Kim. | Photo courtesy of the Library Foundation of Los Angeles

Given her father’s fame, it’s easy to imagine Strand having had an extraordinary childhood – her family hosting salons with plenty of cerebral exchange and lively discourse in their living room.

“I did grow up around lots of well-known writers, poets, and visual artists,” reveals Strand. “My parents were divorced when I was nine years old, so the largest chunks of time I spent with my father were during summers in far-off places. I wasn’t aware of it being special or different than other people’s childhoods since I had nothing to compare it to.”

Asked why she decided to author lifestyle books rather than literary ones, Strand replies. “I did try my hand at a novel many years ago which made the rounds but didn’t make it to print. But I put together a couple of anthologies: one of my literary programming at the Strand Book Store that Norton published and the other was a small, sweet, illustrated collection of love poems by poets over the ages which Chronicle Books published. I’m thinking my way through a project that I’m hoping to start writing in the coming months – a kind of autofiction piece about my crazy family.”

From left: Michael Chin, Ocean Vuong, Tanya Mosley, and Jessica Strand. | Photo courtesy of the Library Foundation of Los Angeles

A confirmed bibliophile, she reads to be informed and entertained and usually several books simultaneously. “I wish I had more time to read novels than I do,” says Strand. “I have lots of books going at once and try to listen in my car as well. I also read The New York Review of Books and The New Yorker. I often find a kernel of something in them that inspires an idea for a program. Though I finished it, the new Ocean Vuong still sits on my nightstand next to ‘Glitz, Glam and a Damn Good Time’ – a zany book about Mamie Fish, one of the queens of the Gilded Age.”

While Strand had to relocate to L.A. when she accepted the position at LFLA, she isn’t a stranger to the city. But that’s not to say that there weren’t some things to adapt to.

“I lived in Los Angeles for 10 years before moving to New York,” Strand discloses. “I largely grew up in New York City but have had a bicoastal life. When my mother got very ill, I felt it was time to come back to the West Coast. It was an easy move because I had a whole group of friends here already.”

“The biggest adjustment was the attitude toward culture – in New York, people reside right in the heart of the city and are willing to live modestly to be part of everything going on,” confesses Strand. “You’re expected to have seen exhibits, read certain books, gone to plays, etc. Los Angeles is full of wonderful cultural things to do but there is no expectation to participate. Here it’s about lifestyle and the outdoors; culture is part of the landscape but not an essential facet of everyone’s existence.”

Library Foundation of Los Angeles President and CEO Stacy Lieberman with author Walter Mosley.| Photo courtesy of Library Foundation of Los Angeles

Strand’s initial concept when she first came to LFLA was to do literary programs then branch out into current events and social justice-related topics and people. To that end, she expanded the Library Foundation’s ALOUD series which was created in 1992 as a live conversation with authors.

“My predecessor is responsible for creating the author series that put ALOUD on the map,” Strand clarifies. “I’ve altered it in the last seven years to include thematic programs, several Revues (more cabaret than conversation), and ALOUD in Community where we work with a curator or artist on a series for the Library. Together, we choose three to four branches to host the programs, with ALOUD’s financial and administrative support.

“Cultural programming can’t rest on a literary series anymore. Those are everywhere –several for-profit series exist in Los Angeles, and bookstores host them. ALOUD tries to present different types of series under one umbrella, so we can remain relevant and a bit different. We’re also 90 percent free. When we do charge, we sell the book, and the ticket price is never more than $10 to $12 above the book price – only to cover venue costs.”

Exterior of the Central Library in Los Angeles. | Photo courtesy of Los Angeles Public Library

ALOUD sets itself apart from other library series. Strand points out, “We’re different in that we present very high-level programming you’d usually have to pay for elsewhere. We also conceived a program called a ‘Night at the Library.’ It’s an event our small team, together with terrific partners, staged last February. From 8 p.m. to midnight, we welcomed 3,000 people into the Central Library, where more than 240 artists were performing, creating, and making throughout the building. The LA Phil performed an experimental opera on the escalators, BodyTraffic performed in the Central Library’s rotunda. We’re planning to do it again this year and opening more of the library.”

The topics explored in the ALOUD series aren’t based on personal whim. Strand explains, “I respond to what is going on around me. This includes local and world politics, trends in culture and literature, and ideas that are being discussed. I have a wonderful team – Tiffany Colli-Moon and Jorge Martinez – who both share their ideas and thoughts, and as a group we discuss what we think we should pursue in terms of talent.”

ALOUD’s fall 2025 line-up covers diverse and wide-ranging subjects – some of which are quite weighty, and others are lighthearted. It is an intentional blend of serious and cheerful topics.

“I went from heavy and important to something lighter and completely fun for the holiday season,” emphasizes Strand. “I am a strong believer in mixing up the programming. No one can tolerate a full diet of anything. I want our audience wanting to come back. The hope is to keep people engaged and interested by moving from different topic genres and production styles.”

Strand describes how she selects who will talk with the authors in the series. “Several things can happen. Often, the speaker has someone they’d like to be in conversation with – and if this person is a close friend, it usually makes for a terrific chat. Sometimes, I think about the person’s work and who has done something that may be similar in style or subject matter. Other times, it’s about influence – maybe the two speakers were heavily influenced by the same person. Pairing is a complicated game and is part feel, part knowledge, and part what would be off-beat and fun.”

There isn’t a typical audience size and it’s difficult to say which topics attract more people.

“The audience fluctuated last season from around 80 to 900,” Strand states. “The size depends on the popularity of the person presenting. Name recognition, together with publicity, makes for a popular show. There is no subject that is more popular than another; it’s all personality-driven. ALOUD might present an incredible novelist who has published numerous books and has been translated into multiple languages, but they’re not part of the pop culture machine at the moment. So it may pull a smaller audience while someone who has less experience in the book world but is active on social media draws a robust crowd.”

ALOUD audience showing off book. | Photo courtesy of the Library Foundation of Los Angeles

It’s impossible for Strand to single out one engaging and memorable ALOUD discussion since she took over the programming at LFLA. Says Strand, “That’s like naming a favorite child, which I can’t do. But I can tell you what makes me most happy after a program. First, if the audience is engaged, reacting in real time, completely taken with the discussion

Much thought and deliberation go into each ALOUD show. Strand and her team ensure that both the presenters and audience take away something rewarding from the experience. And they don’t want to deliver an unforgettable discussion; they aspire to provide the impetus for community involvement.

Cruising J-Town Explores Japanese American Car Culture and Community in L.A.

28th July 202528th July 2025 / May S Ruiz / Leave a comment

Also published on 28 July 2025 on Hey SoCal

The cover of “Cruising J-Town.” | Photo courtesy of Oliver Wang

Cruising J-Town: Behind the Wheel of the Nikkei Community, on view from July 31 through November 12, 2025, chronicles the central roles Japanese Americans have played in countless car scenes throughout Southern California. Presented by the Japanese American National Museum and curated by cultural scholar and writer, Dr. Oliver Wang, it will debut at Art Center College of Design’s Peter and Merle Mullin Gallery on South Arroyo Parkway in Pasadena.

A companion book called Cruising J-Town: Japanese American Car Culture in Los Angeles, authored by Wang and published by Angel City Press at Los Angeles Public Library, will be released on August 5. It traces the history of the Japanese American community alongside the development of the car – from the earliest days of the automobile.

Through previously untold stories, Wang, a Cal State Long Beach sociology professor, reveals how a community in a state of constant transition and growth used cars as a literal vehicle for their creativity, dreams, and quest for freedom.

Tats Gotanda with his award-winning 1959 customized Chevrolet Impala, the Buddha Buggy, 1963. | Photo by Dick Day / Image courtesy of Hearst Autos, Inc

In the book’s introduction, Wang writes that growing up in the San Gabriel Valley, he wasn’t much of a “car guy.” He sits down to chat about how someone who doesn’t profess a passion for cars ended up writing a book and curating an exhibition about them, what he learned from the hundreds of interviews he conducted, and what he hopes readers take away from it.

“While my personal interest revolves around music, by the time I graduated from high school in 1990, I was aware of this very popular phenomenon of young Asian Americans tricking out their cars and street racing,” Wang says. “When I went off to college and began taking Asian American Studies classes, I was already interested in the pop cultural side of the community and the ways in which Asian Americans have engaged in different forms of popular culture over the years.”

“By the time the 2000s rolled around, there were articles in magazines about Asian American dynamic within the import car scene,” continues Wang. “But there was no sustained interest in it. As far as I know, none of the authors ever went on to produce anything beyond those academic articles. Part of me, maybe naively, just kept assuming that at some point someone was going to write a book about this because it seems to me – as a pop culture scholar and writer – it was such an obvious thing to focus on. It’s a pop culture activity which has such meaning for people that they invest time and money into. There are elements of ethnic identity, class, and gender.”

Oliver Wang | Photo by May S. Ruiz / Hey SoCal

In 2016, Wang was having a conversation with a good friend who also came out of Asian American Studies at U.C. Berkeley in the 1990s. Again he lamented about the absence of books about the subject.

His friend’s reply was “You’ve been complaining about this for 20 years, and you literally have made your career studying and writing about Asian America popular culture. If you really feel someone should be doing this work, why don’t you just go out and do it?”

That friendly challenge steered Wang towards this endeavor. At the suggestion of his wife Sharon Mizota, who is a Yonsei (fourth generation Japanese American), he interviewed his Sansei (third generation Japanese American) father-in-law Don Mizota.

“I knew that he was into cars but I didn’t realize that when he was in high school in the San Fernando Valley in the mid- to late 1950s, he and his friends – most of whom were children of Japanese American farmers and gardeners – started a car club called ‘kame,’” Wang confesses. “The joke was that kame means turtle in Japanese because all of them had pretty slow cars.”

Gardener Annie Takata loading up her truck, Los Angeles, May 1976. | Photo by Dennis Kuba / Courtesy of Visual Communications Photographic Archive

“It was a really fascinating interview,” enthuses Wang. “I wasn’t just learning more about my father-in-law, but also about the friends and the community that he grew up in. I then interviewed other people of his generation – Japanese Americans who would have been teenagers in the 50s or early 60s and were part of car clubs back then. I found examples in mid-city and South Bay, like Gardena and Torrance. I heard about them or saw photos of those who came out of East L.A. and Boyle Heights.”

“Clearly, there was a scene that existed then and that was what I started to explore,” Wang says further. “I wrote about some of what I had found in a relatively short article that appeared in Discover Nikkei, the Japanese American National Museum’s newsletter. I wasn’t really sure what I was going to do with the research that I was collecting. And I wasn’t entirely positive I had the bandwidth or the interest to really turn this into a book – even though I did feel strongly someone should write one.”

“In 2018, by coincidence, the museum independently came up with the idea of doing an exhibition about cars,” recalls Wang. “And because I had written that one article and they didn’t have anyone in-house that had the background to curate a show, they thought maybe I would be interested in doing it. I had a little background – I had interviewed a handful of people – but didn’t have a comprehensive knowledge of the long arc of this community’s history within the car world.

Street racers Tod Kaneko and David Eguchi, in Glen Kuwata’s Chevrolet Vega, during a Nisei Week Cruise. | Photo courtesy of Tod Kaneko

“But because I always want to leave myself open to learning new things – like curating an exhibition – and because it’s really important to me that the research I do be public-facing and not be available only to academics, an exhibition seemed like a wonderful way of solving multiple things. So I agreed to take it on.”

It was a slow project initially and Wang and his team lost a minimum of two years because of the pandemic. But in 2022, they set out to interview people in earnest.

“The exhibition and the book really began to form through all these conversations,” says Wang. “At this point I’d spoken to probably at least a hundred people about their personal histories and they were from very different areas that involve cars – not just about sport or recreation, but also very much about work, family, and community.”

Members of the L.A. Retail Fish Association at San Pedro Wharf, November 24, 1964. | Photo by JAck Iwata / Courtesy of Clyde Iwata and Teruo “Ted/Snyder Endo family

Asked if there was something he discovered during the seven years he was working on the project that surprised him, Wang pauses before replying, “Everything surprised me! I knew so little going in. Every new conversation expanded and opened up my awareness even more. And this was the reason to do the project – there was no book that existed from which I could learn about these things. I wouldn’t have wanted to do the project if someone had already laid out its history and the different facets.”

“In terms of what really stood out to me, the first thing that comes to mind would be the fish trucks,” reveals Wang. “By the late 1940s, when the Japanese American community returned to Los Angeles after being incarcerated during WWII, they didn’t have relatively easy access to food markets. They were geographically dispersed; some had moved out to Pacoima or Gardena or parts of the Eastern San Gabriel Valley. The fish trucks drove all around the Southland six days a week and did door-to-door deliveries of Japanese food items – fresh fish, rice, tofu, jerky, candy. For decades the fish trucks provided this useful community service to people who didn’t have the time or the means to easily come down to Little Tokyo to do their grocery shopping.”

“At some point by the early 1960s, there were enough trucks out there that the fish truck drivers organized themselves into what became known as the Los Angeles Retail Fish Association,” Wang relates. “At the same time, it was a way to prevent them from inadvertently competing against each other. And because they were now unified, they were able to negotiate better wholesale pricing.”

Bob Hirohata’s 1951 Mercury Coupe, aka the Hirohata Merc. on the National Wall, Washington D.C., 2017. The car was displayed after being added to the National Historical Vehicle Registry. | Photo courtesy of Hagerty Drivers Foundation

While Wang claims the book isn’t a complete history of the Japanese car culture in the Southland, essays from contributors cover a wide range of materials and personal anecdotes commencing with an insightful foreword by George Takei about what cars symbolize for the Nikkei community. Associate curator Chelsea Shi-Chao Liu pens five essays: the voluntary evacuation of Japanese Americans; the concentration camps during WWII and the Japanese Americans’ return and resettlement; the fish trucks; the displacement of Japanese Americans because of freeway construction; and drift racing. Oliver Otake writes about Nikkei auto designers; Jonathan Wong discusses the import car culture of the 1900s and 2000s; and Akiko Anna Iwata delves into the car audio systems business.

The book is a companion to the exhibition but it isn’t a catalog. And that’s by design. It’s a stand-alone publication that can be read and enjoyed by someone who doesn’t have an opportunity to see the exhibition.

Takeo “Chickie” Hirashima, the renowned Nisei racing mechanic of the WW II era with George Takei, Ontario Speedway, 1965. George is wearing the mechanic’s shirt for his character, Kato, from the film Red Line 7000. | Gift of Charles and June Keene, Japanese American National Museum

“A conventional catalog for a museum exhibition is normally meant to be a mirror of the show,” clarifies Wang. “We could have produced a catalog, but because there hasn’t been a book on this topic before, it just made more sense to write one that provides all of these stories and the back history rather than making it strictly tied to the show in terms of format. There’s absolutely overlap between the two, but going to the exhibition is its own experience and the book is its own experience as well. The book is based on the same history and set of stories.”

Wang expounds, “The book, which is divided into four chapters, is organized loosely chronologically. We start in the early 1910s, which is not just the birth of Japanese American car culture but also of the car culture of Los Angeles. It is when access to cars and trucks becomes much more available to people. While cars have existed in the U.S. prior to that, the 1910s is when you see it become affordable to the average family. The book goes all the way through the current day, looking at very contemporary scenes like the drift racing.

Toyota senior lead designer Bob Mochiziko working with a 20% scale clay model of what became Toyota’s FT-1 concept car. Calty Design Research, Newport Beach, 2013. | Photo courtesy of CALTY Design Research

“On the other hand, the exhibition is split into four themes: speed (covers racing and performance); style (about customization and design, drift racing falls under style because drivers are not graded on speed but on style when they’re skating on corners); work (looks at ways vehicles have factored in life and labor within the Japanese American population); and community. Community is very broad in scope but it allowed us to explore other dynamics – from the role that cars and trucks played during the WWII incarceration experience, car clubs and the ways in which people organized themselves communally and collectively through cars.”

The exhibition features five cars, each of which is tied to one of those themes. For Speed, Wang and his team picked a Meteor – an early 1940s hot rod that was formerly owned by George Nakamura. The Nakamura family donated it to the Peterson Museum.

There are two cars for Style: a customized 1951 Mercury coupe owned by Brian Omatsu called Purple Reign – a remarkable and eye-catching, show-stopping custom job; and a 1989 Nissan 240SX owned by Nadine Sachiko Hsu, who created the Drifting Pretty team when she was a pro racer in that circuit.

Drifting Pretty Racing Team, California Speedway, Fontana, CA. | Photo by Nadine Sachiko Hsu / Courtesy of Sachiko Hsu

For work, they have a Ford F100 from 1956 – a pick-up truck that used to be driven by a West L.A. gardener who was known as the hot rod gardener of West L.A. because he had a muscle car engine installed in the pick-up truck

For community, the curators borrowed a 1973 Datsun 510 – the first Japanese import to really take off within the Japanese American street racing scene.

Beyond the cars, they display helmets owned and worn by former race car drivers; accessories that people would typically have installed in their cars, especially in the 1980s import scene; reproductions of archival photos; jackets from the 1950s and 1960s car clubs, as well as 1970s and 1980s racing clubs; car plaques, which are basically license plates that Japanese American car clubs embellished with their name and logo; and ‘thank you’ gifts that gas stations and fish trucks used to give their customers.

Tom Ikkanda (seated), Fred Ige, and Frank Ige, Sawtelle, mid-to-late 1940s. Both Ige brothers worked for Ikkanda at his West L.A. service station on Sawtelle Blvd. | Photo courtesy of Richard Ikkanda

As for the reader takeaway, Wang would like for us to appreciate how the Japanese Americans have figured in the history of Los Angeles car culture.

“The world of cars and trucks has been an integral part of Japanese American lives for over a hundred years,” declares Wang. “Japanese Americans have contributed to many different aspects of car culture over that time, even if they have not been widely recognized for it. They were there, not just in the background but very much in the foreground. These hidden or forgotten mysteries, as you might call them, are there waiting to be discovered and shared.”

Furthermore, Wang wants to emphasize the subject of the Cruising J-Town book and exhibition. “I encountered quite a few people who think the project is about the history of how Toyota and Honda came to the U.S. I usually have to just very gently correct them and say this isn’t a show about cars and car brands; it’s first and foremost, about a community of people and their relationship to cars and trucks. The people in the community are at the center of it; cars help tell their stories but the cars are not the focus.”

“The irony is, I think people assume that it’s about Japanese car brands because Japanese cars have become such an important part of the American car landscape,” Wang stresses. “And I think the Japanese American community – in its own small but significant way – helped contribute to how Japanese imports were able to get legitimized and become respected within the American car world.”

After the exhibition opens and his book is released, Wang will have the time to work on his next endeavor. He has several projects on the back burner. He has already done the research about how New Order’s “Bizarre Love Triangle” became the unofficial anthem for Asian American Gen Xers; there’s one project that he and a research partner have been discussing about inter-ethnic marriages; and there’s a podcast idea that he wants to get back to called “Songs for Ourselves,” the conceit for which he says is drawn from the fact that for most Asian Americans growing up in America, their favorite songs were by people from other communities.

But that’s all in the future. For now, Wang has given us the “Cruising J-Town” book and exhibition to peruse and take in. And one doesn’t have to be a car aficionado or Asian American to find the stories they tell to be illuminating and uplifting.

Norton Simon Museum Enhances Exterior Grounds as it Marks 50th Anniversary

8th May 202512th May 2025 / May S Ruiz / Leave a comment

Also published on 8 May 2025 on Hey SoCal

The Norton Simon Museum in Pasadena. | Photo courtesy of Tony Mariotti/Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 2.0)

The facade of the Norton Simon Museum is known to millions of television viewers around the world as the backdrop of Pasadena’s annual Rose Parade. With the beautiful San Gabriel Mountains behind it and flower-bedecked floats traveling along Colorado Boulevard on a sunny winter morning, it is an iconic image that once enticed countless people to move to Southern California, and still draws several thousand tourists to the city.

As the museum celebrates its 50th anniversary, it is undergoing an exterior renovation project to make it more inviting for these television viewers and people on the grandstands to come in and discover the treasures found within.

During a recent tour of Norton Simon Museum, Leslie Denk, vice president of external affairs, talks about the captivating man behind the institution’s magnificent collection, the history of the museum and the exterior improvement project.

Gallery entrance. | Photo courtesy of the Norton Simon Museum

“Norton Simon was originally from Portland, Oregon,” Denk begins. “When he was in his late teens, he and his family moved to Los Angeles. He started to think about business and with a small loan, he took over Hunt’s Food, which was called something else back then. He was really known for identifying businesses with potential but weren’t financially successful and then turning them around. Some of the businesses in his conglomerate include Avis Car Rental, Canada Dry Corporation, McCalls Publishing and, of course, Hunt’s Food where he really made a name for himself.”

While Simon always knew he wanted to become a business man, his first art acquisition was happenstance. Relates Denk, “As the story goes, in the early 1950s he and his first wife were living in Larchmont Village in L.A. and his wife hired a decorator to revamp their home. The decorator brought in works of art that didn’t speak to him. He had his regular haircuts at the barber shop in the Ambassador Hotel on Wilshire Blvd. where there was an art gallery. One day in 1954, he popped in at the gallery and ended up purchasing a few works of art. As a former senior curator who was hired as a young person by Simon described, ‘it was like an olive coming out of a bottle – he could never put the olives back in.’”

Today the Norton Simon Museum boasts a collection of 12,000 paintings, sculptures, and works on paper. Its collection of European paintings and sculpture, which spans the Renaissance to the 20th century, includes the finest collection of Impressionist and Post-Impressionist art on the West Coast.

Retrospect Exhibition Installation. | Photo courtesy of the Norton Simon Museum

It’s a staggering number considering Simon was personally involved and didn’t have a team acquiring artwork on his behalf. A self-created capitalist, he approached art acquisition like a business — purchasing an artwork and selling it when the value increased to procure more.

Before he acquired the building to display his collection, most of Simon’s art was traveling. Denk said, “He had a program called Museum Without Walls where he would send portions of his collection to other museums around the country. A lot were held at LACMA for many years too. He also had them at his businesses — several large monumental sculpture were at his corporate campus — and at his homes where he had a really interesting way of storing his art collection. He kept them in something similar to a vault where he had racks to hang them. It was an important part of his acquisition strategy to live with the paintings; he wanted to spend time with the artwork to see how he felt about it before he would commit to purchasing it.”

Norton SImon, third from right. | Photo courtesy of the Norton Simon Museum

Norton Simon Museum’s history is intertwined with that of Pasadena Art Museum’s. Denk reveals, “This building was actually built in the late 1960s by the Pasadena Art Museum which was the first modern and contemporary art museum in the Los Angeles area. They did some groundbreaking exhibitions in the 1950s and 1960s and they wanted to expand and relocate from their site on Los Robles. This land was owned by the city and they were able to build this structure. It opened in 1969, but they ran into a lot of financial difficulty.”

“They eventually struck a deal where Simon assumed control of the building and their collection, paid off their debts, and did some repairs,” Denk continues. “We debuted this museum in October 1975 and it was renamed Norton Simon Museum. When Simon took over, he quickly realized the museum is the backdrop of the parade. He negotiated to have the bleachers moved, he enlarged the museum’s letterings, and commissioned the rose placard on the front of the building. It’s a wonderful tradition that we’re happy to be part of.”

The building was designed for a contemporary art collection, with curved walls outside and similarly shaped interior. “After Simon’s death in 1993, his widow and the Board of Trustees decided to do a remodel of the interior galleries and they hired Frank O. Gehry,” states Denk. “He raised the ceilings, added the skylights, squared off the walls, and created new gallery spaces appropriate to the Simon collection.”

The pond in the sculpture garden. | Photo courtesy of the Norton Simon Museum

“At the same time, the sculpture garden was reenvisioned by landscape designer Nancy Goslee Power,” Denk says further. “The previous garden had been pretty minimalist and modernist — with a lot of turf, a long rectilinear fountain, and sparse plantings. When Jennifer Jones Simon hired Nancy, she asked her to create a romantic space to better reflect the collection and was a nod to Monet’s gardens. So Nancy patterned it after Japanese strolling gardens and it became a real highlight for visitors to the museum.”

Organized chronologically on an H pattern, the European collection is the first stop on our tour of the galleries.

“We have the only painting by Raphael west of Washington, D.C. — it’s one of the unique things people may not know about the Norton Simon Museum,” Denk discloses. “As part of our 50th anniversary, we selected 50 works of art throughout the museum, including this ‘Madonna and Child with Book’ and put labels that highlighted recent research or other projects that we’ve done, like conservation work, so people can learn a little bit more about how to care for and interpret the collection.“

Raphael (Raffaelo Sanzio, Italian, 1483-1520)
“Madonna and Child with Book,” c. 1502-03 oil on panel. | Photo courtesy of the Norton Simon Foundation

Denk leads me to the next piece saying, “This is our wonderful ‘Still Life with Lemons, Oranges, and a Rose’ painted by Baroque Spanish artist Francisco de Zurbarán. It is the only signed and dated still life by this great master of the school of Seville. It was lent to the Prado last year and it will be a highlight of a Zurbarán major exhibition coming up in the next year or two. A scholar once referred to it as the ‘Mona Lisa of Still Life.’”

As we enter the theater, Denk explains, “Our theater seats almost 300 people and we screen films, host lectures, stage performances here year-round. In 2001, it was refurbished by Arthur Gensler Jr. & Associates Inc. We do about 10 lectures, four performances, and approximately 25 films a year. A week from today, we’re starting a film series directed by previous directors of the board that will run through July as part of our 50th anniversary celebration.”

Rembrandt’s “Self-portrait.” | Photo courtesy of the Norton Simon Museum

When we reach the 17th century Dutch wing, Denk remarks, “Here we display three paintings by Rembrandt – ‘Portrait of a Boy,’ ‘Self-portrait,’ and ‘Portrait of a Bearded Man in a Wide-Brimmed Hat.’ We have a huge and significant Rembrandt print collection and sometimes we organize smaller exhibitions for it. Ten years ago we had a rare Rembrandt print show.”

In the French and Italian 18th century collection, the museum has a notable selection of French paintings that include works by Jean-Siméon Chardin, Jean-Baptiste Greuze, and Jean-Honoré Fragonard; Italian masterpieces by artists like Giovanni Battista Tiepolo.

Impressionism Gallery. | Photo courtesy of the Norton Simon Museum

We reach the 19th century collection and Denk declares, “This is probably the most well-known among our artworks and this period was the origins of his art collecting. As he became more immersed in the art world he began collecting other genres and forms. We have this incredible Van Gogh ‘Portrait of a Peasant,’ which is certainly iconic of the collection. ‘Mulberry Tree’ by Van Gogh is also a real knockout. We have a pretty significant Van Gogh collection — the biggest in Southern California.”

Degas’s “Little Dancer Aged Fourteen.” | Photo courtesy of the Norton Simon Museum

Simon was fascinated by Edgar Degas and the museum has a wonderful collection of his works, including a little sculpture. Claude Monet is another crowd-pleaser and they have a few of his paintings. ‘The Ragpicker’ by Édouard Manet, is one of the highlights of their 19th century collection.

The museum’s pastel collection is in a dimly-lit space to protect the works. Degas’s small sculpture ‘Little Dancer Aged Fourteen’ is also kept in here because her skirt is material and also has sensitivity to light.

In the 20th century collection section, Denk points out a painting called ‘The Traveler’ by Liubov Popova — a Russian artist who died very young.

Picasso’s “Woman with a Book.” | Photo courtesy of the Norton Simon Museum

“Simon loved Picasso,” Denk pronounces. “We have various works here and a print collection. This is his ‘Woman with a Book’ — it’s one of the most celebrated likenesses of his lover Marie-Thérèse Walter and is another well-known work of art in the collection.

“This is a great artwork by Diego Rivera — ‘The Flower Vendor’ painted in 1941 — that was donated by Cary Grant to the museum,” says Denk. “That’s another fun little story that we’re highlighting for the anniversary because he served on the Board of Trustees. Diego Rivera did a series of similar paintings and this is one of them.”

Diego Rivera’s “The Flower Vendor” was a gift from actor Cary Grant. | Photo courtesy of the Norton Simon Museum

A number of works in the Modern Art gallery are from the Pasadena Art Museum, including those of the “Blue Four” — Lyonel Feininger, Alexei Jawlensky, Paul Klee, and Vassily Kandinsky. Constantin Brancusi’s sculpture called “Bird in Space” commands the most prominent spot beneath the skylight. Other art pieces include an Alberto Giacometti sculpture called “Tall Figure IV” from 1960 and Barbara Hepworth’s “Four-Square (Walk Through).”

From the Modern Art gallery, we walk downstairs to the lower level gallery which houses South and Southeast Asian Art.

“In 1971, Simon met and married Jennifer Jones who was an Academy Award-winning actress,” Denk explains. “They went to Hawaii for their honeymoon but he wasn’t a beach kind of guy and he got bored. So she suggested they move on to India. While he was there he started visiting museums and became excited about South Asian art. His collection later expanded to include Southeast Asia.”

The Asian collection. | Photo courtesy of Norton Simon Museum

The Asian collection was previously showcased in the main gallery but was moved here during the remodel with Gehry. It has three exhibition wings where temporary shows are held. It will be the site for the museum’s 50th anniversary exhibition called “Gold.” The café has been moved here since the start of the renovation work.

Donning hard hats and neon vests, we then explore the outdoor grounds where the renovation is going on.

“This exterior remodel has been in conversation for more than ten years,” Denk expounds. “Since 2021, we have been working on the conceptual and pre-design phases. The early part of the project was to make the exterior of the building more inviting for passers-by to want to come in, to make the main entrance more visible, to refurbish our tile — to create a better street presence, if you will. We’ll construct new pedestrian path and a fresh sign which will run parallel to the driveway. Our east driveway will be more visible as well. We’ll also have the ability to close our gates and protect the campus.”

Rendering of the Norton Simon Museum’s Sculpture Garden. | Image courtesy of ARG and SWA

The sculpture garden and pond – a favorite of visitors to the museum – are getting updated. Says Denk, “Our sculpture garden is 25 years old and the liner at the bottom of the pond was past its lifespan so we knew this was a good opportunity to drain the pond and rebuild it. We’ll make the pond smaller and reposition it away from the building to make it easier for people to navigate the area during busy exhibition openings and events.

“We’re redoing all the paths and hardscaping and adding more seating. People love our garden and I want to promise our visitors that it will look a lot like it did. We’re not trying to redesign the garden or change the original concept of it being a lush and romantic special place,” Denk assures.

Heath tile. | Photo courtesy of the Norton Simon Museum

The most recognizable feature of the Norton Simon Museum is the structure’s distinct tile-clad façade created by San Francisco-based Heath Ceramics. With 115,000 tiles on the building, the significant commission launched Edith Heath’s tile business.

According to Denk the tile had never been cleaned before other than the occasional spot cleaning and rain. Part of this project is working with architectural restorers to undertake a conservation treatment and touching up little blemishes. Heath is also recreating the tile for missing areas.

Additionally, a solid wall will be built around Colorado Blvd. and Orange Grove to help reduce the noise from the street. A big olive tree will be planted to catch people’s eyes. Along the south lawn three light pole banners which will have details from objects from the collection will be erected. Drivers will get a glimpse of Van Gogh’s ‘Portrait of a Peasant’ or Picasso’s “Woman with a Book.” “The Thinker” will be relocated near the pedestrian path away from the trees to make it more visible.

Rendering of the Norton Simon Museum’s main entrance and pedestrian walkway | Image courtesy of ARG and SWA

The architectural firm that’s leading the project design is Architectural Resources Group. Denk explains how they made the choice, “We interviewed a couple of different architectural firms and we really liked Architectural Resources Group because they are preservation-focused. Even though we’re not a historic site we have a lot of iconic elements like the tile and podium wall. We knew that they would come to this project with sensitivity for maintaining a lot of the physical elements of our site that are so important to us, especially being the backdrop of the parade.”

While they had hoped to complete the renovation sooner, Denk is hopeful it will wrap up in time for the October celebration. She says, “We had a soft launch in February with the opening of the ‘Retrospect’ exhibition, the ‘50 Objects’ on our website, and a program series — lectures and tours that highlight the museum’s history.”

“But our big moment of celebration will be in October,” Denk emphasizes. “The actual date of the name change to the Norton Simon Museum was October 24, 1975. That’s the day we’re opening the ‘Gold’ exhibition and the following Saturday we’re planning to have a community festival. It would be a great opportunity for people who haven’t been to the museum to see it and for others to rediscover it.”

A “Retrospect” exhibit installation. | Photo courtesy of the Norton Simon Museum

Norton Simon Museum hosts approximately 8,000 school groups from the Pasadena Unified School District and schools throughout the area every Monday, Thursday and Friday morning. The museum also welcomes 150,000 visitors per year, 70% of whom are local and 30% from Southern California, other states and abroad.

The museum has become an integral part of Pasadena’s Rose Parade so they adjust their hours for it. They’re closed on the day of the parade and they add more open days so people can come when they’re here for the annual event. They also make sure they have something exciting for visitors to see — whether it’s a special loan or an interesting exhibition — on top of their exceptional collection.

In the 50 years since Norton Simon Museum’s establishment, it has distinguished itself as a tourist destination and the place where art enthusiasts can find extraordinary artworks. With the completed renovation project, this rare gem in Pasadena will certainly shine ever

Ontario Museum Exhibitions Celebrate Printmaking as Voice for Community Issues

2nd January 2025 / May S Ruiz / Leave a comment

Also published on 2 January 2025 on Hey SoCal

Briar Rosa’s “Queen III” in the “Centered in Ink Exhibition.” | Photo courtesy of the Ontario Museum of History & Art

Ontario Museum of History & Art (OMHA) presents two exhibitions that portray community issues and cultural stories. “Mission Gráfica: Reflecting a Community in Print” and “Centered in Ink: Printmaking in the Inland Empire” will open concurrently on Thursday, January 9, and will run through March 9, 2025.

A community reception will be held on Saturday, January 11, from 2 to 4 p.m., with light refreshments and a chance to meet the artists from Centered in Ink. Additionally, OMHA will host an artist talk with featured artists from the exhibitions on Saturday, February 1, from 2 to 3 p.m.

Mission Gráfica poster / Photo courtesy of Ontario Museum of History & Art

“Mission Gráfica: Reflecting a Community in Print” is a touring exhibition developed in partnership with the San Francisco Public Library that features dozens of screenprints from Mission Gráfica, a community print center of diversity and cultural ferment in San Francisco. Founded in 1982 as part of the Mission Cultural Center, Mission Gráfica became the most sought-after political poster center in the Bay Area in the 1980s. Designed to capture attention on the street, the posters urged political action as well as celebrated culture and life.

This exhibition reflects a variety of styles, approaches, and sensibilities from non-professional and emerging artists to well-known figures such as Carmen Lomas Garza, Nancy Hom, Rupert Garcia, Mildred Howard, Jean La Marr, Ester Hernandez, Michael Roman, and the San Francisco Print Collective. It will explore themes of U.S. Imperialism, gender inequality and women’s empowerment, cultural celebrations, Indigenous America, and more – many of which continue to resonate today.

Stephanie Lagos. Mixed media screenprint / Photo courtesy of Ontario Museum of History & Art

Its companion exhibition, “Centered in Ink: Printmaking in the Inland Empire,” will showcase a diverse array of printmakers and screen printers of the Inland Empire who employ their artistic skills to address pressing community issues and ignite conversations that resound with viewers. Using their printmaking practices to create powerful visual statements, the artists delve into thought-provoking themes such as identity, activism, and environmental awareness. Participating artists include Briar Rosa, Adam Aguilar, L.Akinyi, Micah Amaro, BA Soul, Kenia Cruz, Cesar Garcia, Jorge Heredia, Duan Kellum, Stephanie Lagos, Eduardo Raul Muñoz-Villagaña, Erick Revollo-Paz, and Sarah Vazquez.

Twenty seven prints from Mission Gráfica and thirty artworks for Centered in Ink will be exhibited in the museum’s North Wing Galleries.

Mission Gráfica screenprint / Photo courtesy of Ontario Museum of History & Art

Samantha Herrera, exhibition curator, says by email that the two shows were purposefully meant to run together. “Centered in Ink was planned to pair with Mission Gráfica. With most of the traveling exhibits we host, we try to complement them with the Inland Empire’s fascinating history and exciting art communities.”

“We searched in our local art community for a similar group of printmakers working together at a local art center who were producing artwork with a socially conscious theme and providing an outlet for creativity to the community at large,” Herrera says further.

“I wasn’t familiar with the Mission Gráfica art collective until recently. But I did recognize some of its artists, such as Esther Hernandez, from my studies of the Chicano rights movement in college,” discloses Herrera. “During that period, Esther’s work centered on themes of women’s rights and the struggles of Chicano farmworkers, using her art to amplify their voices and issues.”

“The printmakers we are featuring in Centered in Ink, all have connections to the Garcia Center for the Arts in the city of San Bernardino, similar to the artists in Mission Grafica, hosted by the Mission Cultural Center of Latino Arts in San Francisco,” explains Herrera. “Most of the local printmakers we are presenting are influenced by the Oaxaca woodcut print art form, originating from the Mexican state of Oaxaca.”

Local participating artists include:

Jacob Adame (Briar Rosa)

Briar Rosa works with various mediums to make paintings, sculptures, drawings, and prints. Their work has developed into exploring the figure and its historical relationship with symbolism.

Briar Rosa. Hover When we Weep / Photo courtesy of Ontario Museum of History & Art

Adam Aguilar

Adam Aguilar is a printmaker and multidisciplinary artist from the Inland Empire. He has worked displayed in Inland Empire galleries and museums.

Lilian Owiti (L Akinyi)

L. Akinyi is an interdisciplinary artist currently working to bridge the cultural landscapes of their upbringing in Nairobi to the diverse influences of the Inland Empire, where they currently live and work. Through their practice, Akinyi explores their own internal world, themes of identity, migration and the interplay between traditional and contemporary spiritual practices from her African/diasporic lens.

Micah Amaro

Micah Amaro is a San Bernardino artist who focuses on character design through colorful and expressive BIPOC illustrations. She has demonstrated her versatility by branching out into different mediums, such as printmaking with the collective Grafica Nocturna. Over the years, she has worked with many organizations, such as the Locatora Radio podcast and Arts Connection.

Brenda Angel (BA Soul)

An artist born and raised in San Bernardino, California, BA Soul expresses her creativity through paint, fabric, illustration, and murals. Inspired by her culture and the beauty of nature, she connects deeply with others through her art.

Kenia Cruz

Kenia Cruz is an interdisciplinary artist raised in Los Angeles and the Inland Empire, whose practice is currently focused on printmaking. She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Art with a concentration in Visual Studies from Cal State San Bernardino and is now pursuing a master’s degree in education with an emphasis on art at the University of Redlands.

Cesar Garcia

Cesar Garcia is a craftsman based in San Bernardino, who prefers working with printmaking techniques such as xylography, pyrography, stencil and airbrushing. He believes art is a powerful tool to create awareness about what is happening around us and reflects the times we live in.

Jorge Heredia (Osvaldo Heredia)

Osvaldo Heredia is a first-generation Salvadoran Mexican, born in Downtown Los Angeles and now primarily working in San Bernardino. Heredia is a graduate of Cal State San Bernardino and a former Director of the Garcia Center for the Arts, where he led and contributed to many community projects, with the goal of empowering the community.

Duan Kellum

Born in Trenton, New Jersey, Duan Kellum is an educator, artist and activist. Kellum’s predominant mediums are screen- printing and stenciling.

Stephanie Lagos

Stephanie Lagos is a versatile artist based in the Inland Empire, exploring their Mexican Honduran heritage through various mediums, including painting, ceramics, drawing, and printmaking. Their work reflects a deep connection to their roots and cultural identity, pushing the boundaries of Eurocentric ideas in art.

Erick Revollo-Paz

Erick Revollo-Paz is an artist born in Mexico and raised in Southern California. After graduating from California State San Bernardino, Revollo-Paz developed a passion for art, specifically within printmaking practices.

Sarah Vazquez

Sarah Vazquez is a visual artist from San Bernardino, California, who works across various mediums and has been focused on printmaking since 2018. Her work is emotionally driven as she explores themes of identity, connection, and healing. Vazquez is an advocate for accessible art education and a member of the Grafica Nocturna printmaking collective.

Herrera declares, “Through their creative process, the artists in both exhibitions reflect various styles, approaches, and sensibilities. They explore societal struggles, weaving personal narratives into broader discussions that connect the individual to their community. These works spark dialogue on identity, place, and belonging, using diverse materials and symbols to share stories and encourage reflection. We hope the work resonates with you as much as it did with us and continues to inspire dialogue among members of the Inland Empire community.”

Through the decades and spanning cultures, artists have spoken their truths and effected social reform. Would that we, who view this exhibition, engage with their works and act on what we learn.

Save the Graves in El Dorado County Tells Long-forgotten Stories

30th September 20242nd October 2024 / May S Ruiz / Leave a comment

Also published on 30 September 2024 on Hey SoCal

Photo courtesy of Mike Roberts | Save the Graves

El Dorado County is famously recognized as the place where California’s Gold Rush began. According to historical accounts, on January 24, 1848, James W. Marshall discovered gold on the south fork of the American River in the valley known to the Nisenan Indians as Cullumah (beautiful valley). That momentous instance not only helped shape California’s future, it reinvigorated the country’s economy as well.

Towards the end of the 1880s another historical, albeit little-known, event transpired in El Dorado County – the public hangings that sent shock waves across Placerville.

Based on newspapers articles at the time, a reputedly wealthy farmer John Lowell was murdered on March 24, 1888 during a robbery at his ranch near Mormon Island in El Dorado County. Three men were convicted of first degree murder – John Henry Meyer, a 27-year-old immigrant from Germany; John Olson, a 24-year-old Norwegian native immigrant; and William Drager, a 41-year-old immigrant from Germany.

Meyer was hanged on November 30, 1888. Olson and Drager – who steadfastly claimed throughout the trial that they weren’t involved in the murder of Lowell – were hanged on October 16, 1889. These were the last legal hangings and among the last public executions in California.

Hangings were not uncommon in the United States back then; Placerville had been referred to as “hangtown” since the Gold Rush days. However, Olson and Drager’s sentence galvanized the whole town into action because Placerville residents felt they had not been complicit in the murder, and the death penalty was too harsh for their actual crime.

Over 425 townspeople – including the district attorney who prosecuted the case, the sheriff, and nine of the 12 jurors – signed a petition requesting the sentence be reduced to life imprisonment. It was, however, rejected and the pardon turned down. It fell upon El Dorado County sheriff James Madison Anderson to carry out the sentence and, for years, that an injustice might have been done weighed heavily on him.

His great-great-granddaughter M.G. Rawls – a retired Pasadena lawyer and author of fantasy trilogy books “The Sorts of Pasadena Hollow” – delves into this event and gives readers an intimate look at the victim, the killers, the crime, and the hangings. She chronicles the details of the case and then reaches her own conclusions about this long-forgotten and rarely discussed episode in Placerville’s past in her book called “Hanging Justice,” scheduled to publish in October 2025.

In the course of her extensive research, Rawls traveled to El Dorado County several times and visited the gravesites of her ancestors at Placerville Union Cemetery. During one of her trips there she found out about Save the Graves.

Placerville Wagon Train Event 2023 | Photo courtesy of Save the Graves

Conceived in 2019 by Mike Roberts and his wife Michele Martin, Save the Graves is a non-profit organization with a mission to restore, preserve, and celebrate El Dorado County’s historic cemetery and the stories they contain.

Speaking by phone, Roberts begins just as he does all his talks about Save the Graves. “Some people discover at some point in their lives that they have a peculiar fondness for old cemeteries. And I am one of those people. I’ve always been fascinated by them and drawn to them. It turned out there’s a word for people like us — taphophiles.”

“When I was walking my dog one day, I came upon this cemetery near my home and realized that what was once a beautiful place had gone to seed,” Roberts recounts. “No one was cutting the grass and the trash cans were overflowing. There’s so much history beneath these headstones yet no one was taking an interest in preserving it. So I took it upon myself to do that.”

New signage at Placervile Union Cemetery | Photo courtesy of Save the Graves

Roberts explains, “There are several ‘Friends of’ organizations in several cities, so I tried to create ‘Friends of Union Cemetery.’ To attract people into joining the group, I wrote a piece about the history of Union Cemetery, had it published in the local paper, and apprised readers that I was holding a couple of formation meetings and gave the times and dates.”

“One of those people who showed up was a retired PR executive for a utilities company who told me he was part of something similar to this in Long Beach called Save the Graves. The Historical Society was involved and they did theatrical portrayals of local historical characters buried in the cemetery. They researched and wrote scripts; the actors rehearsed and wore costumes authentic to the era. They charged money for the performances which people loved because they learned about the town’s history; that enabled them to raise funds to restore the cemetery. He had already committed to do some work for the Placerville Park but offered to help as soon as he finished that project,” recalls Roberts.

“I had forgotten about it until he called me two years later and asked if I was still interested in collaborating,” Roberts continues. “Coincidentally, a theatre professional he had previously performed with in Long Beach had just arrived in Placerville and he recruited him to get involved. They got us a grant and the three of us partnered up and launched our first production. As challenging as it was to stage a show at a cemetery, we pulled it off and it was very well received in the community. We held the second production and then we had a pandemic.”

Mike Roberts (in white shirt and black trousers) at a Save the Graves booth | Photo courtesy of Save the Graves

These two gentlemen Roberts teamed up with eventually moved on to do theatrical productions elsewhere, leaving Roberts to focus on his original objective.

Says Roberts, “I was everywhere doing fundraising and cemetery improvement projects, running volunteer groups, as well as doing repair and restoration work myself. What bothered me most were the broken headstones. The county that managed the cemetery wouldn’t let me touch anything because of the liability. Heaven forbid the county gets sued by someone because I cleaned their ancestor’s grave! So I circumvented a potential lawsuit by checking the genealogy of the people buried there and choosing to repair the headstones of those with no relatives in Placerville.”

Using money they’d raised, Roberts paid $3,000 to a sympathetic local cemetery operator who agreed to get 18 of the headstones off the ground. And that made a huge difference. Instead of merely explaining to people what he was trying to accomplish, it gave him something concrete to show when he asked for donations. It also made fundraising easier the following year.

According to Roberts, the real fundraising vehicle is the program for the annual event. They started out with a four-page leaflet and last year they printed a 48-page magazine with a glossy cover and inside were advertisements about local shops and proprietors interspersed with the schedule of activities.

A Historical Society booth at a Placerville event | Photo courtesy of Save the Graves

These days, when Roberts tries to sell advertising space he’s asked about readership and circulation figures, which makes him laugh. He no longer has to do door-to-door solicitations; he reaches out by email. But when he does go out to see potential advertisers, he’s always wholeheartedly welcomed. People comment on how beautiful the cemetery looks.

In the six years since he and Martin established Save the Graves, Roberts has become something of a local luminary. He attends the downtown merchants association meetings and listens to some of the problems they encounter and helps find solutions. He has been giving two-hour talks about Save the Graves before various groups.

Placerville bell tower | Photo by M.G. Rawls / Save the Graves

“Last year we incorporated Save the Graves as a non-profit organization and that enabled us to apply for funding and we got our first big one – a $5,000 grant,” Roberts says happily. “The County Board of Supervisors gave us $10,000. We’ve been receiving donations from many people in the community, I’m so humbled. This year one of the descendants of a Placerville sheriff also sent us money. I didn’t know we had prominent historical figures in our town – we’d lost track of them.”

“We now have the luxury of having the money to take care of the cemetery,” declares Roberts. “The headstone cleaning can be done by volunteers so the funds go into fixing more complicated issues, like accessibility and terrain problems, crumbling copings along the walkways, etc. We’ve gotten a lot of damaging lichens out of old headstones and we’ve posted all sorts of interpretive signs that tell stories of these places to engage people who wander through.”

“Save the Graves is as much about building community as it is about fixing the cemetery,” Roberts emphasizes. “Historic cemeteries strengthen the fabric of our community by building connections between people. Part of that requires that you know something about those who are buried – and we accomplish that through our theatrical productions, biographical stories we post, and a Find the Grave QR code the general public can scan with their smart phones. We’re building connections to the people who are here now and to the place they live – that’s community. It starts to grow and we eventually connect with each other.”

“Placerville’s demographics are shifting with folks from big, congested cities moving in because they can buy an acre of land and enjoy nature and wildlife. And guess what else they like – old cemeteries! And they’re willing to help out,” Roberts enthuses.

Vendor showing gold flakes panned in Placerville | Photo of courtesy Save the Graves

Two of those transplants to Placerville are Jacob Rigoli and Sean Manwaring with whom Rawls got acquainted when she went to see the house her great grandfather used to live in – which they now owned.

Relates Manwaring, “Jacob and I first met Meg in October 2021. At that time we were restoring the historic residence colloquially known as ‘Judge Thompson House,’ named after her great grandfather, Superior Court Justice George Thompson. It was also the childhood home of her grandmother Virginia Thompson Gregg. Before that, her great-great-grandparents lived in the circa 1862 home, making it the residence of three generations of her family. Her mother and uncles visited the home in their youth with her grandmother.”

“It was Meg who introduced us to Save the Graves,” Manwaring clarifies. “The following year, we joined the planning committee and assisted with the annual event and fundraiser. Although I’m not a Placerville native, I grew up in Northern California, frequently visiting old mining camps and Gold Rush towns with my family. I have fond memories of Placerville. Like her, my husband Jacob and I are descendants of pioneers who arrived in California either just before or during the Gold Rush.”

“We quickly bonded with Meg over our shared enthusiasm and deep appreciation for all things related to early California history. Since then, she has become a dear friend, and we truly understand her passion for preserving her family’s legacy,” states Manwaring.

2023 Save the Graves theatrical performance | Photo courtesy of Save the Graves

“The work of Save the Graves is vital in preserving not only our local history but also the stories of California’s pioneering women,” informs Manwaring. “Last year, we featured one such remarkable figure: Mollie Wilcox Hurd. Born in Placerville in 1870, Mollie’s life took an unexpected turn when she married Frank Stoddard, nephew of Elizabeth Stoddard Huntington, the first wife of Central Pacific Railroad magnate Collis P. Huntington.”

Collis P. Huntington’s nephew, Henry Huntington, and his wife Arabella founded Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Gardens – a beloved institution in the San Gabriel Valley in Southern California.

“Frank’s family connections and career in the railroad industry propelled Mollie into the elite social circles of Los Angeles,” Manwaring continues. “While in Los Angeles, she served as President of the Los Angeles Florence Crittenton Home, which was established to help women and children in need. Beyond raising their two children, Mollie dedicated herself to philanthropic endeavors, particularly advocating for women’s and children’s rights. She played a pivotal role in securing state legislation requiring fathers to pay child support regardless of marital status.”

Mollie and Frank Stoddard were married for 25 years. Following her divorce from him and after their children had grown, she married her old friend – Los Angeles area senator, Henry M. Hurd. She remained deeply connected to her Placerville relatives. She was a founding member of the Placerville Shakespeare Club, generously bequeathing a donation to build their historic building upon her death in 1929. Mollie and Senator Hurd are both buried in the Placerville Union Cemetery.

A 2023 Save the Graves theatrical performance | Photo courtesy of Save the Graves

“This year’s show called ‘Law and Order, to be held on October 19, will focus on four notable crimes that occurred in El Dorado County between 1855 and 1903,” Manwaring explains. “Each crime will be presented through historical portrayals, featuring two key figures – ranging from perpetrators to victims, and from law enforcement to members of the press. Attendees will gain insight on both the community and the justice system.”

Describes Manwaring, “The portrayals are historically accurate and performed graveside – often near the burial sites of the pioneers being depicted – and actors wear period costume. One featured crime is the John Lowell murder of 1888, in which Meg’s great-great-grandfather Sheriff James Madison Anderson testified during the trial and guarded the accused. Additionally, her great-great-uncle, Marcus Percival Bennett, served as the district attorney. The case haunted both men for years.”

“Jacob and I contributed to the research and organization for this year’s event,” Manwaring adds. “He will serve as a stage manager and I’ll portray Marcus Bennett. We are just two of the many volunteers who help put on this annual event at Placerville Union Cemetery. Mike and Michelle are the driving force behind the fundraiser that helps preserve the cemetery and the stories of those buried there.”

Save the Graves performance is usually held near the grave site of the historical person being honored | Photo courtesy of Save the Graves

“Meg’s research has unearthed a forgotten story,” pronounces Manwaring. “It’s fascinating to discover the events that shaped the townspeople and the motivations of those involved in the John Lowell murder trial. She’s helping our community discover this important chapter in our history.”

Indeed a significant event transpired over a century ago at Placerville that residents there today may know nothing about. Roberts admitted as much when he said he didn’t know about Sheriff Anderson. But through the organization he and Martin created, they are learning about these episodes in their local history and making them unforgettable.

Danny Feldman of the Pasadena Playhouse Honored for Leadership in Theatre

8th July 2024 / May S Ruiz / Leave a comment

Also published on 8 July 2024 on Hey SoCal

Danny Feldman | Photo by Jim Cox / Pasadena Playhouse

The Los Angeles Times recently launched L.A. Influential and Pasadena Playhouse’s Producing Artistic Director Danny Feldman was called one of The Creators – a group of outstanding individuals who are leaving their mark in film, art, music, and more. He was listed with fourteen others across all of the arts, joining an esteemed company that includes Eva Longoria, Ava DuVernay, Shonda Rhimes, Ryan Murphy, Jordan Peele, Mindy Kaling, Steven Yeun, and others. In the accompanying write-up, theatre critic Charles McNulty hailed him “The man who saved L.A. theatre.”

“It’s a little bit of an exaggeration,” says Feldman during a phone interview. He then recalls when he was informed of the honor. “They reached out a little less than a year ago to say I’ve been selected for this influencer list, so I’ve had time to digest it. I didn’t know who else was on this and the full context exactly, but I was a little shocked.”

Feldman clarifies, “I’m very pleased and grateful, but it’s really less about me than The Playhouse – I just get to be the face of it. The tribute is a sign or symbol that the work we’re doing at Pasadena Playhouse is getting noticed. This happened around the time The Playhouse won the (2023) Tony for Best Regional Theatre, which was a major achievement for us. It was an embarrassment of riches!”

The exterior of Pasadena Playhouse | Photo by Jeff Lorch / Pasadena Playhouse

“The Tony award had a tremendous impact,” emphasizes Feldman. “The Playhouse has a storied history with lots of ups and downs. The award honored the legacy and the unique history of the Pasadena Playhouse as one of the most important theatres in America. At the same time, we were recognized at a high point – when we were firing on all cylinders, when we were rising artistically.”

“Financially, we were at one of the more solid places we’ve been in our entire history; we were finding our stride and were on the eve of an expansion,” continues Feldman. “To receive a national recognition, like a Tony Award, for our body of work and for our impact of excellence in the world of theatre was overwhelming. So many of us have been working so hard for so long, to be acknowledged with a Tony Award was very fulfilling.”

In May 2025, The Playhouse’s building will celebrate its centennial and its programming will reflect its history.

Feldman states, “The Pasadena Playhouse is an iconic building and institution in our Los Angeles community as well as in the American theatre. That’s the theme throughout 2024-2025 so we’re calling it our iconic season. I was aiming for big shows that were iconic in their way –epic presentations that look like New York coming here and having a moment in our theatre.”

The Playhouse’s historic stage will feel alive with a sizzling Martin Crimp adaptation of one of the greatest plays of all time, Cyrano de Bergerac; a fresh new revival of Jerry Herman and Harvey Fierstein’s Tony Award winner for Best Musical, La Cage aux Folles; a new production of Suzan-Lori Parks’ Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award-winning classic, Topdog/Underdog – one of the best new American plays written in the last 25 years, as Feldman asserts.

Danny Feldman | Photo by Jim Cox / Pasadena Playhouse

“We’ll have special musical performances with the Civic Auditorium for two consecutive weekends of concerts featuring two of the most enduring musicals of all time: Anything Goes in Concert, starring Jinkx Monsoon as Reno Sweeney and Follies, an encore to our recent Sondheim celebration,” Feldman adds. “It’s a robust slate of shows that are sort of the greatest hits in a way, to honor our extraordinary achievement of having one of the oldest operating theatres in America. These special theatrical events will expand our initiative exploring classic American musicals with our community. ”

According to Feldman, musicals are rarely performed by non-profit theatres because they’re cost prohibitive. While the Pasadena Playhouse had staged musicals in the past, in 2019 he launched the American Musical Project – a bold and financially risky move. He discloses the reasoning behind the expensive venture, “We feel that it’s important because musical theatre is one of our contributions to the world. And we realize there’s a danger that the next generation and the generation after may not be able to experience these shows the way they’re intended in a 650-seat theatre in our community. We started with ‘Ragtime,’ ‘Little Shop of Horrors,’ and, of course, our Sondheim celebration. ‘Jelly’s Last Jam’ closing this week is the latest. We’re really showing folks our commitment and dedication to the American musical. We do them quite well, I have to say. People are really enjoying the artists and responding to them.”

Watching Broadway musicals at The Playhouse is a singularly unique experience. Feldman explains, “We love Broadway tours! It’s wonderful that our community gets to see these great shows from New York when they come to the Ahmanson or the Pantages. But those shows were created for a commercial purpose for Broadway and they go on tour with mainly New York performers. We do something very different at Pasadena Playhouse – we start with a blank page. I put together a team and they make the show from scratch. ‘Jelly’s Last Jam’ has over a hundred local employees working on it; the scale of it is pretty fantastic. I think they’re so successful artistically because of the group of hardworking people who are making it just for the audience that comes to see the show at the Pasadena Playhouse.”

Not surprisingly, the back-to-back accolades of The Playhouse’s Best Regional Theatre Tony Award and Feldman being named “The man that kept L.A. theatre alive” have put pressure on Feldman. “I try not to think about that,” quips Feldman. “But, of course I feel a lot of pressure from my daily job – I’m in a very privileged position of running a very important theatre in American history and our community. We’ve got to keep raising the bar with every decision we make, every show we decide to put on. Pasadena Playhouse is on the forefront of the American theatre, which means there are a lot of eyes on all the things we do. But it’s always been that way.”

“We take the responsibility of being the state theatre of California very seriously,” stresses Feldman. “And I think you see that in the quality of our work. I’m assembling teams of some of the top theatre-makers in America, whether they’re the most experienced – Alfred Molina is on our board and performs on our stage often – or the most exciting new talent. But regardless, these are some of the hardest-working and talented people in theatre coming to create extraordinary theatre. We operate with the thought that if we don’t get this right it may be our last. Maybe that’s not true now but it used to be true, and that’s what drives us. And while these accolades are great and we feel deeply proud and honored by them, we have a lot more to do.”

The interior of Pasadena Playhouse | Photo by Jeff Lorch / Pasadena Playhouse

Feldman expounds, “We have a big vision for Pasadena Playhouse; we’re setting the theatre up for now as well as in the next hundred years. Today we have the luxury of not just thinking about the next show, but about where the American theatre is going – how do we lead the way on that – and what it will look like two or three decades from now.”

To that end, The Playhouse will present The Next Stage Immersive Summit 2025 in January in partnership with The Immersive Experience Institute, the main service organization for immersive theater artists. The premiere gathering of creators of immersive art & entertainment will draw international guests from the fields of performing arts, themed entertainment, XR, and gaming. This is the largest gathering of its kind in the world.

“This year we expanded our audience in a dramatic way with the inauguration of a major youth and family ecosystem – classes and professional shows for kids. Keep your eye out on that programming because that’s only going to grow in the future. Theatre education is core to who we are. The school at the Pasadena Playhouse was built in the 1920s and by the 1930s the College of Dramatic Arts was one of the top schools in America,” explains Feldman.

The public’s involvement is crucial to the realization of Feldman’s ambitious plans. He exhorts, “The lifeblood of our theatre is the people in the community and we urge folks to become members – you get to come along for the whole ride, you get to see all the shows. I think the folks who have been coming recently feel the new energy at The Playhouse and they understand that. But for those who may think it’s not for them or haven’t been here in a while, we encourage you to come take a look at us, come check out the shows, come look at our education program – we’ve really become a force in the world of theatre.”

Feldman will mark eight years of stewardship of the Pasadena Playhouse this fall. He took over as producing artistic director when the venerable institution was at its nadir financially and was struggling to get traction in the community. That he even took on such a daunting challenge is remarkable enough. That he then led the way in turning its fortunes around and flourishing during these particularly trying times for American theatre is an astounding feat.

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