Barnsdall Art Park is a city park located in the East Hollywood district of

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

, California. Parking and arts buildings access is from

Hollywood Boulevard Hollywood Boulevard is a major east–west street in Los Angeles, California. It begins in the east at Sunset Boulevard in the Los Feliz district and proceeds to the west as a major thoroughfare through Little Armenia and Thai Town, Hollywoo ...

on the north side of the park. The park is a

Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monuments are sites which have been designated by the Los Angeles, California, Cultural Heritage Commission as worthy of preservation based on architectural, historic and cultural criteria. History The Historic-Cult ...

, and a facility of the City of Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs.

Aline Barnsdall Louise Aline Barnsdall (April 1, 1882 – December 18, 1946) was an American oil heiress, best known as Frank Lloyd Wright's client for the Hollyhock House in Los Angeles, now the centerpiece of the city's Barnsdall Art Park. Biography Born i ...

donated Barnsdall Park to the City of Los Angeles for arts and recreational purposes, including the preservation of the historic architecture and landscape features. Located at the crest of Olive Hill, Barnsdall Art Park overlooks the city of Los Angeles, and the

Hollywood Hills The Hollywood Hills are a residential neighborhood in the central region of Los Angeles, California. Geography The Hollywood Hills straddle the Cahuenga Pass within the Santa Monica Mountains. The neighborhood touches Studio City, Univer ...

, including

Griffith Park Griffith Park is a large municipal park at the eastern end of the Santa Monica Mountains, in the Los Feliz neighborhood of Los Angeles, California. The park includes popular attractions such as the Los Angeles Zoo, the Autry Museum of the Ameri ...

. The park is centered on Barnsdall's

Hollyhock House The Aline Barnsdall Hollyhock House in the East Hollywood neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, was designed by Frank Lloyd Wright originally as a residence for oil heiress Aline Barnsdall (built, 1919–1921). The building is now the centerpi ...

Frank Lloyd Wright Frank Lloyd Wright (June 8, 1867 – April 9, 1959) was an American architect, designer, writer, and educator. He designed more than 1,000 structures over a creative period of 70 years. Wright played a key role in the architectural movements o ...

, a

National Historic Landmark A National Historic Landmark (NHL) is a building, district, object, site, or structure that is officially recognized by the United States government for its outstanding historical significance. Only some 2,500 (~3%) of over 90,000 places listed ...

World Heritage Site A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for h ...

, and on the

National Register of Historic Places in Los Angeles National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, c ...

History

Aline Barnsdall, a native of

Bradford, Pennsylvania Bradford is a city in McKean County, Pennsylvania, McKean County, Pennsylvania. It is located close to the border with New York (state), New York state and approximately south of Buffalo, New York. Bradford is the principal city in the Bradford, ...

and heiress to an oil fortune, was led by her interest in the future of the American stage to

Chicago, Illinois (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

, where she co-directed an

experimental theatre Experimental theatre (also known as avant-garde theatre), inspired largely by Richard Wagner, Wagner's concept of Gesamtkunstwerk, began in Western theatre in the late 19th century with Alfred Jarry and his Ubu Roi, Ubu plays as a rejection of bot ...

company. While in Chicago, she met the equally unconventional Frank Lloyd Wright, whose recently completed

Midway Gardens Midway Gardens (opened in 1914, demolished in 1929) was a 360,000 square feet indoor/outdoor entertainment facility in the Hyde Park neighborhood on the South Side of Chicago. It was designed by architect Frank Lloyd Wright, who also collaborate ...

she admired. A trip to

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

turned Barnsdall's attention to Los Angeles. In 1915 she commissioned Wright to help her develop an innovative theatrical community on the nation's western cultural frontier. Selecting a thirty-six acre site in East Hollywood known as Olive Hill, Barnsdall and Wright worked together to develop a plan that included a home for Barnsdall and her young daughter, two secondary residences, a theater, a director's house, a dormitory for actors, studios for artists, shops, and a motion picture theater. The site plan was based on the gridded spacing of the existing

olive grove The olive, botanical name ''Olea europaea'', meaning 'European olive' in Latin, is a species of small tree or shrub in the family Oleaceae, found traditionally in the Mediterranean Basin. When in shrub form, it is known as ''Olea europaea'' 'M ...

’s 1225 trees. In subsequent decades, the park has become popular among residents from the nearby districts. The park has a wide variety of park visitors, as it sits at the intersection of a number of Los Angeles demographic groups.

Hollyhock House

The Aline Barnsdall Residence, known as

, was the first Los Angeles project of

. Built between 1919 and 1921, it represents his earliest efforts to develop a regionally appropriate style of architecture for

Southern California Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and Cultural area, cultural region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. It includes the Los Angeles metropolitan area, the second most po ...

. Taking advantage of the area's mild climate, Hollyhock House is a combination of house and gardens. It is a remarkable example of Wright's love of nature and the way he incorporated it into his designs. The house takes its name from the

hollyhock ''Alcea'' is a genus of over 80 species of flowering plants in the mallow family Malvaceae, commonly known as the hollyhocks. They are native to Asia and Europe. The single species of hollyhock from the Americas, the streambank wild hollyhock, ...

blossom, the favorite flower of Aline Barnsdall. Wright's abstracted hollyhock patterns were incorporated into the decoration motif on and in the residence. Wright was often absent during the actual construction of Hollyhock House, due to the demands of a major commission, the

Imperial Hotel Imperial Hotel or Hotel Imperial may refer to: Hotels Australia * Imperial Hotel, Ravenswood, Queensland * Imperial Hotel, York, Western Australia Austria * Hotel Imperial, Vienna India * The Imperial, New Delhi Ireland * Imperial Hotel, D ...

in Tokyo, Japan. Therefore, he gave supervision of the Barnsdall project to two young Taliesin studio associates: his son

Lloyd Wright Frank Lloyd Wright Jr. (March 31, 1890 – May 31, 1978), commonly known as Lloyd Wright, was an American architect, active primarily in Los Angeles and Southern California. He was a landscape architect for various Los Angeles projects (192 ...

, and Rudolph Schindler. They both became independently renowned architects.

Art Park

Because of financial and artistic differences, only the two secondary residences and the Barnsdall home, Hollyhock House, were finally built. In 1926, Aline Barnsdall gave Hollyhock House and eleven surrounding acres to the City of Los Angeles for use as a public park in memory of her father, Theodore Barnsdall. The City agreed to take the Hollywood estate, but initially did not do anything with it, likely because of Barnsdall's restrictions on how the land could be used, as well as her controversial ideals. Part of the ensuing negotiations between the City and Barnsdall included a provision that the

California Art Club The California Art Club (CAC) is one of the oldest and most active arts organizations in California. Founded in December 1909, it celebrated its centennial in 2009 and into the spring of 2010. The California Art Club originally evolved out of The ...

would be granted a fifteen-year lease (1927–1942) on Hollyhock House to use as their clubhouse. In the 1950s and 1960s additional art center buildings, including a modern theatre, an art gallery, and studios, were built on Olive Hill in the park. In the 1990s the Olive Hill restoration master plan and work was completed, including restoring the original olive groves.

Los Angeles Municipal Art Gallery

The Los Angeles Municipal Art Gallery is a venue that offers exhibition space for large, thematic group exhibitions and retrospective exhibitions of individual work.lamag.org: Los Angeles Municipal Art Gallery
/ref> The Junior Arts Center Gallery is a venue in the building that offers a smaller gallery space. At times the two galleries are used together for single large-scale exhibitions.

Exhibitions program

The Municipal Art Gallery's exhibitions program produces approximately nine exhibitions of

contemporary art Contemporary art is the art of today, produced in the second half of the 20th century or in the 21st century. Contemporary artists work in a globally influenced, culturally diverse, and technologically advancing world. Their art is a dynamic com ...

per year. The curatorial focus includes painting, sculpture, photography, architecture, design, video, electronic, performance, and installation works. Exhibits at Barnsdall Park receive over 45,000 visitors annually.

Barnsdall Gallery Theatre

The Barnsdall Gallery Theatre (BGT) is owned and operated by Performing Arts in the City of Los Angeles's Department of Cultural Affairs. It is a 299-seat proscenium space rented at nominal fees to individuals and organizations for live theatre, dance, music,

spoken word Spoken word refers to an oral poetic performance art that is based mainly on the poem as well as the performer's aesthetic qualities. It is a late 20th century continuation of an ancient oral artistic tradition that focuses on the aesthetics of ...

, lectures, films, and other events. BGT also presents a variety of community events in the space, including free programs, such as the Independent Shakespeare Company, Music Summer Camps by the Silverlake Conservatory of Music, and many annual festivals, including the Thai Festival and Artwallah. ;Independent Shakespeare Company The Independent Shakespeare Company (ISC) is an ongoing, free live summer series held on an outdoor stage in the park. In 2004, in association with the City's Department of Cultural Affairs, the ISC established a residency in Barnsdall Art Park. The first production was "

The Two Gentlemen of Verona ''The Two Gentlemen of Verona'' is a comedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1589 and 1593. It is considered by some to be Shakespeare's first play, and is often seen as showing his first tentative steps in laying ...

". In October 2004, the ISC toured ''Richard III'' in France as part of the 100th anniversary of the

Entente Cordiale The Entente Cordiale (; ) comprised a series of agreements signed on 8 April 1904 between the United Kingdom and the French Republic which saw a significant improvement in Anglo-French relations. Beyond the immediate concerns of colonial de ...

. This production returned to Los Angeles as part of Free Shakespeare in Barnsdall Art Park 2005, performed in rotation with ''The Two Gentlemen of Verona'' and ''Hamlet''. In 2005, the ISC returned to Barnsdall Art Park with a new production of ''Hamlet'', running in repertory with ''Richard III'' and encore performances of ''The Two Gentlemen of Verona''. In 2006, the ISC produced ''As You Like It'' and ''Hamlet''. ;Silverlake Conservatory of Music The Silverlake Conservatory of Music presents Music Summer Camps, bringing music to young people at the Barnsdall Gallery Theatre. A team of professional master musicians present a music program combining academic information with live performance. The musicians perform their music and then explain how their instruments fit into the rhythm, chord structure, mood, or melody of a piece. Young people who are interested in a musical career are able to learn from professionals.

Barnsdall Art Center

The Barnsdall Art Center provides college-level art instruction at low cost in a Frank Lloyd Wright building. The center is temporarily housed in the Junior Arts Center due to the closure of the Frank Lloyd Wright building for safety reasons. The Barnsdall Art Center Student Advisory Committee provides support and student influence for the center's growth. The

non-profit organization A nonprofit organization (NPO) or non-profit organisation, also known as a non-business entity, not-for-profit organization, or nonprofit institution, is a legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public or social benefit, in co ...

provides volunteer services with registration and financial assistance by covering programs and classes that the City is unable to fund.

The Junior Arts Center

The Junior Arts Center offers art programs to children and youth aged 3–18. Art instruction held at the center throughout the year includes drawing, painting,

film making Filmmaking (film production) is the process by which a motion picture is produced. Filmmaking involves a number of complex and discrete stages, starting with an initial story, idea, or commission. It then continues through screenwriting, castin ...

, printmaking, acting, photography, and sculpture. Parent/child classes are also available. The arts center's children's gallery features the work of young artists. The Junior Arts Center Gallery provides family-oriented exhibitions by both children's and adults' work, as well as interactive family exhibits. Annual special events include

Día de los Muertos The Day of the Dead ( es, Día de Muertos or ''Día de los Muertos'') is a holiday traditionally celebrated on November 1 and 2, though other days, such as October 31 or November 6, may be included depending on the locality. It is widely obser ...

, Aline Barnsdall Day, the culmination of children's classes, and the Barnsdall Art Center's students exhibit.

References

External links

*
Official Los Angeles Municipal Art Gallery website
{{Authority control Arts centers in California Art museums and galleries in Los Angeles Parks in Los Angeles East Hollywood, Los Angeles Frank Lloyd Wright buildings Art schools in California Theatres in Los Angeles Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monuments Event venues established in 1927 1927 establishments in California Art galleries established in 1927 Hollywood Boulevard Sculpture gardens, trails and parks in California