Feb 09, 2016 Free Day at the Huntington Library, Art Collection, and Gardens
Last week, my wife and I accompanied our daughter’s second grade class on a field trip to the Huntington Library, Art Collection, and Gardens. The San Marino landmark is not cheap, so how could we pass up a free visit? It turned out the first Thursday of every month is free for everyone. Visitors simply have to register online ahead of time. (Good luck! The slots fill up within minutes.)
Going on a field trip doesn’t make for a relaxing stroll through an immaculately curated park or serious visit to a world-class archive. Making sure the children were walking in a single file line and not touching anything, it took us less than five minutes walk through two galleries and catch a quick glance at The Blue Boy and Pinkie. I just caught a glimpse of what looked like a Shakespeare manuscript and Lincoln photograph. We spent more time on the road, eating our sack lunches, and queuing up for the bathrooms than visiting.
But for kids from Chinatown to leave the inner city to simply be exposed to the buildings and gardens is pretty cool. Castelar Elementary and the Huntington are only about 10 1/2 miles apart (a much longer bus ride since large vehicles aren’t allowed on the 110 freeway) but they are worlds apart. I don’t know if our school even has a lawn. The space and the peace are amazing for kids to experience–even if thy just want to run around and make noise.
It must also be cool for Chinese kids (about 80 percent of the class) to see their culture reflected by the ivory tower. The Chinese Garden is massive, and is patterned after traditional Suzhou-style scholar gardens with a lake, tea house, and five stone bridges. The already huge 5-acre plot is slated to more than double in size to 12 acres! Anyone remember when the Japanese Garden was hot?
There was also a section devoted to Chinese Americans, namely Y.C. Hong. The lawyer and advocate for Chinese-American inclusion championed immigrants’ rights when the Chinese Exclusion Act was in effect, and key pieces of his professional and personal life are on display in the East Library. There were plenty of photographs of Old and New Chinatown for the second graders to wrap their heads around. I liked the vintage Chinese typewriter.
And as our daughter goes to school in Chinatown, my grandfather was very involved in the political scene and family associations there as well. We spotted him in a photo with Hong and Reagan. One of the other parents said, “You’re famous!” Not really, but it was pretty awesome for my daughter to see the photo on a museum display.
Of course, there’s more to the Huntington than Chinese stuff. As a guy who got a degree in English, I wouldn’t mind seeing drafts and editions by Thoreau, Twain, London and Bukowski. And as a person who made zines, there’s the Gutenberg Bible. And that World of Strangers collection looks interesting with Bellows, Spruance, and Weegee. But that will be another visit.
Los Angeles has so many great places like the Huntington. It’s funny how it takes visiting relatives or our kids to get us out of the house to check them out.
Check out huntington.org for the latest events, exhibits, and information on what’s blooming, and follow Imprint on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook as well.