NELA Live

Casa de Adobe Art Exhibit Added to Lummis Fest, June 1

In an expansion of the Lummis Day Festival's activities, an exhibition of work by Northeast L.A. artists will be mounted at Casa de Adobe and will be open to festival-goers from 1pm-6pm on Sunday, June 1.

Casa de Adobe is located at 4605 N. Figueroa Street, just across the street from the main Lummis Day Festival site at Sycamore Grove Park.

Curator for the exhibition is fiber artist Connie Rohman, a longtime member of he Arroyo Arts  Collective and Culture/Arts chairperson for the Mount Washington Association. Among the artists who will be represented at the exhibition are Ernesto Anguiano, Zoe Axelrod, Ann Dudrow, Kikki Eder, Margaret Garcia, Yolanda Gonzalez, Cidne Hart, Connie Rohman, Suzanne Siegel, Gilly Shaeffer,  Roderick Smith, Kevin Spitze, Alexia Teran, Heather Watson and Rick Willson. In addition, Avenue 50 Studio will present sculptures by Tomas Owen, and an altar installation by Ofelia Esparza in the Chapel room. Pam Hannah, director of operations for the Southwest Museum and the Autry National Center's Casa de Adobe, has served as facilitator for this exhibition.

Construction of the the Casa de Adobe-an authentic recreation of a 19th Century Spanish California rancho--began in 1917 and was completed in 1927. Construction methods adhered to traditional adobe style, with adobe bricks mixed and formed from earth dug at the construction site. To ensure historical accuracy, trees,plants and shrubs appropriate to the early to mid 19th trees, a fig and a pomegranate, still remain at the Casa and are now over 80 years old,

Although earthquake damage caused the Casa de Adobe's regular exhibitions to close in the early 1990's, the building is being revitalized by the Autry National Center and is currently the scene of special celebrations and fiestas. Living history tours are provided to students by junior docents from the Arroyo Seco Museum Science Magnet School. Tours can be booked through the Southwest Museum.

The 3rd annual Lummis Day Festival celebrates the Diverse cultures, spirit and history of L.A.'s  Northeast Arroyo neighborhoods with food, music, art, poetry and dance. Nationally and regionally renowned artists will perform in English, Spanish and Tagalog. The June 1 Festival will include events at Lummis Home, Casa de Adobe and Sycamore Grove Park from 10:30 am to 7:00 pm.

Lummis Day takes its name from Charles Fletcher Lummis, who became the L.A. Times' first city editor in 1885, founded the Southwest Museum, and championed the concept of multi-culturalism in Southern California.

The 3rd Annual Lummis Day Festival is presented by the Annenberg Foundation and the Autry National center, and is sponsored by the Neighborhood Councils of  Arroyo Seco, Eagle Rock, Historic Highland Park and Greater Cypress Park as well as the Department of Recreation and Parks, the Arroyo Seco Journal, public radio station KPFK-FM 90.7, KMEX-TV Univision 34, SIPA, the North Figueroa Association, Los Angeles City Council Districts 1 and 14, Poets & Writers, Inc., the Highland Park Historic Trust an the Mount Washington Association.

For up-to-date info on Lummis Day, log on to http://www.lummisday.org.

Contact: Eliot Sekuler 818-535-9178

Lummis Day - Schedule of Events and Performances - June 1, 2008

For more information, please visit http://www.lummisday.org

Schedule subject to change but it will all be fun
(see bios of artists / performers below)

LUMMIS HOME - 200 E. Ave 43

10:30 am .11:00 am . . 12:00 pm

Carlos Guitarlos, acoustic guitar Poetry by Steve Kowit, Mike the Poet, liz gonzález, Cathie Sandstrom, hosted by Suzanne Lummis Arroyo Arts Collective’s Puppet Pageant leads attendees to Sycamore Grove Park

SYCAMORE GROVE PARK - 4700 N. Figueroa St.

. 12:30 pm 12:35 pm 12:45 pm 12:55 - 1:40 pm 2:10 - 2:35 pm 3:05 - 3:35 pm 4:05 - 4:45 pm 5:10 - 5:55 pm 6:15 - 7:15 pm . 1:40 - 2:10 pm 2:35 - 3:05 pm 3:35 - 4:05 pm 4:45 - 5:10 pm 5:55 - 6:15 pm . various times

STAGE ONE Arroyo Arts Collective Puppets enter, Opening Ceremony Tongva Drummers Welcome by Elected Officials Mariachi Divas Ann Likes Red with Special Guests Artichoke Chapin Sisters Cava Jackson Browne STAGE TWO Cypress Park Folklorico Dance Group Ballet Coco Kultura Philippine Folk Arts Ballet Coco Culture Clash STAGE THREE - Family Corner Good Shepherd Lutheran Church After-School Music Program Puppet & Players Little Theatre We Tell Stories Puppets Tramp Across the Continent Los Chilitos Family Sing-Along with Lou Pugliese

OTHER ACTIVITES THROUGHOUT THE DAY INCLUDE:

Community groups information booths Art puppets Food Venders Education corral Craft and art vendors Art Galleries

Lummis Day Festival, June 1 - Kid-Friendly Entertainment

A separate new "Family Stage" will be featured at the Lummis Day Festival this year to add top kid-friendly puppet theater, storytelling and music to the kaleidoscope of music, dance and art that will fill Sycamore Grove Park from 12:30-7:00pm on Sunday, June 1.

The Puppets and Players Little Theater and the We Tell Stories performing group will be featured on the new stage. Other performers will be announced soon. MC's for the Family Stage will include KPFK's Fidel Rodriguez and personalities from KMEX, Univision 34.

We Tell Stories is a multi-ethnic community of artists who educate and nurture young audiences by reconnecting them with the ancient powers and wisdom of storytelling and theater. Performances by the We Tell Stories group blend storytelling and audience-participatory theater to bring world folklore, fairy
tales, literature, legends, and mythology to life.

Puppets and Players Little Theatre creatively re-invents the ancient art of marionette theater with masterful marionettes, colorful stage sets, exquisite lighting and state of the art sound that all combine to leave a lasting impression of puppetry at its best. Their performances, which combine classical marionettes, hand puppets and live performers, are presented on a beautifully crafted European-style marionette theater-on-wheels.

The third annual Lummis Day: The Festival of Northeast Los Angeles, will be presented by the  Annenberg Foundation and the Autry National Center and will celebrate the diverse cultures and history of the L.A.'s Arroyo neighborhoods with June 1 events--free and open to the public--at Lummis Home
and Sycamore Grove Park. Performers--all with roots in Northeast Los Angeles--will include nationally and regionally celebrated artists performing in Spanish, English and Tagalog.

Information on the Festival and its programs is available at http://www.LummisDay.org

Lummis Day takes its name from Charles Fletcher Lummis, who joined the L.A. Times as the newspaper's first city editor in 1876. A prolific writer and photographer, Lummis was also one of the city's first librarians, founded the Southwest Museum and helped introduce the concept of multi-culturalism to Southern California.

Lummis Day: The Festival of Northeast Los Angeles is presented by the Annenberg Foundation and the Autry National Center. Festival sponsors include the Department of Recreation and Parks, the Arroyo Seco, Eagle Rock, Greater Cypress Park and Historic Highland Park Neighborhood Councils, KMEX Univision 34, public radio station KPFK 90.7, the Arroyo Seco Journal, Poets & Writers, Inc, the North Figueroa Association, Los Angeles City Council Districts 1 and 14, the Highland Park Heritage Trust, the Mount Washington Association, the L.A. Poetry Festival, the Los Angeles County Arts Commission and other community organizations.
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Contact: Eliot Sekuler 818-535-9178

JACKSON BROWNE TO PERFORM AT LUMMIS DAY FESTIVAL

BROWNE’S NEW ALBUM JACKSON BROWNE – SOLO ACOUSTIC,
VOL. 2 WAS RELEASED MARCH 4;
BROWNE IS TOURING THE U.S. THROUGH APRIL

Los Angeles, CA, April 4, 2008: Singer-songwriter Jackson Browne will perform at the third annual Lummis Day: The Festival Of Northeast Los Angeles, on Sunday, June 1. His appearance acknowledges his own roots in the area during the years he grew up in Highland Park. Lummis Day festivities, which take place at Lummis Home and Sycamore Grove Park in Highland Park, are free and open to the public and will run from 10:30AM-7PM.

The event celebrates the diverse cultures, spirit and history of L.A.’s Northeast Arroyo neighborhoods with a wide variety of food, music, art, poetry and dance. Nationally and regionally renowned artists will perform in English, Spanish and Tagalog. Browne’s set is scheduled for 6PM.

“Lummis Day” takes its name from Charles Fletcher Lummis, who became the L.A. Times’ first city editor in 1876, founded the Southwest Museum, and championed the concept of multi-culturalism in Southern California. The 2008 Festival is presented by the Annenberg Foundation and the Autry National center, and is sponsored by the Neighborhood Councils of Arroyo Seco, Eagle Rock, Historic Highland Park and Greater Cypress Park as well as the Department of Recreation and Parks, the Arroyo Seco Journal, KPFK-FM 90.7, KMEX-TV, SIPA, the North Figueroa Association with support from Los Angeles City Council Districts 1 and 14 and other arts and community organizations. The Lummis Day Community Foundation intends the event as a coalition builder among the area’s cultural, commercial and  community resources that will create a framework for growth and progress in Northeast Los Angeles.

Jackson Browne’s Lummis Day performance follows a two-month nationwide tour of solo acoustic concerts that includes several Southern California dates in late April. The tour supports the March 4 release of JACKSON BROWNE–SOLO ACOUSTIC, VOL. 2, the second in a series of live albums recorded at recent solo shows in the U.S., the U.K. and Australia. Released on Browne’s own Inside Recordings label, it follows up 2005’s GRAMMY®-nominated Jackson Browne – Solo Acoustic, Vol. 1, and features twelve career spanning songs, with Browne alternately on both guitar and piano.

The collection reaches all the back to Browne’s self-titled 1972 debut album with the song “Something
Fine,” and comes full circle with four tracks from his most recent studio album, 2002’s The Naked Ride Home, including the politically charged “Casino Nation.” Other highlights include “Redneck Friend” from
Browne’s second album, For Everyman, “In The Shape Of A Heart,” from 1987’s Lives In The Balance, “Sky Blue And Black” from 1993’s I’m Alive, “Alive In This World” from ’96’s Looking East and the Top 10 hit “Somebody’s Baby,” originally released on the Fast Times At Ridgemont High soundtrack.

In his four-star review of JACKSON BROWNE–SOLO ACOUSTIC, VOL. 2 for Rolling Stone Magazine, Anthony DeCurtis wrote, “Between songs, Browne speaks about his life and music with moving candor…This is Browne at his best, engaging his audience, his own experiences and the world around him, all in songs that will not lose their resonance any time soon.”

For tour dates and more information, log on to www.jacksonbrowne.com

For up-to-date info on Lummis Day, log on to www.lummisday.org.

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Contact: Meghan Helsel at 626-585-9575

KPFK Radio To Feature Lummis Day

Noted Southern California poets Lory Bedikian and William Archila will read poetry and discuss their
participation in the Lummis Day Library Program on three broadcasts of "Poets Cafe," a regularly
scheduled half-hour program airing every second Wednesday at noon on public radio station KPFK 90.7 FM.

The first radio program in KPFK's Lummis Day series will be broadcast at noon on Wednesday, March 26 and will be heard streaming soon thereafter at www.kpfk.org The additional programs will air on April 9 and April 23. All three programs will be moderated by Kate Gaidos of the Los Angeles Public Library and produced and engineered for KPFK by Marlene Bond.

The library poetry program, which begins in late April and continues on consecutive Saturdays through May, will lead into the gala poetry reading that serves as the opening event of the Lummis Day Festival on June 1 at Lummis Home. William Archila, Lory Bedikian and others will read their work at afternoon library gatherings in April and May. On alternating weeks, Archila and Bedikian will also be conducting free writing workshops -- giving poetry lovers and library-goers a chance to find their own artistic oices. Finally, at a wrap-up party at the Braun Library of the Southwest Museum, emerging writers will share their work in company with more established poets and other artists.

William Archila received his MFA from the University of Oregon. His poems have appeared in the Georgia Review, AGN1, Crab Orchard Review, Poetry International, the Los Angeles Review, Notre Dame and Portland Review, among others. His work will also appear in Puerto Del Sol. His first book, The Art of Exile, is forthcoming from Bilingual Press.

Lory Bedikian earned her MFA from the University of Oregon where she received the Dan Kimble First Year Teaching Award in Poetry. Her collection of poetry has been selected as a finalist in both the Crab Orchard Series in Poetry Open Competition and the Crab Orchard Series in Poetry First Book Award Competition. She has been published in various journals including the Connecticut Review, Heliotrope, and Poetry International. She currently writes a column, "Poetry Matters," for the Armenian Reporter.

The Lummis Day library program was designed and organized by Lummis Day Community Foundation members Kate Gaidos, a librarian at the Los Angeles Public Library Arroyo Seco Branch; Elizabeth Garcia, field representative for Anthony Portantino, Assemblymember, 44th State Assembly District; Suzanne Lummis, founder, Los Angeles Poetry Festival; and Anna Liza Posas, reference librarian, Braun Research Library of the Autry National Center.

Support for the Lummis Day Library program and the Festival's June 1 gala poetry reading at Lummis Home is provided by Poets & Writers Inc. through a grant it has received from the James Irvine Foundation.

Lummis Day is presented by the Annenberg Foundation and the Autry National Center. Festival sponsors include the Department of Recreation and Parks, the Arroyo Seco, Eagle Rock, Greater Cypress Park and Historic Highland Park Neighborhood Councils,  public radio station KPFK 90.7, the Arroyo Seco Journal, Poets & Writers, Inc., the North Figueroa Association, Los Angeles City Council Districts 1 and 14, the Historical Society of Southern California, Heritage Square Museum, the Highland Park Heritage Trust, the Mount Washington Association, the Los Angeles Poetry Festival and other community organizations.

Visit www.lummisday.org for updates on all Lummis Day events.

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Contact: Eliot Sekuler
818-535-9178

3rd Lummis Day Set For Sunday June 1

3rd Annual “Lummis Day: The Festival Of Northeast Los Angeles” Scheduled For Sunday, June 1, 2008, 11am-7pm

Los Angeles— The 3rd annual Lummis Day: The Festival of Northeast Los Angeles event, a free, public celebration of the diverse culture and history of the L.A.’s Arroyo neighborhoods, will take place on Sunday, June 1, featuring musical, visual, culinary and literary artists representing an array of the region’s cultural traditions.

This year’s Lummis Day event will be presented by the Annenberg Foundation and the Autry National Center, with over a dozen community organizations, neighborhood councils, City Council Districts 1 and 14, the Department of Recreation and Parks, public radio station KPFK 90.7 and KMEX-TV acting as sponsors.

Principal activities for the event will be staged as Sycamore Grove Park at 4900 N. Figueroa Street, where music, art, multi-cultural performances and food service begins at 12:30 pm, and at Lummis Home, 200 E. Avenue 43, where the program will begin with an 11:00 am poetry reading followed by a “trek” led along the route of Arroyo Seco riverbed. The Festival will feature musicians, local restaurants, dancers, performing artists and visual artists representing many cultural traditions of the Southern California region.

Last year’s event drew over 3,500 people to events at Sycamore Grove Park and Lummis Home. Over 25 community groups, a dozen galleries and half dozen restaurants participated.

Lummis Day takes its name from Charles Fletcher Lummis, who served as the L.A. Times’ first city
editor in 1876. Lummis was also one of the city’s first librarians, founded the Southwest Museum and helped introduce the concept of multi-culturalism to Southern California. The Lummis Day Community Foundation--composed of a broad cross-section of community activists-—hopes the third annual event will again serve to celebrate the diverse culture and history of the Arroyo neighborhoods, strengthen linkages among cultural, commercial and community resources and create a framework for future civic, creative and commercial growth in Northeast Los Angeles.

The Lummis Day program includes an educational curriculum offered to teachers in the Los Angeles
Unified School system which has already provided training and background to over 40 area teachers in the history, geography, demographics and cultural life of Northeast Los Angeles.

A program of reading and presentations in Los Angeles libraries, begun on a modest scale in 2007, is
expanding this year to include events on four consecutive Saturdays beginning April 26 at the El Sereno Branch Library and continuing with events at the Arroyo Seco Regional Branch Library (May 3), the Eagle Rock Branch Library (May 10), the Cypress Park Brnach Library (May 17. The series will culminate in a Saturday May 24 party at the Southwest Museum's Braun Library with music, poetry, an open mic, refreshments and a book sale. All events are free and open to the public. The Lummis Day Library program and the Festival's June 1 gala poetry reading at Lummis Home are sponsored by Poets & Writers Inc. through a grant it has received from the James Irvine Foundation.

“Lummis Day” is presented by the Annenberg Foundation and the Autry National Center and sponsored by the Arroyo Seco Neighborhood Council, the Eagle Rock Neighborhood Council, the Historic Highland Park Neighborhood Council, the Greater Cypress Park Neighborhood Council, the Department of Recreation and Parks, public radio station KPFK 90.7, SIPA (Search to Involve Pilipino Americans) and the North Figueroa Association with the support of Los Angeles City Council Districts 1 and 14, the Mount Washington Association, the Heritage Square Museum, the Highland Park Heritage Trust, the Eagle Rock Arts Center, the L.A. Poetry Festival and other community organizations.

Established in 1989 by Walter H. Annenberg, the Annenberg Foundation provides funding and support to nonprofit organizations in the United States and globally through its headquarters in Radnor, Pennsylvania and offices in Los Angeles, California. Its major program areas are education and youth development; arts, culture and humanities; civic and community life; health and human services; and animal services and the environment. In addition, the Foundation operates a number of initiatives which expand and complement these program areas. The nnenberg Foundation exists to advance the public well-being through improved communication. As the principal means of achieving this goal, the Foundation encourages the development of more effective ways to share ideas and knowledge.

The Autry National Center was established in March 2003 following the merger of the Southwest Museum of the American Indian, the Women of the West Museum, and the Autry Museum of Western Heritage. Leveraging the resources and talents of these three institutions, the Center’s mission is to explore the experiences and perceptions of the diverse people of the American West, connecting the past with the present to inform our shared future.

Lummis Day information and updates are available at http://www.lummisday.org. Lummis Day: The Festival of Northeast L.A. is organized by the Lummis Day Community Foundation, Inc.

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Contact: Eliot Sekuler 818-535-9178

Beyond Baroque Spotlights Suzanne Lummis, 2/16

The Beyond Baroque Spirit of Southern California Poetry Series turns its spotlight on Suzanne Lummis at
7:30 pm this Saturday, February 16 with a celebration of her remarkable career as a teacher, author, founder of the Los Angeles Poetry Festival and roles as the dynamo behind Speechless (aka "the oddest little literary magazine on the Web"), and her suspenseful adventures as Nearly Fatal Woman.

G. Murray Thomas and Amelie Frank host. Celebrants include: Mary Armstrong, Laurel Ann Bogen, Larry
Colker, liz gonzalez, Bill Mohr, Cathie Sandstrom, Charles Webb, Cecilia Woloch, Sung Yi, with a special
guest appearance from Robert Mezey, editor of the ground-breaking 1970's anthology, Naked Poetry.

Beyond Baroque is located at 681 Venice Boulevard. Admission to the reception is $8.  For information,
call: 310-822-3006.

Among her other accomplishments, Suzanne Lummis is also the organizer of the Lummis Day poetry event and among the organizers of the Lummis Day Festival's Los Angeles Public Library program. (The Lummis Day Festival is named for her grandfather, the renowned L.A. cultural-historical figure and author Charles Fletcher Lummis)

The Lummis Day Library program, a series of readings and presentations in  Los Angeles libraries will
include events on four consecutive Saturdays beginning April 26 at the El Sereno Branch Library and
continuing with events at the Arroyo Seco Regional Branch Library (May 3), the Eagle Rock Branch Library (May 10), the Cypress Park Branch Library (May 17). Poets William Archila, Lory Bedikian and others will read their work at the library gatherings. On alternating weeks, Archila and Bedikian will also be conducting free writing workshops -- giving poetry lovers and library-goers a chance to find their own artistic voices. The series will culminate in a Saturday May 24 party at the Southwest Museum's Braun Library with music, poetry, an open mic, refreshments and a book sale.The 3rd annual Lummis Day poetry event will be held at 11am on Sunday, June 1 at Lummis Home (200 E. Avenue 43).

The Lummis Day Library program and the Festival's June 1 gala poetry reading at Lummis Home are sponsored by Poets & Writers Inc. through a grant it has received from the James Irvine Foundation.

Lummis Day Library Program

LUMMIS DAY LIBRARY PROGRAM
- FEATURES POETRY READINGS, POETRY WORKSHOPS -

Poetry will be coming to Northeast Los Angeles libraries this spring in a series of five events presented by the 3rd annual Lummis Day Festival.

The library poetry program, which begins in late April and continues on consecutive Saturdays through May, will lead in to the gala poetry reading that serves as the opening event of the Lummis Day Festival on June 1 at Lummis Home.

Poets William Archila, Lory Bedikian and others will read their work at afternoon library gatherings in April and May. On alternating weeks, Archila and Bedikian will also be conducting free writing workshops -- giving poetry lovers and library-goers a chance to find their own artistic voices. Finally, at a wrap-up party at the Braun Library of the Southwest Museum, emerging writers will share their work in company with more established poets and other artists.

This round of poetry happenings begins April 26, 2008.

All events are free and open to the public.