St. Vibiana Reconstructed

In this story, time will move backward.

The L.A. Times published wonderful pictures on the re-attachment of the cupola to the cathedral formerly known as St. Vibiana's. The Times article is well worth visiting; it includes a four-minute KTLA video showing the cupola’s ascent and positioning, and additional photographs.

Want more pictures? Vibianala has dozens showing the the cathedral inside and out as it exists now.

USC hosts a page dedicated to St. Vib's too, with old pictures like the one at left. (Lookee! It's the cupola. . . or bell tower) Opened in 1880, the building was closed due to earthquake damage in 1995. The Catholic Church’s attempt to demolish the old Cathedral (seems awfully un-Catholic to me) was foiled by the Los Angeles Conservancy, and a decent summary of the last ten years is at the website of the National Trust for Historic Preservation, where St. Vibiana’s is listed as one of the 11 most endangered places.

Who was St. Vibiana? No one really knows. A legendary account from a 9th century source, widely believed to be bogus, says that she was a Christian martyr, flogged to death, and that a 5th century pope dedicated a basilica to her.

The Archdiocese spins a fanciful tale of how the saint’s grave was found while workmen were digging and planting a new vineyard from the Pope. That was in 1853; the saint’s road to Los Angeles then wound through France, Panama , San Francisco, and down the coast.

Like many Catholic school kids, I was told that Vibiana's body was miraculously preserved. When I first visited the old Cathedral I expected to view something along the lines of Sleeping Beauty, but her figure was elevated so high above us I couldn’t see much of anything. See it in the picture, on a bed over the altar, under a half dome of stars?

I later learned that the figure was wax, and the disillusionment crushed me. The only remains of Vibiana were skeletal (how those 19th century priests deduced she was a virgin and martyr--the story related on the Archdiocese website--was never really explained.)

Her bones now restin a crypt below the new Cathedral, btw, which is much more respectable--but not nearly so fascinating to the many Catholic school kids who visit.

Union Station's Harvey House

The Harvey House Restaurant opened with Los Angeles' Union Station 1939. This was the last Harvey House built as part of a railroad station, and it was designed by Mary Colter. The restaurant closed in 1967, unable to turn a profit as rail transportation slowly declined.

This picture gives the "waitress perspective." It's taken from behind the counter, looking out towards the station lobby. Everything's original, including the cork on the far wall, which was made from recycled corncobs. And those tres deco objects on the wall are speakers, so that patrons could hear announcements for train departures.

Now the Harvey House is only used in movies (think of the police station in Bladerunner) and for private parties.

A Harvey House fan site has some pictures of how it looked during the operational years. (Scroll down to find Los Angeles alphabetically in the California list.) "Legends of America" maintains an extensive history of the Harvey House restaurants, with a section on the Los Angeles Union Station (again, you must scroll down to it).

The picture above right shows the tooled leather partitions, a bit of the bright floor, and a wood and tile wait-station. The original wall tiles are in the background--if you look close, you can see the parrots.

The last picture is of the bar, hidden away in a room off to the side, its copper still gleaming.

St. Sophia's Cathedral

On September 7-9, the Greek Orthodox Cathedral of St. Sophia will host their annual LA Greek Fest. Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson again be kicking off the celebrations; there will be dancing, merriment, and an abundance of cheer: read all about it at the website.

In fact, there's a promotional YouTube Video.

The cathedral, at Normandie and Pico, is pretty spectacular, festival or not. A phototour is available (from which these pictures are borrowed).

Seeing-stars gives the history of how two immigrant brothers (Charles and Spyros Skouras) built the church in 1952, after achieving success heading up their own film companies (National Pictures and 20th Century Fox).

A Church webpage explains the symbolism behind much of the structure, the doors, candelabra, and especially the icons. You might want to start at the site index, and you could be kept busy all day.

The photo at right faces south and shows the Resurrection in three panels. The Epitaphios ("an elaborately carved baldacino symbolizing the Holy Sepulchre, used during Good Friday services") can be seen in the corner.

Millard Sheets' Centennial

Millard Sheets would have turned 100 this year, and the Los Angeles County Fair will celebrate his work at their Fine Arts Buidling. The Gallery website has a 2-minute video showing many of his paintings.

(The picture on the left is one of the mosaic murals of Shakespearian scenes decorating the Garrison Theatre of the Claremont Colleges. It has nothing to do with the Fair, but Millard Sheets created it.)

The Millard Sheets Gallery in Pomona grew out of the Fine Arts Program of the L.A. County Fair, which Sheets knew well. He won his first prize at the fair, and in 1930 he became director of the Fine Arts Program—holding the post for 25 years.

So it’s fitting that Millard Sheets’ life and art is featured at the L.A. County Fair this year—his centennial year. The show is titled "A Tapestry of Life: the World of Millard Sheets ."

The L.A. County Fair runs from September 7 to September 30; get more information at their website--including a map showing where the Millard Sheets Fine Arts Gallery is.

For more info on Mr. Sheets, here is his NY Times obituary.

As for his art, here are links where you can see it (if you don't live near one of his many building mosaics like those on Washington Mutual branches):

• The Mural Conservancy of Los Angeles has links to 19 or 20 of Sheets’ murals, some with photos. Many are Washington Mutual Buildings (he crafted the murals and mosaics for Home Savings, which was bought out by Wa Mu several years back)
• Bruce MacEvoy’s Watercolor site has a bio and samples of Sheets’ work
• Paintings for sale at Artnet.com
• Arroyo Seco at ArtScene.com
• Angel's Flight, also at ArtScene.com

Obituary: Joseph Young

A small collection of sites where Joseph Young's public art can be seen:

At left is the Triforium, his most notorious piece—2 pictures including an aerial view are on the Public Art in LA site, as well as background information on the "poly-phonoptic kinetic tower" (which is what he called it).

The Mural Conservancy of Los Angeles lists the following works and their addresses, but little other info:

• Architectural History of Los Angeles (a mosaic in Parker Center)
  

• Belmont Hight School Mural (Untitled)



• Bernardette at Lourdes (Untitled) (at Our Lady of Lourdes, on 3rd Street)


• Don Bosco Mural (Untitled) (at Don Bosco Technical Institute in Rosemead) (photo at right)


• History of Mathematics (at UCLA, see below)
  
• Map of the Neighborhood (Untitled) (inside the Hollenbeck Police Station)


• Prayer, Study & Assembly (entrance of Temple Emanuel in Beverly Hills)


• Twelve Tribes of Ancient Israel (the Court Mausoleum at Eden Memorial Park, Mission Hills)
  
• Water Sources in L.A. County (Hall of Records)

That last item (Water Sources in L.A. County) is outside the Hall of Records on Temple Street. Pictures of it, under the name Topographical Map, are on Public Art in LA along with background information. The Los Angeles County Arts Commission also has a page on this mosaic and granite mural, done in 1962.

His last work, finished in 1992, was the Los Angeles Holocaust Museum Monument, pictured at right. Information about this is on the Public Art in LA site, but the Monument has its own website as well.

Below is a picture showing part of the mosaic mural that decorates the exterior of the Mathematical Science Building at UCLA.

Young's obituary in the Los Angeles Times is here. Read another memorial at the Mosaic Art and Glass Art blog.

Boyle Heights' Japanese Community

Hector Becerra of the L.A. Times wrote a wonderful piece (ornamented with this picture) titled (in the print edition) "Eastside Sushi? Si" The photo is of a Japanese restaurant on 1st Street, in business since 1956 as the Otomi Cafe. It changed its name to Otomisan when the original owners sold it in the 1970s.

Decades later, Otomisan closed for six months after the second owner died. A local woman bought Otomisan (and its recipes) from the widow in 2005, luring back customers with Bento box lunches--like the original place had sold in the 1950s.

South Coast Botanic Gardens in PV

A carrion flower is blooming at the South Coast Botanic Gardens in Palos Verdes, according to the Daily Breeze: "See the stapelia today from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the gardens, 26300 Crenshaw Blvd." There's a $7 admission charge.

The Gardens cover 87 acres and include the standard rose, cactus, children's, herb, and California native plants areas, as well as groves of trees, broad lawns, and even a fuschia garden. Dahlias and hibiscus are also busting out, if carrion flowers and their odors are not your thing.

Boomers in PV know that the South Coast Botanic Gardens were once landfill. For the first half of the 20th century it was an open-pit mine, but in 1961 the County Board of Supervisors OK'd the landfill plan. A brief history is at the Gardens' website. These 'before & after' pics are also from that site.

Little Tokyo News

The L.A. Times worries that the recent sales of the New Otani Hotel (built in 1977) and the Japanese Village Plaza (built 1984) will change the nature of the community. But as the paper reports:

"The buyer of the New Otani is 3D Investments, a private, Beverly Hills-based real estate partnership that owns several commercial properties, including the two most prominent hotels in San Francisco's Japantown."

"The new owners of Japanese Village Plaza are planning improvements as well. . . . Malibu-based American Equities will spend "several million dollars" to refresh the two-story outdoor pedestrian mall of Japanese-themed shops and restaurants between 1st and 2nd streets, President Marvin Lotz said."

Sounds like they know what they're doing. Meanwhile (since 1977 and 1984 are way too recent to interest me much) here's a nifty history site about how Little Tokyo was turned into Bronzeville during World War 2.

History Lesson

Hopefully everyone reads Column One (in the L.A. Times) today: "Diversity gave Birth to L.A." by John L. Mitchell. The story focuses on one descendent of the first settlers from New Spain who came to Los Angeles.

Repairs Proceed at LAX's Theme Building

The Airport Commission just approved a $1.1 million expenditure to finish repairs on LAX’s Theme Building, according to The Daily Breeze. That’s one of several $1 million-plus contracts awarded, and the total cost may exceed $10 million-- which includes changes to bring the structure into compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act.

The original Theme Building cost $2.2 million to complete in 1961. This picture is actually the 1959 rendering of the place by Pereira and Luckmann, from USC Regional History Archives.

Those arches stand 135 feet high, and 900 tons of structural steel were used in the construction. However, nothing we build can last forever. Chunks of plaster, including one weighing over a thousand pounds and measuring ten feet in length, began dropping from the arches in mid-February 2007, and the high-altitude Encounter Restaurant closed in March.

In June, the announcement came that the building would be shut down for the rest of the year. The employee commissary and City Deli, at street level, remain open.

Other bits of trivia:

• the observation deck of the restaurant has been closed since September 2001, for security reasons
• Walt Disney Imagineering took over in 1996, remodeling and opening the Encounter Restaurant and Bar. The restaurant's website has tons of information--except for updates on the repairs
• Like the Little Country Church of Hollywood, the Theme Building was declared an historic-cultural monument by the city in 1992