Bay Area Adventures: The Walt Disney Family Museum

Back in 2009, I faced a (mercifully) brief stint of unemployment.  2009 was a tough year to be unemployed, and I was determined not to let it sink my spirits.  At that time, I had a friend who worked at Disneyland and could get up to 3 people into the park for free everyday.  So after I had done my depressing rounds of job-applying every morning, I would drive down to Long Beach, pick up my best friend Hillary, and drive over to Anaheim to go to Disneyland (she was a bartender and worked nights). In the 8 weeks or so that I was income-less, I enjoyed the luxury of going to Disneyland about 15 times.  It got to the point where I could have walked around the entire park with my eyes closed, I rode every ride (seemingly) a hundred times, and made some really awesome memories with my best friends.  I can look back on that bleak period of my life with fondness (mostly because my unemployment ended with an awesome job at Paramount Pictures!) but also because it was filled with Disney-happiness, and not depressing days of joblessness.

My Disney love affair certainly didn't begin at the age of 22, but it definitely taught me, through adults eyes, how Disney can bring joy to everyone.  So when I moved up to the Bay Area, I was intrigued to visit the Walt Disney Family Museum in the Presidio - especially because the museum wasn't just a collection of Disney works, but was actually dedicated to telling Walt Disney's own story, from his humble beginnings all the way through to how his legacy changed- and continues to affect - American pop and entertainment culture.

My friend Jess and I visited the museum on a typically misty day last fall. Admission was a bit pricey at $20 each, but we quickly learned that the content and quality in the museum were well worth the price tag.  The entrance lobby was framed on all walls with cabinets filled with the various prestigious awards Disney has won - dozens of Academy Awards, Emmys, Golden Globes, etc - an impressive sight (Google tells me the total of awards displayed is 248, pretty amazing).  The first exhibit after leaving the lobby was about Walt's grandparents and parents, and their lives in Ireland, then Canada, before bringing their children into the United States.  The next hall showed artifacts from Walt's childhood growing up in Missouri, including his brief (underage) stint in the Army during World War I.

As Walt came into adulthood, so did his artistic visions, and soon we were walking through halls full of early sketches of Mickey Mouse, followed by walls full of iPads playing different Mickey Mouse cartoons.  Soon we were seeing exhibits on the early Disney feature films, complete with a nice little viewing area to watch Fantasia (we took a few minutes break, just enough time to watch the classic "Sorcerer's Apprentice" scene).  All of the exhibits were multi-media - large TV screens, iPads, interactive displays, framed sketches and hand-written memos and other correspondence, collections of artifacts - and in every direction there was something interesting to see.

We walked through different exhibits for each of the feature films, then turned a corner and walked down a long spiraling ramp, and at the bottom of the ramp was a super awesome to-scale diorama of Disneyland.  Jess and I totally geeked out over the model, and it brought back all those memories of my many trips to Disneyland as a kid and as an adult.

After the Disneyland diorama, there were a few more exhibits, mostly focusing on his plans for Walt Disney World.  And lastly, we walked through a very somber but powerful display -  a collection of stories including a Peanut's comic strip, comments from the President, and other pop culture figures in response to Disney's death in 1966.

After we exited the last exhibit, we headed up to the gift shop to look around, where we learned that every month the museum features a different "matinee" of a classic Disney film, which was included in our admission.  That day's show was "Bambi," which I was actually quite interested in seeing since I hadn't seen it in probably over twenty years.    For a film that has probably 10 lines of dialogue in the whole feature, the artistry and emotion were incredibly powerful! It's definitely a classic for a reason (ignoring the fact that hearing the mother behind us explain to her young son what "happened" to Bambi's mom was one of the sadder things I had experienced in a long time!)

In the end, I had a blast at the museum.  I have always loved Disney as an artist and a cultural icon, and this museum totally did him justice, while only slightly pandering to the Disney-philes.  I would highly recommend a trip!

Museum from the front

A wall of iPads showcasing different Mickey Mouse cartoons

A huge collection of Mickey memorabilia

A range of Pantone paint colors used in Sleeping Beauty

Stills from Song of the South (the banned, racist one!)

A still from Lady and the Tramp

Early Cinderella character sketches

Disneyland diorama from above

Disneyland diorama

30 Before 30: Take a Pottery Class

Clockwise from top: The studio is full of shelves of student work in every stage of production; getting my hands dirty attempting to make a mug; my perfect final bowl; posing on the wheel

There are several items on my 30-Before-30 list that are art-related, due mostly to my late grandmother, who was an artist.  Even into her 80s she was enthusiastically trying her hand at new media, and years after her passing, she still inspires me to push myself artistically. Though she was waaay more gifted than I will ever be, I've always loved having such a great artistic role model. So when my friend Emily and I signed up for a 6-week wheel pottery class at Higher Fire in downtown San Jose, I was enthusiastic to challenge myself.  Little did I know how much of a challenge it actually would be. 

Watching experienced potters create these amazing pieces just out of a lump of clay is really amazing, and also really misleading.  There is a finesse involved that is not apparant, and the learning curve is deceptively steep.  The first two classes, where we learned how to "throw" the clay on the wheels, were two of the most frustrating classes I have ever taken in my life.  I was definitely near tears at one point.  As someone who has been generally able to pick up art basics in the past, I could not understand why the basics of pottery were so difficult for me.   Luckily, our instructor, Jonathan, was incredibly understanding and encouraging.  He placated us by confirming that yes, the learning curve is steep, and that we shouldn't be so hard on ourselves. 

After six 3-hour classes, I successfully made a bowl.  Yes, a bowl.  I mean, I made several bowls and cups, but they never made it off my wheel before I somehow destroyed them.  So much for giving away Susan Originals to all my friends for Christmas this year, hah!  Regardless, I am beyond proud of myself that I was able to successfully throw, bake, glaze, and fire this bowl. I feel more accomplished in this than many other things in my life, because during the first class, I was convinced I would never get it. Emily and I both are looking forward to taking another series of classes in the future, and hopefully by that time I will be able to make a vase, or even a mug!

#12: The Watts Towers

I would like you all to think that I learned about the Watts Towers because I am really plugged into the cultural folklore of Los Angeles, but I most likely learned about them from this amazing 2001 R&B masterpiece music video by Watts native, Tyrese Gibson.  Seriously, do yourself a favor and skip to the 2:20 mark for an epic dance breakdown in front of the towers.

So, 11 years ago when I first saw the Watts Towers all lit up in da club in that video, I didn't really have a clue what they were.  Seeing as they are in a city called "Watts," I kind of just assumed that they were unnecessarily fancy power lines or something of the sort (Watts, wattage, get it?).  It wasn't until many years later when I first moved to LA and was reading up on LA's ghetto's histories (it's really fascinating stuff) that I learned the Watts Towers are actually an art installation.  Huh.  Who knew.

The more I read about them, the more intrigued I was to see them in person.  They are, however, in Watts, which as any self-respecting hip hop fan could tell you, is in the heart of the South Central ghetto.  And I'm not talking ghetto like "omg this place is soooo ghetto, it only serves Coors Light."  I'm talking ghetto like "that building over there is a home-base for the Crips, which might explain the bullet holes all over its walls." Certainly not a place I would want to find myself after sundown, if you know what I mean.

My friend Kaio and I have been wanting to go to Watts for years (for the towers and also to try the legendarily amazing soul food at the Watts Coffee House) but every time we were about to go, we chickened out.  It really takes a lot to ignore the South Central reputation.  Many older LA locals refuse to go anywhere near Watts or South Central in general, because they still remember the Watts Riots of 1965, not to mention the "Rodney King Riots" of 1992 and all the crimes in-between glorified by hip hop artists since the '80s.  But after reading probably about 100 yelp reviews, many of which say "get your white ass down here, you'll be fine" we finally built up the cajones to just go.  And I must say, I am SO glad we did.

As we got off the freeway at Wilmington, it was very obvious that we weren't in "Kansas" anymore... or really anywhere slightly resembling our usual LA haunts.  There were lots of people walking around and all of the buildings looked very, very shabby, but no one bothered us or even paid attention.  We had a little bit of trouble finding the Coffee House, since it is literally in a building inside another building, and the exterior building is some sort of youth outreach organization.  Luckily we saw the little sign in the window and made our way through.  The place was tiny, with probably only about 10 tables, and only 2 were filled.  One table had a well-dressed black guy and his mom ("When you say well-dressed, do you mean he was wearing a sweet FUBU track suit?" - my racist boyfriend) and the other table had a bunch of white college kids.  I'm not gonna lie, I was a little upset that it had taken me so long to work the nerve up to go here, since it was completely harmless.

Our waitress, though, was the real deal.  Low-cut shirt with cleavage up to her chin, a permanent scowl on her face and popping gum, she took our order even though I'm sure she had better things to do.  We ordered chicken, waffles, biscuits, eggs, and I ordered a Diet Coke.  Was told there was only regular coke, which I said was fine, but then the waitress brought me a Sprite, with a look on her face like "I dare you to complain about this Sprite"... so I drank the Sprite.  The fried chicken wings were AMAZING.  Like, a thousand times better than Roscoes.  They were obviously freshly cooked, and to perfection.  I was sad when the meal was over.

Mmm... fried chicken.

After we worked up the energy to move, we quickly drove over to the Towers, which are less than a mile from the coffee house.  Anywhere else in LA, we would have walked.  But I didn't want to push our luck, since things were going well so far.  I also had to talk Kaio out of taking the "scenic" route, which would have taken us right through one of the most (in)famous projects in Watts, Jordan Downs. 

The thing about the Watts Towers, is that even though they are technically a state park, they are in the middle of a very unassuming neighborhood.  Describing the Watts Towers, or looking at pictures, doesn't really do them much justice.  They really are a sight to see in person.  Anyone can drive around the neighborhood where the towers are, and you can get pretty close to them if you get out of your car.  However, there is a (see-through) fence around the perimeter, and you can only go inside by paying $7 to take a tour (you can purchase your tour tickets from the visitor/art center which is right next to the towers).  The tour was extremely informative, and it was obvious that our guide had personal pride in these symbols of his hometown.

View from the street

The story of the towers is truly fascinating.  As I learned from our guide, as well as the 12-minute video they showed us in the visitors center, Simon Rodia was an Italian immigrant, who found himself in Southern California in the 1920s working construction.  He was a very small man (4'10"), and like many small men, he was determined to do something "big" with his life.  He began building the structures in his backyard, using only simple tools like hammers, pliers, mallets and nails.  He used scrap steel from the railroad for the rebar base of the structures, then wrapped chicken wire around the metal, and covered the wire in a cement sand mixture.  He then covered the cement with "garbage," mostly pieces of broken pottery or ceramics, soda bottles, and more scrap metal.  Over 32 years, he spent every moment of his free time building a total of nine towers, with the tallest standing at 99 feet. In order to get to the tops, he would just climb up, and use a basic window-washers belt to keep himself from falling.

As the story goes, Rodia was working on the towers one day in 1954 when he fell, and he says the fall was so bad that he knew that was his cue to stop.  He was in his 70s at the time, and was content with just stopping where he was.  It wasn't long though, that neighbors started hassling him, and defacing his masterpiece.  Throughout his time building, everyone had accused him of being crazy, of building the towers to communicate with the Japanese, or aliens, or that he was building a weapon.  One day, he had had enough, and just left.  He sold his property to a neighbor for $1, and moved to Northern California to never come back again.

Over the years, the city wanted to tear the towers down, convinced that they were unsafe and a hazard to people around them, especially during an earthquake.  A few local advocates, who wanted to preserve the towers (as they had very quickly become a local landmark) asked the city to do a stress-test before tearing them down.  The city sent out a crane to exert 10,000 lbs of force and the crane broke before any of the towers moved an inch!  The engineer hired to do the test said that it could cost the city more money to take them down than they would ever get out of the worth of the land, so the towers were allowed to stay.  Soon after, a trust was set up and the towers and the lot they stand on became a state park, and is currently curated by the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.

Every single surface of these 9 towers, as well as archways and other fountains he built, are covered in colorful mosaics.  The intricate criss-crossing of the lines shows that he had a vision from the very beginning, and that at the end everything would come together.  I was truly amazed at the scope and vision of this artist.  He really did turn trash into treasure - a treasure that is really valued by locals as a sign of perseverance, hope, and success.

(Trivia Bonus! Simon Rodia is included in the big group picture on the cover of the Beatles album "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band!)

Entry archway mosaic made from Sprite and Ginger Ale bottles.

Fountain with tallest tower behind it

Fountain mosaic detail

What looks like a bunch of random pieces from far away, are all symmetric and make sense up close

Rodia actually named his installation "Nuestra Pueblo" which means "Our Town."

These connected towers are supposed to represent the sail of a ship, based on a parade float Rodia saw in his childhood in Italy.

1930's Canada Dry ginger ale bottles - Canada Dry was Rodia's favorite drink so he featured these bottles prominently throughout the towers.

Rodia signed his work with a simple "S.R." and imprints of the tools he used

Me and Kaio in front of one of many archways

We saw THIS GUY on our way out of town.  It may be prejudicial, but we both felt like our South Central experience was a bit more authentic since we saw a bad ass pimp in a bright-green lo-lo.

#8: The Getty Villa in Malibu

As anyone who knows me knows, in college I studied abroad in Greece. I didn't just pick that destination out of the blue; I had been borderline obsessed with ancient Greek culture since I was 11 years old and first learned what ancient cultures were. While in Greece, I toured around all the big cities, historic sites, museums, etc, and was absolutely in love. But anyway, I'll save the boring recap details and just get to the point of this post. When the beautiful Getty Villa opened a few years ago, exclusively featuring Getty's extensive collection of Greek, Roman and Etruscan art, it immediately went on my "must see someday" list.

My boyfriend and I made reservations to go the day after Christmas. We had lunch in Malibu beforehand, and then made our way to the Villa. It is worth noting that the only way to get to the museum is from the PCH going north-bound. That would have been fine if we just came from LA, but since we went further into Malibu for lunch, we ended up going south towards the museum and had to make a u-turn, which is pret-ty stressful on the PCH and I don't recommend it! Entrance to the museum is free (you have to make a reservation online) but parking costs $15.

A little Getty Villa history, courtesy of the 12-minute orientation video:

The first Getty museum was staged in J. Paul Getty's own Malibu home in the 1950's. As his collection grew, he commissioned the building of the Getty Villa, built adjacent to his home in the Malibu hills. The Villa opened in the 1970's - after Getty's death- and housed his entire, eclectic collection. But soon the Getty Trust was expanding the collection at a rapid pace, and they ran out of room again. The Trust soon began plans to build the Getty Center, which opened in 1997 and is a landmark in Los Angeles, sitting in the hills above Westwood next to the 405 freeway. (It is also a destination I highly recommend. I have been there probably 10 times and always make a beeline for the West Pavilion!)

When the Center opened, the Trust began extensive renovations on the now-empty Villa property. 8 years later it reopened as the home to Getty's most prized treasures - the ancient Greek and Roman art, pottery, statues and artifacts.

I must say, the setting of the villa couldn't have been more perfect. It was built to emulate a mansion found in the ruins of Mt. Vesuvius, and flowed perfectly from indoor to outdoor, and had several outdoor gardens and courtyards. Not to mention that it is literally on top of the hill above the beach in Malibu, and the views are unparalleled. I've never been to Rome, but I could imagine this is how the wealthy Romans lived 3,000 years ago.

As the collection is all from roughly the same period, the pieces are organized by theme instead of chronology. There were rooms dedicated to Gods and Goddesses, Luxury Vessels, the Trojan War (a personal favorite), and Dionysus and the Theatre. But the real reason to visit the museum (if you aren't an Ancient Greece nut like me) is for the gardens. They were built to feature the statues (replicas are outdoors), popular plants from the era, and the views.

Overall, it was a really great experience. I saw pieces that added to things I learned while in Greece. There are also several different tours offered throughout the day, but I decided to pass on a tour since I already had a base knowledge on the era. It is easy to compare the Villa to the Getty Center, but it's not a very fair comparison. The Getty Center is more awe-inspiring both in its collection and its location, but for Greek and Roman art, the Villa can't be beat. I recommend it for anyone that wants to spend an afternoon in Malibu - just make sure to go on a sunny day for the most amazing experience!

The Villa, sitting atop the Malibu hills

The biggest outdoor garden, with a view of the main museum building

A typical Roman vase (there are about 3,000 more similar to this in the museum!)

A statue of Heracles carrying a lion carcass - one of the more famous statues in the collection

Such a beautiful setting on a beautiful day!

#9: Art Walk in Downtown

My fabulous friend Jacob (who also gets credit for enlightening me on Drag Queen Bingo) has been telling me for years about one of his very favorite things to do in Downtown LA - the Art Walk. I see him commenting about it on his facebook every month, and seeing as Jacob is really a Downtown Guru of sorts, I took note that this must be something to check out.

I did a bit of research into this "Art Walk" before making my plans. It turns out the Art Walk is part of an effort spear-headed by community organizers to bring art, culture and involvement back to Downtown. Just like most big cities, parts of once-vibrant Downtown LA have become run-down, dirty, and just unappealing to people in general, to visit or to live. Over the last 10 years, Downtown has had a bit of a revival, and millions and millions of dollars have gone into revamping old buildings into super-trendy lofts, cleaning up the streets (literally!) and organizing events that will bring people into Downtown. The Art Walk is one of those efforts, aiming to highlight local and independent artists, galleries, musicians, shops, restaurants and cafes, to not only Downtown residents, but to visitors (like me) as well.

So what started as a map-guided tour of the independent and unusual art galleries has since turned into a once-a-month block party. It's actually more like 7 blocks, so you can imagine how much fun it is.

The Art Walk happens the 2nd Thursday of every month. I decided to go with my good friend since middle school, Sona, in March. She has recently moved Downtown to attend med school at USC, and hasn't had much time to explore. From her apartment, it was only about a 10 minute walk to Spring and Main Streets, where the majority of the action happens. We at first weren't quite sure how much further we had to go, because we didn't see anyone around. But we turned a corner and were greeted with the smell of taco trucks, loud music in the distance, and lots and lots of people on every corner.

We walked towards one of the crowds and were kind of swept into a gallery. The gallery was actually more of a clothing store, with racks of (surprisingly) fairly affordable clothes, with some for-sale paintings on the wall. On top of this high platform, probably 20 feet up, a DJ was spinning some hipster sounding music.

The next gallery was similar, but was more art-focused instead of clothing. My favorite from this gallery was a painting of an owl with a jetpack in outer space.

Our next stop was a little out-of-the-way cafe, where their nightly special was $3 sangria, which was pretty delicious and hit the spot. We took a seat on a couch next to a group of people from Planned Parenthood (who, like many other organizations, take Art Walk as an opportunity to spread the word about their work, services, etc to young adults). It was an open-mic night so we got to hear some good, and some really bad, poetry.

While sipping our sangria we came across a pamphlet for the MONA, aka Museum of Neon Art, which was located just around the corner. I insisted we go. The museum was really really small... like smaller than some of the galleries we had visited, but the stuff inside was so unusual and interesting. Huge wall-sized installations, sculptures, signs and other random pieces, all done with neon lights. There was a back room with more art that you had to pay to see, which we skipped, but I definitely plan on going back there on my next trip.

After the MONA we walked through a few more little galleries. The best part about this is that even though people hand out maps and guides of all the galleries, they are all just next door to each other, and you can hop from one to the next. Some other highlights from the next few galleries included a pile of cookies in the corner of a room (Sona ate one, I had a bite), and very graphic and close-up photographs of different types of piercings.

We decided to hop over to another street, but on our way we passed a cupcake shop, and I have to give them credit for an awesome tagline. When I see a bake shop with the words "FRESH MOIST FANTASTIC CUPCAKES" proudly displayed in their window, I will most likely stop in. There's nothing like some effective and efficient marketing. The shop was called Big Man Bakes, and they were giving out free mini cupcakes. We got a free carrot cake cupcake and bought a large red velvet cupcake to share. I must say, the frosting was AMAZING and both cupcakes were delicious. As we were leaving the shop, a very large black man in an apron walked in and everyone started cheering. Apparently he was the "Big Man" and owned the bake shop, and all the cupcakes were his recipes.

Along the walk, there are lots of people walking around handing out fliers and free stuff. We each got free tank tops from American Apparel and lots of literature about different galleries and events in downtown. But the funniest exchange happened when a good-looking Latino guy handed Sona a brochure for an eyebrow threading shop, and she wailed out "OH NOOO!! Does this mean my eyebrows look bad?!??" and hurried to pull out her mirror to check her brow situation. The guy was just handing out fliers to everyone, but Sona thought he was trying to hint something to her. I was cracking up, but this guy genuinely felt SO bad that he had offended her. They later bonded over talking about Indian dancing, apparently he was a dance major in college and had taken particular fondness to the type of dance that Sona partakes in occasionally. This is an example that there really is every type of person at Art Walk.

After that we walked through the first floor of a very old looking building, which had been transformed from an abandoned, useless space into a mini-marketplace where people could sell their wares. It was like a more hipster version of the Venice Beach boardwalk, with a very eclectic selection of hand-made jewelry, vintage clothes, records, and even bicycles, among other nick-knacks. I bought a really awesome necklace for $10 and Sona got a shirt and pair of earrings. In one corner, a guy was free-styling, and on the other end of the room there was another DJ.

It was after this that Sona and I decided to call it a night. As we left the last gallery to head home, we passed by a person on the street that was dressed as a green furry duck-looking thing. As in, you couldn't see their face and they were completely inside this duck-platypus-bird costume. Sona was completely enamored and insisted we chase it down to get a picture. Of course the platyduckbird was running away from us and I was laughing so hard the picture actually came out pretty blurry, but I'm sure she still cherishes it.

I am finding it very difficult to explain to you here the types of people you see at the Art Walk. You are constantly working your way through crowds of people, and they seemingly come from every walk of life. Some of the more scene-ster types obviously live in downtown, but there are plenty of normal people, business men, hippies, etc all enjoying the local art and music scene. It was really so much fun and when I got home I felt like I was on a cloud. Sometimes I get stuck in my little bubble and I forget to experience things outside of it. But going to Downtown always is an exhilarating experience for me, because at heart I'm still a small-town suburbanite who wonders how she ever made it to the Big City. Being a part of the Art Walk makes you feel like you belong to this big-city scene, no matter what your interests are, where you live, what you do, where you're from, etc. It was a truly awesome experience and I can't wait to go back again!

Sona with the green furry bird creature

"Installation art"... I don't get it, but it sure was tasty!Art at the MONA

Outside the Museum of Neon Art