Growing up and living in Los Angeles you would think that I would go to Disneyland yearly.   I’ve had my fair share of visits to the park but I had not been there in 17 years.  The last time I went was in 1992 with my mom and dad. How things have changed in my life since that last visit! In fact, I missed my whole decade of the thirties ever going to Disneyland!

I suppose there is no other attraction or icon that is so well known and visited in southern California that it hardly is a “road less traveled”.  There are also so many reviews, websites, and information about the park that it nearly seems pointless to even write about.  But alas..this week I returned.

This trip was a bit more special because rather than just going out to the park for a day I stayed overnight at the Disneyland Grand Resort and had the privilege of spending the day with a good friend.

It still is a magical place and “the happiest place on earth” even at age 40!  However, things have changed over the years.  My first visit to Disneyland was in 1972 at the age four.   I’m so old now I remember when Disneyland was free to walk around.   The “old” parking lot is now Disney California Adventure.  Back in the day, you could stroll the grounds for free and had to buy tickets to go on the rides.  Everyone then used the phrase “E ticket”…because the tickets were A-E and the E Tickets were the best rides like the Matterhorn and Pirates of the Caribbean.

Now it’s $69 just to get in the park but you can ride whatever you like as much as you like.   On this trip, I did manage to hit a few of my favorite rides like Pirates, Haunted House, Small World, Thunder Mountain but spent a lot of my time just strolling around the park and reminiscing. 

In some ways the park has changed over the years, and in other ways many of the things are exactly the same as they were back in 1972 on my first trip!  Which conjures up a touch of nostalgia to think of the many trips to the park with family, friends, dates, parties, grad nite!  It seems so unchanged.  But every trip out there has always been special filled with special memories.

After spending the day at the park my friend and I headed to downtown Disney where we ate at the Rainforest Café which was quite a treat before turning in for the night at the Disneyland Grand Resort. 

Of course with my love of history I had to go do a little research on how this world destination and icon came into existence!  One day Walt Disney had a vision. It was a vision of a place where children and parents could have fun together. The more Walt dreamed of a "magical park," the more imaginative and elaborate it became.

The original plans for the park were on 8 acres next to the Burbank studios where his employees and families could go to relax. Although, World War II put those plans on hold. During the war, Walt had time to come up with new ideas, and creations for his magical park. It was soon clear that 8 acres wouldn't be enough.

Finally in 1953, he had the Stanford Research Institute conduct a survey for a 100-acre site, outside of Los Angeles. He needed space to build rivers, waterfalls, and mountains; he would have flying elephants and giant teacups;a fairy-tale castle, moon rockets, and a scenic railway; all inside a magic kingdom he called "Disneyland."

Location was a top priority. The property would have to be within the Los Angeles metropolitan area, and accessible by freeway. It would also have to be affordable: Walt's pockets were only so deep.
The search for the best spot finally ended in the rural Anaheim, California with a purchase of a 160-acre orange grove near the junction of the Santa Ana Freeway (I-5) and Harbor Boulevard.

Although, Disneyland was expensive. Walt once said "I could never convince the financiers that Disneyland was feasible, because dreams offer too little collateral." So Walt turned to Television for his financial support. "Walt Disney's Disneyland" television series offered a glimpse of the future project. This brought the idea of Disneyland into reality for Walt and the American people.

Construction for Disneyland began on July 21, 1954, a meager 12 months before the park was scheduled to open. From that day forward Walt Disney's life would never be the same.
Some 160-acres of citrus trees had been cleared and 15 houses moved to make room for the park. The area was in semi-rural Orange County, near a freeway that would eventually stretch from San Diego to Vancouver.

When the real designing came around, Walt was met with inevitable questions. How do you make believable wild animals, that aren't real? How do you make a Mississippi paddle ship? How do you go about building a huge castle in the middle of Anaheim, California? So, Walt Disney looked to his movie studio staff for the answers. The design of Disneyland was something never done before. There would be five uniquely different lands.

Bit by bit, Disneyland got ready for Opening Day. The staff worked around the clock to get ready. The Mark Twain was being moved, deck by deck, down the Santa Ana freeway to get to Disneyland on time. Finally, everything seemed to come together. The "magical little park" was really a $17,000,000 "Magic Kingdom." Walt's dream had come true and Disneyland was ready to open."
Opening day, was a day to remember. Six thousand invitations to the Grand Opening had been mailed. By mid-afternoon over 28,000 ticket holders were storming the Magic Kingdom. Most of the tickets were counterfeit.

Walt Disney was 53 when he dedicated Disneyland Park. It was a memorable ceremony. There in Town Square, Walt could look around and see the fulfillment of his hopes, dreams, and ambitions in the form of a spectacular entertainment kingdom.

Although, Opening Day was a terrible disaster. A 15 day heat wave raised temperatures up to 110 degrees Fahrenheit. Also, due to a plumbers strike, few water fountains were operating in the hot weather. Asphalt still steaming, because it had been laid the night before, literality "trapping" high heeled shoes. After opening day, the heat wave continued, and almost wiped out the park.

Beside the terrible opening day conditions, the park did eventually pick up. By 1965, ten years after opening day, 50 Million visitors had come through the gates.  And now…practicically everyone in the world knows the name and the location of “Disneyland”.

The problem when you visit a place on vacation is that I usually visit the “must see” and “big name” sites and museums.  Those who come to Los Angeles often go to Hollywood, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Getty Center, or Disneyland.  Sometimes unless you live in a place or really take the time can you visit all the nooks and crannies and less famous sites.  This week  my road less traveled took me to the Museum Of Latin American Art or MOLAA.

MOLAA's mission is to educate the public about contemporary Latin American fine art (by artists who have lived and worked in Latin America since WWII) through the presentation of a significant permanent collection, dynamic exhibitions and related cultural and educational programs.
The Museum of Latin American Art (MOLAA) in Long Beach, California was founded by Dr. Robert Gumbiner in November 1996. It is the only museum in the western United States that exclusively features contemporary Latin American art. Through the utilization of its permanent collection, traveling exhibitions, and programs, molaa educates a diverse Southern California audience about contemporary Latin American art.

The museum is located in the newly developing East Village Arts District of Long Beach, California. Between 1913 and 1918 the site that the museum now occupies was the home of Balboa Amusement Producing Company, then the world’s most productive and innovative silent film studio. Before there was a Hollywood, Balboa was the king of the silver screen, producing as much as 20,000 feet of negative film a week.
The building was recently renovated as molaa’s Entertainment / Education / Special Event venue may have been part of the old Balboa film studio. molaa’s exhibition galleries, administrative offices and store are housed in what was once a roller skating rink known as the Hippodrome. Built in the late 1920s, after the film studios were gone, the Hippodrome was a haven for skaters for four decades. The building then served as a senior health center for fifteen years. The high vaulted ceilings and beautiful wooden floors were perfectly suited for the Hippodrome's final metamorphosis into the Museum of Latin American Art.
The museum can be broken down into three main sections:  The Sculpture Garden, The permanent collection, and the special exhibit area.  The Sculpture and Event Garden presents an extraordinary exhibition of sculpture from MOLAA’s permanent collection, internationally recognized as the most important collection of contemporary Latin American sculpture in the nation.

In 2006, the Robert Gumbiner Sculpture Garden & Event Center was inaugurated as a venue to host public and private events and for the display of outdoor sculpture represented in the MOLAA Permanent Collection.

The collection has grown due to the generous donations from artists and collectors, as well as by long-term loans. The sculpture garden now presents a permanent display of over 30 abstract and figurative sculptures representing almost one artist per Latin American country.

A wide range of styles and themes in various media of bronze, wood, metal, stainless-steel and polychrome metal reflect the grand diversity of sculptural forms produced by the Latin American artist. Abstract works of note are the bronze sculpture by Peruvian artist Fernando de Szyszlo, the stainless steel sculpture by Mexican artist Leonardo Nierman and the polychrome metal sculpture by Argentinean artist Perez Celis. Figurative works of note are the bronze sculptures by Guatemalan artist Max Leiva, Panamanean artist Guillermo Trujillo and Cuban artist Carlos Luna.

At the time of establishing the sculpture garden, many artists and collectors enthusiastically responded to assisting MOLAA in enhancing the collection with outdoor sculpture. Several artists produced new works of art created especially for MOLAA. These artists either donated the work or placed it on long-term loan with the expectation of acquisition for the collection. MOLAA has established a Sculpture Garden Endowment Program to ask members and supporters for assistance in acquiring these works for the collection and to maintain their care and preservation. MOLAA seeks and encourages your support to acquire these sculptures for permanent display such as the new works titled, Time Traveler by Uruguayan artist, Cecilia Miguez and Objects of the World by Argentinean artist, Gustavo López de Armentía, among others. Please contact the Development Department for a complete listing of works included in the Sculpture Garden Endowment Program.

A Bridge to the Americas presents more than 100 works of art that reflect the diversity, individuality and universality of the Latin American artists from MOLAA’s permanent collection. This exhibition is organized into four themes, Mestizaje of Identity, Urban and Rural Landscapes, Political History and Religious Practices which are rotated throughout the year. The Long Gallery presents works from the permanent collection by geographic origin.

Constantly on view in the Permanent Collection Gallery is the exhibition of the MOLAA Permanent Collection, A Bridge to the Americas, a thematic grouping of more than 75 works of art. The selections, ranging from the representational to the abstract, represent the broad spectrum of art included in the collection from those artists who live and work in the Spanish-Portuguese speaking regions of Mexico, Central and South America and the Caribbean. The exhibition is intended to be a source of study for the viewer to further appreciate the diversity and distinction of Latin American art and its focus on social, cultural, ethnic and historic issues.

Although the continent of America is separated by national boundaries, it is however one united land in the Western Hemisphere. The exhibition, A Bridge to the Americas, seeks to represent these differences and commonalities-extending a bridge of understanding through the art-by presenting the selected art in thematic groupings to focus on the relevant topics of history, identity, cultural practice and geographic location that are both different and common to the Latin American experience.

The three thematic groupings are concurrently presented in the gallery, displaying approximately 25 works of art per theme which remain on view for a year. Every six months, a new theme is selected and new works of art are presented (annually in January and June) in order to explore new perspectives and profiles about the issues and the art. Currently the thematic groupings are:
Urban and Rural Landscapes-presents the contrast between Latin American rural communities and the modern industrial cities which reflect European values and architecture.

Cultural & Political Interventions-presents leading historic figures, national heroes and popular cultural icons that have either altered or imposed significant change in the social, economic, cultural and political history of Latin America.

Spiritual and Religious Practices-presents a wide variety of religious-based imagery and the syncretism between institutional religions with various forms of indigenous religions common in Latin American culture.
Latin America is home to nearly one of every two Catholics in the world today; more than 80 percent of the population claims affiliation to the Roman Catholic Church. However, there also exists a strong presence of spirit world-based religions related to the ancient world of the Mesoamerican Indians and the African Yoruba and Kongo tribes.

The syncretism of institutional religions with various forms of indigenous religions such as Santeria and shamanism is characteristic of Latin American culture. The contemporary Latin American artist has generated a wide variety of religious-based imagery.

Traditional representations of religious doctrine include depictions of Jesus Christ, saints, priests and religious ceremonies. The art on view portrays artistic interpretations of biblical stories such as Adam and Eve, the Last Supper, celestial angels and the crucifixion. Walter Goldfarb, a Brazilian artist of Jewish heritage, utilizes the symbol of a crucified Christ in his art. Seeking reconciliation between Judaism and Christianity, Goldfarb burns the image of Christ upon the surface of a raw canvas to represent the branding of human skin on Holocaust victim, as a symbol of a historic passage of sacrifice and submission.
Cuban artist, Jose Bedia focuses on the Amerindian and Afro-Cuban cultures that practice the religions of Palo Monte and Santería or a ritual form of communication with the spirit world in search of man's relationship to nature and animals. Having lived in Cuba and Mexico and on the Rosebud Reservation in South Dakota, Bedia seeks to represent the shamanistic meaning of nahual, a term that provides each person with an animal counterpart to act as a spiritual guide for knowledge or advice. By inciting an animal deity to possess the individual, the believer seeks guidance from the anima(s) of the spirit world.
Significant urban centers and rural areas are common to the Latin American landscape. The art reveals the striking contrast between the modern industrialized city and the pastoral village countryside. The outstanding difference between the two is the scale and use of space.

Latin American cities, such as Buenos Aires, Argentina; Mexico City, Mexico; Santiago de Chile, Chile and Sao Paulo, Brazil are the political and financial centers of their respective countries. They reflect the European architectural and institutional values established after the conquest in the 16th and 17th centuries. In contrast, historic rural communities such as Oaxaca, Mexico and Cuzco, Peru are the cultural centers of the people and their local customs. The central plaza, usually graced with a park, the parochial church and city hall, functions as the gathering place for the people to celebrate festivals, religious processions and political rallies.

Mexican artist Rodolfo Morales and Argentine artist Antonio Segui offer contrasting artistic visions. Throughout his life, Morales illustrated local scenes of celebration in the central plaza of a rural environment where the church is the heart of the community and where religious practice is the soul of the people. In the 1980s, Segui created a series of paintings filled with anonymous figures dressed in business suits and hats, randomly wandering through a compact urbanscape. The busy scene, possibly that of the Parisian-style city of Buenos Aires, is filled with the rhythm and anxiety of an urban society.
Throughout Latin America’s 500 years of history, various external and internal political and cultural influences have either altered or imposed significant change to the social, economic, cultural and political identity of its people. The exhibition illustrates a broad range of intervening agents that often appear in contemporary Latin American art such as leading historic figures, national heroes and popular cultural icons from the Spanish Conquest of 1492 to the 20th century influence of popular culture icons.

The 1492 Spanish Conquest is exemplified in the painting by José Miguel Rojas with the mingling of cultural symbols, the pre-Hispanic hieroglyphs and the body of Jesus Christ. The end of the 18th century brought about the Wars of Independence from Spain lead by various liberators, now well-recognized as national heroes. Various portraits of these leaders appear in the exhibition such as Simón Bolívar (Venezuela, 1783–Colombia, 1830) and José Martí (Cuba, 1853-1895).

The 20th century has been marked by numerous military dictatorships and regimes in Latin America. Internal conflicts of war received external support such as occurred in the 1980s Contra/Sandinista conflict between Nicaragua and El Salvador during the U.S. Reagan Administration. Images of Sandino and Reagan profile the protagonists of this conflict. In the meantime, Western mass-media and commercial products have infiltrated Latin American society through music, movies and television series’, cartoons, comic books, children’s toys and commerce. It is not uncommon to encounter contemporary art filled with Western cartoon characters as symbols of social commentary and criticism like Superman and Felix the Cat.
The final area is the special exhibit which is currently showing the renowned Ecuadorian artist Oswaldo Guayasamín (Ecuador, 1919-1999) with the exhibition Of Rage and Redemption: The Art of Oswaldo Guayasamín.

The national traveling exhibition has been curated by Joseph Mella, Gallery Director, Vanderbilt University Fine Arts Gallery and co-organized by the Center for Latin American Studies at Vanderbilt University in cooperation with the Guayasamín Foundation, Quito, Ecuador. MOLAA is the closing venue for the two-year long tour and joins the Guayasamin Foundation in celebrating the 90th anniversary of Oswaldo Guayasamín’s birth during the four-month exhibition, April 19 – August 16, 2009.

The retrospective exhibition profiles the evolution of Guayasamín’s life and his personal concern for crimes against humanity of social and political injustice. The collection of 80 works of art, paintings, drawings and prints created between 1937 – 1996 focus on the plight of the indigenous peoples in the Andean region as well human suffering, war and violence throughout the world. Guayasamin earned a reputation as Ecuador’s official painter in the 1940s when he presented an exhibition of paintings and portraits of Indians that provoked a scandal. In 1999, he received honorary recognition from the Ninth Meeting of Latin American Presidents as “the painter of Latin America,” for being an activist against violence, war and social injustice. At this time in our history, the art of Guayasamin resonates within the global outcry for peace and justice in the world today. Non-academic in style and subject matter, Guayasamín established his signature style of indigenismo which is especially recognized for its dramatic representation of the human figure. Defined in powerfully exaggerated proportions and forms, Guayasamín figures are charged with a range of emotions—from human dignity to grief, loss and anguish. Guayasamin said about his art, “My painting is to hurt, to scratch and hit inside people’s hearts. To show what Man does against Man.” Exhibition curator, Joseph Mella states, “Guayasamín’s paintings are not, however, illustrative. They are universal, compassionate, and in the end humanistic expressions of an artist with equal measures of genius and of love for all mankind.”

The exhibition highlights several of Guayasamín’s most important works created during his 60 year career. An early work, Los ninos muertos #11 / The Dead Children #11, 1942, depicts the results of a bloody four-day civil war where a childhood friend of Guayasamín’s was murdered along with many others. As noted by exhibition curator, Joseph Mella, “we see in this work a tragedy of the most profound kind—an almost Goyaesque nightmare that refuses to loose its grip on the viewer. It conveys a sense of deep pain, of anguish, and of all parent’s worst and most sustaining fears—that of the murder of their child.” In the 1960s, Guayasamin broadened his worldview to embrace universal themes of crimes against humanity developing a series of over 100 politically charged paintings titled, Edad de la ira / Age of Wrath. Four large and impressive works from this series appear in the exhibition: La espera II,VII, VIII /Waiting III,VII, VIII, 1968-69; Los torturados I-III/The Tortured I-III, 1976-77; Reunión en el Pentágono I-V/Reunion at the Pentagon I-V; and Napalm. Los torturados, perhaps the most moving of these four works, was inspired by the brutal torture and murder of the Chilean activist folk singer, Victor Jara, who was killed during the overthrow of President Allende’s Chilean socialist government in 1973. Amplified by a series of drawings and prints, the complete exhibition profiles both the artist’s Latin American roots and his universal voice of passion to inspire peace and compassion for humanity.

After perusing through the museum for several hours I had worked up quite and appetite where I visited the Viva Café which celebrates the cuisine and culture of Latin America. The food was excellent and offered a variety of plates from Argentina, Peru, Cuba, Puerto Rico, and Mexico.

If someone traveling to Los Angeles has the time to linger a little longer and take in a less traveled Museum, MOLAA offers  a wonderful alternative to the beaten path.

Occupying the heart of the historic Rancho Santa Anita, The Los Angeles County Arboretum & Botanic Garden is a unique 127 acre historical museum and botanic garden located in the city of Arcadia. Home to plant collections from all over the world, including many rare and endangered species, the Arboretum also houses outdoor historical landmarks representative of the major phases of California history. The Arboretum is also an animal sanctuary. In addition to The Arboretum’s famous peafowl, visitors will see species of resident and migratory birds, aquatic creatures, as

well as numerous species of small reptiles and mammals.

With Spring in full effect I decided to check this botanical heaven out and commune with nature for a while.  It was a wonderful blend of Historic California and the natural beauty of the world.  The site's modern history began in 1875 when Elias Jackson "Lucky" Baldwin purchased Rancho Santa Anita and constructed its buildings and grounds. The arboretum itself began in 1947 with California and Los Angeles jointly purchasing 111 to create an arboretum around the Baldwin site. By 1949, the first greenhouse had been constructed and the site's plants inventoried. In 1951, the first 1,000 trees were planted, and in 1956 the arboretum was opened to the public. Ongoing construction of ggardens and greenhouses took place during the 1950s and 1960s, and in 1975-1976 the Tropical Greenhouse was opened and the Prehistoric and Jungle Garden completed. Construction and renovation of both greenhouses and gardens has continued to this day. Numerous movies were filmed at the arboretum including portions of two Jurassic Park movies and Anaconda. The arboretum's plants are grouped by geography with gardens for South American, Mediterranean, South African, Australian and Asiatic-North American plants. Other displays include the Aquatic Garden, Meadowbrook, Demonstration Home Gardens, Garden for All Seasons, Prehistoric and Jungle Garden, Native Oaks, Herb Garden, and the Palm and Bamboo collection. In addition, the arboretum is home to a flock of some 200 peafowl, which are descendants of original birds imported by Baldwin from India in about 1880 (the peafowl is a symbol of the city of Arcadia). Peafowl can also be found throughout neighborhoods surrounding the arboretum.

There is tram ride for an additional $3 to take you around the 2 mile highway.  But I decided to walk the entire thing visiting the various georgraphical locations.  Near the end of my walking tour I came across some of the original historic sites pertaining to pre-historic times and the Baldwin time. The first was the Baldwin Coach House.  Lucky Baldwin housed his private carriages plus those of his guests in this opulent barn. Baldwin's stylish "Tally Ho" carriage, purchased at the Philadelphia Centennial Exposition in 1876, is today on display in the west room. Generous stall space was provided for carriage horses, and convenient hay and grain chutes were fed directly from the loft above. The Victorian dog house just outside the Coach Barn once sheltered bull mastiffs, Lucky Baldwin's ranch guard dogs. Next was the Queen Anne Cottage.  The Queen Anne Cottage used in the opening scenes of the TV show Fantasy Island is located here. The house also was used in an episode of Murder, She Wrote.

Lucky Baldwin's Queen Anne Cottage was built in 1885-86 as a honeymoon gift for his fourth wife, 16-year-old Lillie Bennett. This marriage did not last and it was soon converted by Baldwin into a memorial to his third wife, Jennie Dexter, who had died in 1881. A stained glass portrait of Jennie can be seen on the front door. The Baldwin cottage (the designation "Queen Anne" was added in later years in reference to its architectural style) was the Santa Anita Ranch guest house. Friends, relatives, and business associates of Lucky Baldwin, including stars from the Baldwin Theater in San Francisco, partook of ranch hospitality until E.J.’s death in 1909. Cooking, dining facilities, and Baldwin's personal quarters were located in a modernized eight-room version of the old adobe house found on the property at the time of purchase (1875). The stained glass windows, marble fireplaces, and black walnut doors are all original features of the cottage as are the bathroom fixtures and the exterior marble walkway. Both the Coach Barn and the Queen Anne Cottage are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

The next stop along my walking tour was the Tongva Village and 1840 Adobe House replication of California’s History.  The earliest known residents of what is now The Arboretum were the Native American group known as the Tongva. The village known as Aleupkigna or "the place of many waters" was located near the ponds to take advantage of the abundant water, food, and materials for clothing and shelter. The Tongva slept in brush shelters such as these, constructed of willow poles and thatched with layers of tule reeds. Rabbit skin mats provided bedding and small fires kept the occupants warm. 

One of the most populous and powerful groups in Southern California, the Tongva were skilled hunters and gatherers surviving off of small animals, acorns, and other seeds and fruit. They had no pottery, but were very skilled basket weavers. Although they did not plant crops, use iron tools, and had no cattle or horses until the arrival of the Spanish, the Tongva were among the few New World peoples who regularly navigated the ocean in plank canoes.

My last stop was the Hugo Reid Adobe House. Hugo Reid, a Scottish adventurer and naturalized Mexican citizen, was the first private owner of the 13,319 acre Rancho Santa Anita. Reid, married to a Tongva/Gabrielino woman Bartolomea de Comcrabit (also known as Victoria), constructed the first permanent building on Rancho Santa Anita. This California Landmark was constructed in 1840 with the help of Tongva/Gabrielino laborers and was representative of a building style then common in Southern California. It was built of sun-dried adobe blocks made by mixing clay soil, water, and a straw binder. The roof was made of rawhide-lashed carrizo cane smeared with brea (tar) and the walls were white-washed. Open fire pits (braziers) provided heat for each room. Lighting sources included candles and whale oil lamps. Most of the cooking for the Reid family was done in the outdoor courtyard at the adobe stove and oven. Much of what is known today about the Tongva people is because of Hugo Reid’s writings. Reid documented the Tongva/Gabrielino lifestyle utilizing what he learned form his wife and her family. Just before his death in 1852, Reid produced a series of 22 “Letters” each telling a chapter in the store of the native people. These “Letters” would be printed by the local Los Angeles Star newspaper at the time, and they are used even today as the Tongva attempt to reestablish their cultural identity.

After several hours of walking through the two mile trail I was back near the entrance/exit where I had lunch since I had worked up quite and appetite.   The Peacock Café is the only place on the grounds to purchase food which sells wraps, salads, beverages and other items.  Outside food is not allowed inside the grounds.

To be transported in time and place I would highly recommend the Arboretum of Los Angeles County. It is hard to believe that this oasis is surrounded by such a metropolis as you step back in time to Historic California and surround yourself with botany from around the world.