Arts, Science Seminars Planned for Centennial

The Smithsonian Institution will sponsor a series of lectures and seminars on arts and science topics at local museums, auditoriums and college lecture halls from Feb. 23 to March 2.

Smithsonian curators and staff members will lead the programs, which are part of Pasadena’s centennial celebration.

The most ambitious program in the eight-day series is a four-day seminar entitled “Man’s Quest for Wings: Highlights of Aviation History.” The seminar is scheduled Feb. 24 to 27 at Occidental College and will feature speakers from the National Air and Space Museum and AeroVironment, a firm that conducts research on ultra-low-powered flight. Sessions will run from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and cost $40 each or $130 for all four.

A two-day seminar on marine life titled “Life in the Ocean Depths” will be held at Occidental College from 9 a.m. to noon Feb. 28 and from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. March 1. The $35 seminar, led by Dave Pawson of the National Museum of Natural History, will include an excursion on an oceanographic teaching vessel.

“Historical Preservation: A Practical Approach” will be presented from 9 a.m. to noon Feb. 24 and 25 by Don Fowler, a research associate at the Smithsonian and a professor of historical preservation at the University of Nevada, Reno. The first session will be held at the Southwest Museum in Highland Park and the second at the Pacific Asia Museum in Pasadena. The cost is $25 for one session or $40 for both.

Richard Fiske, curator of the department of mineral science at the National Museum of Natural History, will discuss “Volcanology Today” at a seminar from 1 to 4 p.m. Feb. 27 at Occidental College. That seminar will cost $25.

Another seminar entitled “Photographing Nature” will be held at the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena from 1 to 4 p.m. March 2. Kjell Sandved of the National Museum of Natural History will lead the session and provide a copy of his book “Butterflies” as part of the $25 fee.

The following lectures are open to the public at a cost of $2.50 each:

Feb. 23--”The Golden Age of Flight” by Claudia Oakes, assistant curator at the National Air and Space Museum; Pasadena City College, 3 to 4:30 p.m.

Feb. 24--”An Evening of American Jazz,” a concert and lecture by pianist John Eaton; Occidental College, 7:30 to 9 p.m.

Feb. 25--”Indians, Artists and Photographers: Images of Native Americans” by Fowler of the Smithsonian research staff; at the Southwest Museum, 7:30 to 9 p.m.

Feb. 26--”The American Crafts Movement” by Lloyd Herman, director of the Renwick Gallery in Washington, D.C.; Caltech, 7:30 to 8:30 p.m.

Feb. 26--”Krakatau: The Cataclysmic Volcanic Eruption of 1883” by Richard Fiske, curator of the Department of Mineral Science at the National Museum of Natural History; Occidental College, 7:30 to 8:30 p.m.

Feb. 27--”Looking at the Stars” by Sallie Baliunas, Smithsonian Astrophysics Observatory; Eaton Canyon Nature Center auditorium, 2 to 3 p.m. and 7:30 to 8:30 p.m.

Feb. 27--”American Women in Politics” by Edith Mayo, curator of the division of political history at the National Museum of American History; Occidental College, 3 to 4 p.m. and 7:30 to 8:30 p.m.

Feb. 28--”Exploring Life in the Deep Sea” by Pawson of the National Museum of Natural History; Pasadena City College, 7:30 to 8:30 p.m.

March 1--”Beyond the Ocean, Beneath a Leaf” by Sandved, photographer from the National Museum of Natural History; Pasadena City College, 2 to 3 p.m. and 7:30 to 8:30 p.m.

March 2--”Capturing the Time of Our Lives,” a slide-illustrated lecture about the covers of Time magazine since 1923, by Marc Pacter of the National Portrait Gallery; Art Center College of Design, Pasadena, 2 to 3 p.m.

Schedules and ticket order forms may be obtained at the Pasadena Arts Council office in Pasadena Plaza or by calling Occidental College at (213) 259-2500. Tickets also will be available at the door.