Party in the Park : A tour of Frank Lloyd Wright’s Hollyhock House will commemorate the architect’s 127th birthday.
Architect Frank Lloyd Wright lived a long, productive life, designing some of this country’s and Los Angeles’ most unusual architecture before he died in 1959 at the age of 92.
This year marks Wright’s 127th birthday, and the Los Angeles City Cultural Affairs Department is inviting the public to commemorate it Sunday at Barnsdall Art Park in Hollywood, the location of one of his most renowned structures--Hollyhock House.
Built for oil heiress Aline Barnsdall between 1919 and 1921 on a 36-acre site known as Olive Hill, Hollyhock House was Wright’s first Los Angeles project. The original plans included two secondary residences, a theater, director’s house, dormitory for actors, artists’ studios, shops and a motion picture theater. Only the Hollyhock House and the two secondary residences were built.
Though historians have waxed on about the Japanese, Maya, Inca, Egyptian, Spanish Colonial and Southwestern Native American architecture of the house, Wright preferred to label it “California Romanza,” a musical term that means “freedom to make one’s own form.”
In 1927, Barnsdall gave Hollyhock House and 11 surrounding acres to the city of Los Angeles for use as a public art park. Today, Hollyhock stands in Barnsdall Art Park with the Municipal Art Gallery and Gallery Theater, Barnsdall Arts Center and the Junior Arts Center, which provides an array of art classes for children year-round.
This three-hour tour is designed around Wright’s birthday celebration Sunday, when many family events will take place. The tour of Hollyhock House begins at 1 p.m. but you also might want to partake in two workshops that start at 10 a.m.
Photographer Julius Shulman--well known for more than 50 years as one of the great photographers of Southern California’s best architecture--will share his ideas from 10 a.m. to noon on how to photograph Hollyhock House. Free, but reservations are required. Call (213) 485-4581.
Artist Fu-Ding Cheng, creator of the exhibit “Dream-House” in the Junior Arts Center, will view and discuss his show and the exterior of Hollyhock House from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Then, children 7 and older will create memorial dream houses of their own. Free, but enrollment is limited. For reservations, call (213) 485-4474.
Or you could begin your day here with a picnic lunch. The park’s tree-shaded grounds provide an oasis from its urban surroundings.
1 to 2 p.m.: Take your own tour through Hollyhock House. Docents will tell you about the architecture and furnishings, about Wright and his idiosyncrasies, influences and innovations--all manifested in the house--and about owner Barnsdall. One of the richest women in the world at the time, she was an unmarried mother who championed labor, children’s and human rights causes.
Also in Hollyhock House is the exhibit, “Flashback/Fastforward: Runyon Canyon and the Wright Plans for Huntington Hartford,” which documents the history of Wright’s plans for Runyon Canyon, now a public park.
For kids who wouldn’t appreciate discussions about Hollyhock House, several workshops designed specifically for them will be going on at the same time. Parents are also welcome. Free, no reservations necessary.
Activities include embellishing actual blueprints to create one’s own architectural designs and artwork; making textured plaster blocks, a la Wright’s designs in concrete, using found objects; building graham cracker houses in the style of Wright’s cantilevered buildings, and an origami flowers workshop.
These workshops are based on activities from the book, “Frank Lloyd Wright for Kids” by Kathleen Thorne-
Thomsen, who will read from her book from 3 to 3:30 p.m. in the Hollyhock House courtyard.
2 to 2:30 p.m.: Enter the Municipal Art Gallery to view two exhibits: “The Third Los Angeles: The Creation of Downtown L.A., 1900-1939” and the “Los Angeles Service Station Project.” Cost is $1 general, free for children under 12.
“The Third Los Angeles . . . “ presents original drawings, blueprints and photographs of some of the city’s most significant buildings, including Bullock’s Wilshire, City Hall, the Public Library and Union Station.
In “Service Station Project,” 11 architectural teams, working with civic agencies and community groups, created architectural models that suggest ways to address the needs of such areas as Cudahy, Chinatown, Koreatown and South Central L.A.
2:30 to 3 p.m.: Take a guided tour of Residence A, now the Barnsdall Arts Center. Residence B has since been torn down.
3 to 3:30 p.m.: Go to the Junior Arts Center Gallery to see the three-part exhibit, “Gateways.” Take a journey through Fu-Ding Cheng’s “Dream-House,” which conveys the life story of a magical house with a display of delightful illustrations and the animated film, “Spirit of the Dream-House.” Also on view are Art Nomura’s “Digital Mandala” video and Roger Feldman’s installation, “Teleological Passages: Still a Small Voice.”
3:30 to 4 p.m.: Join in the reception and birthday cake to celebrate Wright’s 127th birthday, in the Hollyhock House courtyard, sponsored by the Friends of Hollyhock House.
WHERE AND WHEN
What: Frank Lloyd Wright’s 127th Birthday Celebration in Barnsdall Art Park.
Location: 4800 Hollywood Blvd., Hollywood.
Hours: 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Sunday.
Price: All events are free except $1 entrance to the Municipal Art Gallery for visitors over age 12. Parking is free.
Call: (213) 485-4581.
