One Legacy Revived, Another Begun

It takes a little effort to reach this community of picture-perfect bungalows, exotic gardens and broad beaches. Approaching from San Diego, one must cross the 2-mile toll bridge, take the pedestrian ferry or follow the peninsula via Imperial Beach. That makes commuting a challenge, but it doesn’t stop 2 million people from visiting every year.

“People love a good excuse to come to Coronado,” says Cynthia B. Malinick, executive director of the Coronado Historical Assn. And the association is about to give eager visitors a new reason to make the trek: the Museum of History and Art, which will open next Sunday.

Housed in the historic Bank of Commerce and Trust building, at the heart of downtown Coronado, the new museum will provide the 31-year-old association with a prominent showcase and much-needed space for its operations and public programs. The organization has been making do in a Victorian house, but exhibitions had to be stuffed into spaces designed as living quarters, and much of the collection was stored off-site. The new facility will provide three small galleries for exhibitions of art and local history, a room for lectures and other educational programs, compact storage for archives, a research library, offices, a shop and a cafe.

Exhibitions and related programs will pertain to Coronado history, Malinick says, but the subject encompasses a broader range of possibilities than might be imagined. The story of the Hotel del Coronado--the city’s best-known establishment--is an obvious topic, as is the U.S. Navy’s place in the community.

Artists and their work are also part of the mix. “A lot of history is art, and vice versa,” Malinick says.

She is particularly pleased with the inaugural art show, “Obras del Corazon: Works From the Heart of Alfredo Ramos Martinez, 1934-1944,” a display of 17 paintings and works on paper by a Mexican artist who spent many productive years in Southern California.

Ramos Martinez’s work hasn’t had a public presence in the city for several years, but he is remembered fondly as the painter of three murals at La Avenida, a popular restaurant across the street from the Hotel del Coronado. Painted in 1937, the artworks were removed before the demolition of the building, in 1995. One mural was donated to the city and will be installed in a public facility yet to be designated; the other two have gone into private collections.

The show will present works from several private collections, including that of Maria and Charles Bolster, the artist’s daughter and her husband, who live in Los Angeles. A painting of Maria, at age 11, and the artist’s self-portrait will appear alongside his typical depictions of Mexican peasants, family groups, tropical flowers and a mountainous landscape. Executed in tempera, oil, pastel and charcoal, they are gentle images portrayed in a bold style that emphasizes contours and volumes.

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Ramos Martinez, who was born in Monterrey, Mexico, in 1872, studied art in Mexico City and worked in Paris from 1897 to 1910. Like many of his colleagues, he followed the lead of European artists during his early years. But when he returned to Mexico, he became a leading proponent of indigenous Mexican art and an influential teacher. He was uprooted in 1929, when he and his wife moved to the United States in search of medical treatment for their infant daughter, Maria, who had a disabling bone disease. They settled in Los Angeles, where the artist found favor with the Hollywood elite and was commissioned to paint several murals. He died in 1946, just before his 74th birthday.

He never achieved anything close to the fame of his fellow Mexican muralists, Jose Clemente Orozco (1883-1949), Diego Rivera (1886-1957) and David Alfaro Siqueiros (1896-1974), probably because he left his native land and his work does not throb with the revolutionary zeal that characterizes the best-known Mexican art of the period. Nonetheless, Ramos Martinez left a legacy in Southern California--including multi-panel murals at Scripps College in Claremont and the chapel of the Santa Barbara Cemetery.

The upcoming Coronado show is only the latest example of a revival of interest in his work. It began in 1991 with an exhibition organized by Los Angeles dealer Louis Stern, which was accompanied by a scholarly catalog and traveled to Mexico. Since then, several other local exhibitions have featured Ramos Martinez’s work. He is also in the pantheon of artists whose work will appear in “Made in California: Art, Image and Identity, 1900-2000,” a huge exhibition that will open Oct. 22 at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.

In Coronado, Ramos Martinez’s work will be the colorful, aesthetic centerpiece of a multifaceted display in the new museum’s cluster of galleries, designed by Think Jacobson & Roth, a Los Angeles-based exhibit and media development firm, in collaboration with the museum’s architect, Bardwell Case & Associates. An illustrated timeline will lead into a gallery of photographs, objects and text that will trace the city’s development from a safe harbor for whalers to a community mainly known as a resort and a naval base. Another gallery will tell the story of the Hotel del Coronado, which opened in 1888 and became a destination for the rich and famous. Visitors will also learn about Tent City, an affordable summer vacation spot near the hotel that operated from 1900 to 1939.

The Coronado Historical Assn. was founded in 1969 to “promote the appreciation, knowledge and understanding of Coronado’s unique art, architecture, history and other historical resources through its collections, exhibitions, educational programs and community outreach,” as the mission statement puts it. Over the years, the organization has compiled an archive, a large holding of documentary photographs and an eclectic collection of objects including light fixtures, naval uniforms and china and silverware from the hotel--all of which required more and more storage space.

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In 1996, when Malinick took charge, the association conducted a feasibility study to see if the house it had owned and occupied since 1987 could be adapted to meet changing needs. The cost seemed much too high, so the association began to consider moving to another facility. Early last year, the old bank building--a 1910 neoclassical structure that had been converted into a restaurant--came on the market and attracted the attention of Donald Budinger, a local philanthropist with a strong interest in historic preservation.

“We got together, and it’s been wedded bliss ever since,” Malinick says.

Under the terms of their partnership, Budinger bought the building and is leasing it to the association for 30 years, after which it will become the property of the association. Budinger paid for the exterior restoration, while the association financed the reconfiguration and renovation of the interior.

Opening the museum is a big leap for the association, which sold its former home and used the proceeds to seed a $1.6-million campaign for capital expenses and endowment. Operations and programs are funded by donations from various public and private sources, and by income from research services, membership fees and admissions. The new shop and cafe are expected to provide additional income.

Standing outside the building as painters and carpenters complete their work, Malinick says she is looking forward to welcoming the public to the new facility and to inviting them back to future programs.

But don’t ask about the next exhibition. She has lots of ideas, but will only say: “It’s going to be hard to top Alfredo Ramos Martinez.”

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“OBRAS DEL CORAZON: WORKS FROM THE HEART OF ALFREDO RAMOS MARTINEZ, 1934-1944,” Museum of History and Art, 1100 Orange Ave., Coronado. Dates: Next Sunday to Feb. 6. Monday, Tuesday and Thursday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.; Sunday, noon to 4 p.m. Prices: Adults, $4; seniors, $3; youths 10 to 18, $2; children younger than 10, free. Phone: (619) 435-7242.