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Travel & Experiences

Following Junipero Serra’s journey, a life of faith and flaws

Basketry by California Indian women reached unparalleled levels of sophistication long before the Spanish came to California. This artistry was not lost on the Spaniards. Father Pedro Font, a contemporary of Serra's, remarked that the Chumash "know how to make baskets with a great variety of designs and of any form which may be requested of them." Under the Spanish, weavers began to incorporate Spanish words, shapes and symbols, suggesting that the missions fostered a blending of Indian and Spanish traditions. For more information on the exhibition, visit The Huntington, Library, Art Collections and Botanical Gardens. Summer hours 10:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m. (through August). Closed Tuesdays. Adult admission $20 weekdays, $23 weekends.

Basketry by California Indian women reached unparalleled levels of sophistication long before the Spanish came to California. This artistry was not lost on the Spaniards. Father Pedro Font, a contemporary of Serra’s, remarked that the Chumash “know how to make baskets with a great variety of designs and of any form which may be requested of them.” Under the Spanish, weavers began to incorporate Spanish words, shapes and symbols, suggesting that the missions fostered a blending of Indian and Spanish traditions.

For more information on the exhibition, visit The Huntington, Library, Art Collections and Botanical Gardens. Summer hours 10:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m. (through August). Closed Tuesdays. Adult admission $20 weekdays, $23 weekends.

  (Southwest Museum of the American Indian Collection, Autry National Center, Los Angeles / Southwest Museum of the American Indian Collection, Autry National Center, Los Angeles)

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Junipero Serra, the Franciscan priest who established the first nine missions in California, was one of the state’s most influential yet least understood figures. Marking the 300th anniversary of his birth, a major exhibition at the Huntington Library, Art Collections and Botanical Gardens opens Saturday and tells the story of his journey and his life’s work. Here is a brief look at some of the places his calling took him and at the exhibition pieces that help tell his story.

-- Anne Harnagel

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