TONIGHT: School District to Present Feasibility Study on the Civic Auditorium During Public Meeting
5:30 p.m. at 1717 4th Street & on Zoom
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The future of Santa Monica’s Civic Auditorium continues to be an urgent topic of debate and discussion in the community. The City has offered the Civic as surplus land and the School District (SMMUSD) is a current proposer.
Finally, after months of closed-session meetings, we have a detailed picture of SMMUSD’s vision for the historic property, in the form of a Feasibility Study. The results of the study will be formally presented tonight at a public Board of Education meeting, beginning at 5:30 p.m. The public may attend the meeting in-person at the District Administrative Offices (1717 4th St., Santa Monica, CA) or via Zoom webinar (meeting ID: 876 8239 0636; passcode: 420935; call-in number: 669.900.6833). The meeting will also be live-streamed to the SMMUSD YouTube channel:
https://www.youtube.com/SantaMonicaMalibuUSD.
In addition to making public comment at the meeting, community members can make comments and ask questions about the proposal through Let’s Talk at www.smmusd.org/Superintendent. Click on the “Santa Monica Civic Auditorium Discussion” button.
The Conservancy’s current priority is that the nationally significant building retains its Landmark designation by the City of Santa Monica. We are carefully analyzing the Feasibility Study to determine if the SMMUSD's proposal would lead not only to the successful adaptive reuse of the landmark, but to a function that serves the community’s longstanding desire to see the Civic function in its historic use as a public venue.
Click here to read our letter to the SMMUSD Board of Education stating our current position on the study.
Click here to read the SMMUSD’s Feasibility Study.
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Livestream & In-Person Tours to Explore
Kuruvungna Springs
In-Person Tours of Kuruvungna Springs & Cultural Center
on Sunday, September 10 at 10 & 11 a.m. Register here.
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The Conservancy is excited to offer two programs that highlight the presence of the Tongva people at Kuruvungna Springs. Kuruvungna, meaning “place where we are in the sun,” was a thriving Tongva village surrounding the site of ancient springs that provided fresh water for the village. Later, the springs inspired the naming of Santa Monica and served as an early source of its water supply. The springs are also pictured in the history mural at Santa Monica City Hall, which is the subject of the City’s current Reframe initiative.
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Today, the waters still flow on the eastern edge of the University High School campus in West Los Angeles. The springs feed a lush setting with native plants, wildlife, a traditional thatched kiiy, and cultural center. The site has been saved from further development and revitalized by descendants of the Tongva people, who lived there until they were forcibly relocated to the Mission San Gabriel by Spanish colonists in the late 1700s. The site is a testament to the Tongva’s spirit of survival, harmony with nature and continued relevance to the region. Photos by Steve Loeper.
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Mosaic: Sacred Springs Livestream
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The August 27 episode of the Santa Monica Mosaic series continues this season’s celebration of the city’s diverse founding families by reaching back to our first community of families, the Tongva village at Kuruvungna. Gabrielino-Tongva Springs Foundation President Bob Ramirez will present a historic overview of the Tongva in our region and the village site. Indigenous archaeologist Desiree Martinez will then offer a closeup view of daily family life at a typical Tongva village like Kuruvungna, from favorite foods to recreational activities and spiritual practices. Ramirez will return to tell the modern story of Kuruvungna, from its rescue to ongoing efforts to restore and enrich the site. Photo by Steve Loeper
Mosaic: Sacred Springs, a joint presentation of the Santa Monica Conservancy and Santa Monica History Museum, is free for both Museum and Conservancy members, as well as for teachers and students, and $10 for the general public.
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In-Person Tour of Kuruvungna Village Springs |
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On September 10, Bob Ramirez will lead a special tour of Kuruvungna Springs and Cultural Center. Ramirez is leading current efforts at the site to restore the native ecology of the Tongva people and to educate the public about their history and cultural heritage. The tour also includes a presentation from Angie Dorame Behrns, founding president of the Gabrielino-Tongva Springs Foundation and tribal elder of the Gabrieleno-Tongva Tribal Council. Behrns led the campaign to preserve and protect the springs and began the cleanup and restoration of the site starting in the early 1990s. Photo by Steve Loeper
The in-person tour is $15 for Conservancy members, as well as for teachers and students and $20 for the general public. All proceeds will be donated to the Gabrielino-Tongva Springs Foundation. Tours are offered at 10 a.m. and 11 a.m. and are limited to 20 people each.
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Preservation Next Visits 18th Street Arts Center |
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On August 10, the Conservancy’s Preservation Next affinity group gathered for a special tour of 18th Street Arts Center. We thank the Center and especially our hosts, Senior Director of Public Programs & Engagement Michael Ano, and mentor artist-in-residence Dan Kwong. Dan talks to members of Preservation Next in his studio at 18th Street. Photo: Santa Monica Conservancy.
18th Street was originally conceived as a radical think tank in the shape of an artist community in Santa Monica’s Pico Neighborhood in 1988. It was one of many creative communities that made their home in the City’s formal industrial corridor starting in the 1970s. Together, these artist-driven studios, colonies, schools and centers cemented Santa Monica’s reputation as a locus of early contemporary art and social movements on the West Coast. In particular, artists working in performance art, activism, social justice, feminism and the gay rights movement have been in 18th Street’s “DNA since the beginning” (https://18thstreet.org/about/).
Today, 18th Street is an internationally renowned organization with one of the most respected artist residency programs in the country. It's legacy and commitment to community engagement continues to serve Santa Monica, including in the form of the community produced cultural asset map, Culture Mapping 90404, and The Broadway Project, a long-term arts and culture project led by the Quinn Research Center.
Preservation Next’s intimate visit inspired a lively interdisciplinary conversation about the art and value of storytelling, the role of artists working in community and the types of programs and resources that encourage authentic connections between people, communities, places and their histories.
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Free Screening of We Were All Here
by Dan Kwong and Paulina Sahagun
August 27 from 7:00 pm - 9:30 pm
18th Street Arts Center, 1639 18th Street
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18th Street's new Artful Watching series of outdoor film screenings kicks off with We Were All Here by Dan Kwong and Paulina Sahagun. Weaving together the personal and the political through oral histories, historical and family photos, poetry, music and a sprinkling of irreverent humor, the film honors the multicultural history of the unique Pico Neighborhood of Santa Monica. Register
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Conservancy Tours & Events |
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Sunset Swim at the Annenberg Community Beach House
August 25 from 6-9 p.m.
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As a special benefit to members of Preservation Next, the Annenberg Community Beach House is offering free pool passes to their next Sunset Swim! Come to swim or just for a chat.
To join Preservation Next and/or to register for this special offer, please email catherine@smconservancy.org. Members of the general public can register for the event here. Preservation Next events are generally reserved for folks between 21-45.
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Friday-Monday, from 12-2 p.m.
August 18-21 & 25-28;
September 1-4, 8-11, 15-18, 22-25
415 Pacific Coast Highway
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Enjoy a free tour led by Conservancy docents and learn about the rich history of the Marion Davies Guest House, which was built by William Randolph Hearst for actress Marion Davies. The hottest spot on Santa Monica’s Gold Coast during the 1920s, guests included Charlie Chaplin and Greta Garbo. The 20-minute tours are available on a walk-up basis. Learn more
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First and third Saturdays
of the month at 10 a.m.
August 19; September 2 & 16
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Discover the architectural gems and rich history of Downtown Santa Monica on our highly rated guided tour. From Art Deco to Victorian and Romanesque Revival, you’ll explore the various styles that fill the streets of our city. Tours are approximately two hours and cover six blocks. Free for members and $10 for the general public. Register
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2520 2nd Street
Saturday & Sunday, September 9-10
Open from 12-2 p.m.
Live Virtual Tour
Sunday, August 27 at noon
Saturday, September 30 at 1 p.m.
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Come and visit the last intact shotgun house in Santa Monica this weekend! Discover the journey of this incredible little house, which was saved from demolition and moved – on wheels – three times before being adapted into our modern-day Center. Learn more
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Santa Monica History Museum
Coming Out West: LGBTQ+ Elders Share Their Stories
Through December 17, 2023
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This exhibition presents oral histories, images, art, and ephemera from well-known LGBTQ+ elders with ties to Los Angeles and the Santa Monica Bay area. Created in collaboration with The Outwords Archive, the exhibition is a unique opportunity for the Santa Monica History Museum to share a history of the LGBTQ+ community through the lens of eight people who shaped it. More information
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Image courtesy of Konrad Rucker |
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California African American Museum
"Black California Dreamin': Claiming Space at America's Leisure Frontier
Through March, 2024
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Curated by Alison Rose Jefferson, this exhibition illuminates African Americans’ fight for their rights to nature, recreation, and sites of relaxation and joy in Southern California during the Jim Crow era. It is one of two historical shows on view at the museum, the other being, “We Are Not Strangers Here: African American Histories in Rural California,” curated by Susan D. Anderson with consultant Amy Cohen. More Information
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California Heritage Museum
Seaside: Art by Kenton Nelson
Through August 20
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This is a solo exhibition of paintings by Pasadena-based painter Kenton Nelson. In Nelson’s work, the mundane is glorified, reality is heightened and perfection possesses a disturbing undertone. The painter plays with the idyllic implications of a by-gone era and uses those symbolic aspects of the collective past that activate a sense of longing, wonder, sadness or joy. More information
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Santa Monica Conservancy
310-496-3146
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