Social Program

Bring your spouses, family and friends to the Symposium to enjoy two outstanding attractions in Southern California.

A Visit to the Getty Center

Friday, June 6, 8:30 am to 4 pm (approximate times)

 

 

The Getty Center, designed by architect Richard Meier, is the $1.2 billion flagship museum of the J. Paul Getty Trust, the largest arts endowment in history at over $3 billion. With its curving walls and isolated hilltop perch, the Getty Center resembles a pristine fortified city of its own. The beautiful views of L.A. stretching all the way from downtown to the Pacific Ocean, the architecture, the uncommon gardens, and the fascinating art collections will be more than enough to capture and hold your attention.

The five pavilions that house the museum surround a central courtyard and are bridged by walkways. From the courtyard, plazas, and walkways, you can survey the city from the San Gabriel Mountains to the ocean.

Inside the pavilions are the galleries for the permanent collections of European paintings, drawings, sculpture, illuminated manuscripts, and decorative arts, as well as American and European photographs. The Getty's collection of French furniture and decorative arts, especially from the early years of Louis IV (1643-1715) to the end of the reign of Louis XVI (1774-92), is renowned for its quality and condition; you can see a pair of completely reconstructed salons. In the paintings galleries, a computerized system of louvered skylights allows natural light to filter in, creating a closer approximation of the conditions in which the artists painted. Notable among the paintings are Rembrandt's The Abduction of Europa, van Gogh's Irises, Monet's Wheatstack, Snow Effects, Morning, and James Ensor's Christ's Entry into Brussels. There is an instructive audio tour with commentaries by art historians (available in multiple languages). Art information rooms with multimedia computer stations contain more details about the collections.

 

Getty Center Central Garden

The 134,000-square-foot Central Garden at the Getty Center is the work of artist Robert Irwin. The design of the Central Garden re-establishes the natural ravine between the Museum and the Research Institute for the History of Art and the Humanities with a tree-lined walkway. The walkway traverses a stream planted on each side with a variety of grasses and gradually descends to a plaza where bougainvillea arbors provide scale. The stream continues through the plaza and ends in a cascade of water over a stone waterfall into a pool in which a maze of azaleas floats. Around the pool is a series of specialty gardens, each with a variety of plant material.

 

The Cell Phone Audio Tour

Bring your cell phone so that you can enjoy the 28 modern sculptures on the grounds of the Getty Center. Using a listing of the sculptures that will be provided, you will be able to call a local number, enter a prompt and listen to sculptors, curators, a conservator and a designer share their views about the sculptures. You can call as often as you like. Track lengths average two minutes and there is no cost except your minutes.

 

The Itinerary for our visit to the Getty Center:

We will leave the Marriott Hotel by private van at 8:30 A.M. with an escort from the Symposium, and will arrive at the Getty Center approximately 45 minutes later. A variety of docent-led tours of the Getty Center are available including the Architecture Tour, a Collections Highlights Tour, and a Garden Tour. Those who wish to tour the Pavilions on the own may use the GettyGuide Audio Tour.which includes highlights of the collections. We will have a three course luncheon in the Getty Center’s beautiful restaurant which has expansive views of the surrounding hillsides. We will leave to return to the Marriott at 3:00 P.M.

The cost of the visit is $75.00 which is all inclusive: transportation, the docent-led tours, and/or the Audio tour and the luncheon. The cost is per person, including children old enough to enjoy the tour.

Space is limited. Make your reservations now. The deadline for signup and payment for either or both of the Social Program Tours is May 14, 2008. Click HERE to make reservations.

 

 

A Visit to the Huntington Library, Art Collections and Botanical Gardens

Saturday, June 7, 8:30 am to 4 pm (approximate times)

 

Our visit to one of the most beautiful urban sites in Southern California will consist of a 90 minute-long docent-led outdoor estate tour including some of the extensive Botanical Gardens followed by High Tea in the Rose Garden Tea Room. Afterwards there will be ample time to visit the Huntington Mansion which now serves as an art gallery housing an exquisite collection of eighteenth and nineteenth century British and French art. There should also be time to visit the exhibition area of the Library to see such items as the Ellesmere manuscript of Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales, a Gutenberg Bible on vellum, the double-elephant folio edition of Audubon’s Birds of America, and a world-class collection of the early editions of Shakespeare’s works.

 

The Huntington

A private, non-profit institution, The Huntington was founded in 1919 by Henry E. Huntington, an exceptional businessman who built a financial empire that included railroad companies, utilities, and real estate holdings in Southern California.

Huntington was also a man of vision – with a special interest in books, art, and gardens. During his lifetime, he amassed the core of one of the finest research libraries in the world, established a splendid art collection, and created an array of botanical gardens with plants from a geographic range spanning the globe.

 

Botanical Gardens

The Botanical Gardens are an ever-changing exhibition of color and a constant delight. Covering 120 acres, more than a dozen specialized gardens are arranged within a park-like landscape of rolling lawns. Among the most remarkable are the Japanese Garden (including the Bonsai Court), the Rose Garden, the Shakespeare Garden and the newly-opened Chinese Garden. The camellia collection is one of the largest in the country. Other important botanical attractions include the Desert, Subtropical, Herb, Jungle, and Palm gardens.

 

The Chinese Garden

On February 23, 2008 the “Garden of Flowing Fragrance” opened to the public at the Huntington Library, Art Collections and Botanical Gardens. The 3.5 acre garden was two decades in the making and cost $18.3-million. It is filled with more than 70 plant types, including native Chinese weeping willows and camellias. It is modeled after the elegant gardens of Suzhou, an ancient city in China’s Jiangsu province near Shanghai, and curator June Li worked with a team of advisors and designers to ensure authenticity.

It features a 1.5- acre lake, seven pavilions, a teahouse and tea shop, a canyon waterfall and five hand-carved stone bridges. Air China flew in about 50 Chinese stone workers who spent weeks carving and laying tons of stone and pebbles. Most of the materials, including 850 tons of sculptural Tai Hu limestone rocks, were shipped from China courtesy of China Ocean Shipping (Group) Co.

“This is the culmination of many years of work,” said Suzy Moser, the Huntington’s assistant vice president for advancement. “To finally open this garden to the public is a really special celebration.”

 

Rose Garden Tea Room

The Tea Room is adjacent to the Rose Garden in an excellent setting for High Tea. A pot of brewed tea and a basket of freshly baked scones are served at each table. From a central buffet, guests may choose from an array of savory finger sandwiches, imported and domestic cheeses, fresh fruits, chilled seasonal salads, and specialty petite desserts. Limitless refills of tea and scones are served upon request.

 

The Huntington Gallery

The Huntington Gallery, originally the Huntington residence, contains an important collection of eighteenth and nineteenth century British and French art. It serves as home to Thomas Gainsborough’s “The Blue Boy” and Sir Thomas Lawrence’s “Pinkie”. (Additional paintings are housed in the Virginia Steele Scott Gallery of American Art which brings together American paintings from the 1730s to the 1930s including works by John Singer Sargent and Mary Cassatt.)

 

Library

The Library’s collection of rare books and manuscripts in the fields of British and American history and literature is nothing short of extraordinary. For qualified scholars, the Huntington is one of the largest and most complete research libraries in the United States in its fields of specialization. For the general public, the Library has on display some of the finest rare books and manuscripts of Anglo-American civilization.

 

The Itinerary for our visit to the Huntington Library, Art Collections and Botanical Gardens:

We will leave the Marriott Hotel by private van at 8:30 A.M. with an escort from the Symposium. We will arrive at the Huntington approximately1 hour later. We will begin the visit with a 90 minute-long docent-led tour of the Botanical Gardens. Next we will have High Tea in the Rose Garden Tea Room. Afterwards there will be ample time to visit the recently refurbished Huntington Mansion to view the collection of eighteenth and nineteenth century British and French art including the famous “Blue Boy” by Thomas Gainsborough and “Pinkie” by Sir Thomas Lawrence. There should also be time to visit the exhibition area of the Library. We will leave the Huntington at 3:00 P.M. to return to the Marriott.

The cost of the visit is $75.00 which is all inclusive: transportation, the docent-led garden tour, and High Tea. The cost is per person, including children old enough to enjoy the tour.

Space is limited. Make your reservations now. The deadline for signup and payment for either or both of the Social Program Tours is May 14, 2008. Click HERE to make reservations.