Monday, January 31, 2011

How We Roll - California African American Museum

I've got family in town visiting, and you know what that means ... Field trips! We had lofty ideas, starting with Death Valley (never been?), pared down to wine tasting in Temecula, scaled back to a whale watching boat trip ... and then we awoke Sunday morning to rain and cold. A perfect day for museums. I'd been wanting to go to the Science Museum Imax for ages, so off we went to check out the Hubble telescope Imax 3D show. It was so awe-inspiring, I got teary eyed (not that hard, but still), floating through the billions of stars and nebulae, watching planets being formed before our very eyes. Dope.


The Exposition Park campus of the Science Museum is also home to an Air/Space Museum, the Museum of Natural History, and the California African American Museum. It was there that I saw the extra cool exhibit that would be catnip to most Venice dwellers, "How We Roll" - Cultural Influences in Skateboarding - Surfing - Rollerskating, depicting the roles of those sports in black culture through the years.


No photos were allowed inside the gallery, but the stuff even before you go inside was great - and photograph-able. The very nice docent, Patsy, was so enthusiastic and warm, I almost wanted to move in. Great art (my favorite were pieces on wood by Keba Konte), a ton of skate decks, photographs and magazines, stories, shoes, inspirations ... all of it just that - inspirational.


I loved every piece in the thing, and would encourage anyone at all interested in surf and skate culture to get on down there, especially as the show has been extended into March.


Keeping with the theme, we next headed over to Griffith Observatory for sunset over the city, and more space knowledge. I hadn't been up there since the extensive renovation, and it's really impressive (and freezing), and the kind of place where you feel a little smarter after you leave.


There's so much to do in L.A. ... Remember that you don't have to wait for visitors to get out there and do it all!

1 comment:

  1. Nice place, Im sure you enjoyed a lot. However I encourage you to try paddleboarding too. SUP Red Deer

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