Los Angeles and Its River
La Reina de Los Ángeles will present a discussion of our current relationship with water, using the Los Angeles River as an entry point. Through contemporary art works, documentary films, historic materials and special programming, La Reina de Los Angeles will explore the history, infrastructure and community around this critical resource.
Without the Los Angeles River, there would quite simply be no Los Angeles. While the precise geography is unknown, historians have estimated it’s changed course at least nine times in the first half of the nineteenth century alone.
The events for La Reina de Los Ángeles are centered on the Sturt Haaga Gallery of Descanso Gardens, 1418 Descanso Drive,La Cañada Flintridge, California, from September 17 through January 13, 2018.
La Reina Artists’ Reception takes place from 5 to 7 p.m. September 16, 2018, in the gallery. DJ Matthew Rubino will be spinning vinyl, and drinks will be available at a no-host bar. Admission is free to Descanso Gardens from 4:30 p.m. onwards that day.
An outdoor screening of the 1974 film classic, “Chinatown”, begins at 7:30 p.m. September 16 on the Main Lawn, but advance registration is required. Free.
A showing of “Exquisite Corpse” (Kerry Tribe, 2016) begins at 7 p.m. October 4 on the main lawn. This 51-minute film traces the 51-mile length of the LA River.Advance registration is required; cost is $5.
Nicholas Hummingbird discusses native Californians’ practices of conservation in “Native Plant Traditions“, held from 10 a.m. ’til noon October 27 in the Birch Classroom. Advance registration is required; cost is $30.
Learn to make ollas, traditional clay pots, from 5 to 9 p.m. November 8, 15 and December 6 in the Metabolic Studio.
Join artist Devon Tsuno and the California Ghetto Carping Club as they discuss fishing in the LA River at noon November 4 in the Boddy House.
“Tending the Wild”, a documentary about the environmental knowledge of indigenous peoples across California, will be screened between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. from September 17 through January 13 in the Boddy House, alternating with “Into the Future”, a 1921 film was produced in tandem with the building of the LA Aqueduct.
(Photo courtesy of Descanso Gardens)