Posts in Culture
The Getty Museum's Unseen Photographs Revealed
The Getty Museum's Unseen Photographs Revealed

In 1973, museum curator and art collector Sam Wagstaff moved away from acquiring paintings and sculptures, and began buying photographs. By the early 1980s he'd assembled one of the largest private collections in the world. He'd begun by collecting 19th and early 20th century photographs, and with the help of a young photographer named Robert Mapplethorpe — Wagstaff's protegé and lover — he turned his attention to more contemporary work.

In 1984, the Getty Museum created their Department of Photographs and inaugurated the exhibit with the acquisition of several world-famous private collections, including over 26,000 prints that Sam Wagstaff had assembled. The Getty's dramatic entry into collecting photography immediately established it as a major center for photographic art.

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Culture, EntertainmentMarco PallottiMarco PallottiComment
SMC Film Club Takes Over CMD for Annual Film Festival
SMC Film Club Takes Over CMD for Annual Film Festival

The Santa Monica College (SMC) Film Club members, friends, and family blended together in a pizza-eating, film-loving crowd outside the Center for Media and Design (CMD) campus this past Thursday night. At 7 p.m., the CMD quad turned into a box office lobby for the SMC Film Festival with an auditorium awaiting the audience inside.

As the hosts of the event, Film Club presented a total of nine original productions of both its members and Film 33 students. As the crowd watched the films one by one, Professor Kanin and Professor Flood judged the films for the later presented awards. Film Club has long hosted the SMC Film Festival, but now sees an “all-time high” membership this year with over 150 members, according to club president Carlos Flores Jr.

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Culture, EntertainmentAleah AntonioAleah AntonioComment
Live-Action Star Wars series, "The Mandalorian," dominates on Disney+
Live-Action Star Wars series, "The Mandalorian," dominates on Disney+

 It has only been one month since Disney+ started streaming content including original movies and television shows. An immediate success is their new live-action Star Wars series called The Mandalorian, which takes place a few years after the events of Return of the Jedi. The new series involves director, producer and screenwriter Jon Favereau, who is known for directing Iron Man, Iron Man 2, Disney’s live-action The Jungle Book and The Lion King.

Favereau is the creator, head writer, and showrunner, as well as executive producer of The Mandalorian, and although he plans to direct an episode of the second season, he was too busy with the production of The Lion King to direct any of the series' first season.

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Culture, EntertainmentJosh HoganJosh HoganComment
Homeless Man Statue Aims to Inspire a Movement
Homeless Man Statue Aims to Inspire a Movement

Massey’s initial inspiration to create the concrete and steel-based sculpture came after an encounter with a homeless man roughly 21 years ago in Westwood, Calif. He was walking down the street late at night and wrongfully assumed that the 7 foot tall homeless man walking towards him was going to do harm. After the man proved Massey’s gut feeling wrong and continued down the road, the artist turned to creative expression as a way to document his experience.

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CultureJoshua Gonzalez and Jackie SedleyComment
"Department of Dreams" Addresses Reality
"Department of Dreams" Addresses Reality

For playwright Jeton Neziraj, growing up in Kosovo had the potential to hinder his creative process, as government regimes limited citizens’ access to viewing and publicly presenting art. However, his desire to pursue theatre overrode any constraints and instead inspired him to speak out against the systems that tried to hinder his creativity.

His most recent play, “Department of Dreams”, had its world premiere in the United States on Oct. 25 at City Garage Theatre Company’s current location, at the Bergamot Station Arts Center in Santa Monica.

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CultureJackie SedleyComment
A Look Back in Time at Getty College Night
A Look Back in Time at Getty College Night

The Getty Villa had encouraged students to wear a toga or stola (a Roman gown) to the event, and a number of the attendees went along with the theme. All the period clothing looked stylish, and enhanced the ambiance of the event.

Known as the outer peristyle, the Villa has an area with a long reflecting pool, attendant flower beds, and fruit trees. The pool was decorated with floating, illuminated colored lights, which produced a festive feeling.

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CultureMarco PallottiComment
Music Therapy: To Fix Bruises on Humans
Music Therapy: To Fix Bruises on Humans

The melancholic sound of a familiar melody can be therapeutic to some when life’s mishaps come spiraling down. SMC’s Center of Wellness and Wellbeing recognizes music therapy as a healthy alternative to express emotions and will offer a workshop on the subject on Tuesday, Nov. 19 titled Music and Mental Health: Using Music for Expression and Healing.

The workshop will be led by Dr. Loreno Meono, a success counselor, whose overall mission is to help individuals become more effective versions of themselves in their personal and professional lives.

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Culture Marley AlanizComment
Steve Lacy Lights Up The Wiltern Theatre
Steve Lacy Lights Up The Wiltern Theatre

Strobe lights and eardrum-shattering screams set the tone for Steve Lacy’s show at the Wiltern theatre in Los Angeles on Oct. 30. Since the musician released his solo debut studio album in May, Lacy has gained popularity worldwide. His current tour, named Apollo XXI after his solo album, began in Chicago and will end in the United Kingdom.

Lacy has been deemed the epitome of a “21st century musician” in the public eye. While he has since upgraded to more professional software, the musician produced his first tracks on an iPhone in his mother’s Compton home and found his beginnings with guitar through the video game "Guitar Hero."

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Entertainment, CultureJackie SedleyJackie SedleyComment
"Through a Different Lens: Stanley Kubrick Photographs"
"Through a Different Lens: Stanley Kubrick Photographs"

The Skirball Cultural Center recently opened an exhibition of Stanley Kubrick's photographs made in the years 1946 to 1950, when he worked for Look Magazine. Kubrick is better known as a film director, helming such classics as “2001: A Space Odyssey” and “The Shining.” Titled, “Through a Different Lens: Stanley Kubrick Photographs,” the exhibition opened Oct. 17 and runs until March 8, 2020.

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CultureMarco PallottiComment
Fundraising Knows No Borders
Fundraising Knows No Borders

On Oct. 26, 2019 people from all over Los Angeles came together to honor Terry Fox at the Santa Monica Terry Fox Run to help raise money and awareness for cancer research.

The Santa Monica Terry Fox Run is a 5km race that takes place annually on the Venice Boardwalk, right across from the Shutters Hotel.

Terry Fox was a Canadian athlete and cancer research advocate, who lost his leg in 1977 during his battle with bone cancer at the age of 18 years old. Terry Fox’s first hand battle with cancer inspired him to run the length of Canada, with a prosthetic leg, starting on the east coast in St. John, Newfoundland to raise money for cancer research in what he called the “Marathon of Hope.”

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CultureDana BinfetFernando Duran, Dana BinfetComment