Getty'ng Cultured in LA!

Wow, we are super behind on posts! It was 2 months ago that we were in Los Angeles, staying overnight on June 9 for the Festival of Animation Prom at UCLA. 'Prom' is the designation for the screening event of the animation students' thesis films. Family-friend, Evander, was in town from France, originally anticipating his film would be shown. Unfortunately some technical difficulties corrupted his sound file when he tried to submit his work. :( We are very sympathetic, but the silver lining is we may have another chance to see him when he returns next year to show it!

 After the screenings, Evander gave us a tour of the animation department, housed in the theater.  These tables were donated from Disney after they transitioned primarily to computer-based animation.

This classroom whiteboard advertising Prom features characters in the films we saw. I came to the event with a glass-half-empty mentality, preparing myself to see some unusual and possibly depressing or confusing movies, thinking it might be like an Independent film festival. But I ended up enjoying myself immensely, as many of the films were clever, amusing, creative, and funny- the students were definitely aiming to impress their crowd of peers!

 After the screening and Evander's tour, we joined the after party hosted on a sound stage (the dinosaur, currently chewing on a pack of tissues, is the star of Evander's film). Patrick and I ate melty cheese & crackers, blueberries and a lara bar leftover from our warm car ride after an unsuccessful endeavor to find dinner on the Northern end of campus, so we were overjoyed to find a catered nacho/taco bar, candy, and wine/beer service awaiting us, all free of charge. The colorful dimmed lighting, trendy playlist, and 'monster mash' themed decor created an inviting and exhilarating atmosphere.

One of the highlights of the party was a free photobooth! We hit it up multiple times. Karin is the other person in the photo with us- she is Evander's sound/music composer and was extremely personable. We had a great time hanging out with her and it gave Evander a chance to catch up with some of his old classmates and professors.

The evening was a lot of fun, but not super condusive to uncontested time with Evander; consequently, we picked him up the next morning to spend the day together at the the Getty Museum. We traveled the scenic route through Belair to gaze agog past the front gates of the majestic homes we drove past, then took a tram up a steep hill from the parking lot to the even more impressive vistas, gardens, architecture, and art that compose this LA attraction. (Pictured above is the terrace where we ate lunch.)

From this angle the museum looks like a modern research facility (there is an observatory housed in a building to the left of this photo's area, actually) but the walk through the entrance (on the opposite side) made me feel like I was in a palace. I adored the gardens, particularly these metal sculptures covered with vibrant vine flowers. From afar, I thought they were very intriguing, exotic, almost science-fiction-born-but-real trees. Even though I was wrong, they were still lovely.

As I said above- lovely! To help give this some more perspective, the green shrub labyrinth-looking thing is within the pool of water created by the waterfall in the center of the photo.We overlooked it from a gravel pathway that lined a higher tier.

 My fave photo of the trip!

Why yes, Getty Museum- we may be willing to offer this up as your latest promotional postcard, IF you give me that gorgeous vase from your gift shop. ;)

 This black succulent caught my eye as a rather exotic, yet elegant, specimen.

 A view of the LA skyline from one of the outdoor walkways/observation decks/balconies.

 

For a sense of scale, I should have made someone stand next to this marvelous tapestry depicting a Grecian mythological scene. This draped an entire wall- my knees were probably around the bottom edge of it and the people pictured in it were probably close to life-size.

Vincent VanGogh's irises painting! The color is stunning in-person! Another major highlight of our art exploration was the visiting photography exhibit of Herb Ritts' work. We've/you've probably all seen photos of his, but didn't realize it. Not all of it was "for me" you could say (what artist's complete collection is though?), but much of it was quite entrancing.

It was a whirlwind trip, as we spent less than 24 hours in the SoCal city, but it left us with a favorable impression. Beforehand, my only expectations were for the Hollywood-inspired image of a traffic-infested, fake-n-bake beach & club crowd city, but I was handed my hat to eat, and I didn't mind! I imagine there are parts of LA true to that paradigm, but I am a little more optimistic about exploring those parts now that I know there are nearby reprieves to retreat to. At least, I certainly wouldn't mind visiting the Getty again!