Documenting my pocket of Los Angeles
Thanks to the Santa Monica Conservancy, I finally toured through the Los Angeles Herald Examiner Building (now ASU’s Los Angeles campus) designed by Julia Morgan. Since much has already been written about this building, I'm sharing my research about a few other assorted topics related to this historic site.
This year, I made 17 granny squares for the fair’s large-scale crochet project in the Home Arts building. This amazing experience had me wondering about the crochet history of the fair (and Los Angeles).
My first visit to Sacramento's California State Railroad Museum took place on the 156th anniversary of the Transcontinental Railroad, aka as Train Day.
In March, I had the pleasure of presenting at the symposium for The Ebell Institute for the Study of Women’s History in Los Angeles. It was an honor to present my research about the first National Women's Air Derby (1929) in this historic women's clubhouse built in 1927. Should mention that one of those Powder... Continue Reading →
I’ll never get tired of walking through these LAX mosaic tunnels! One of my favorite sites at LAX! ✈️ The LAX mosaic murals (1961) were designed by Janet Bennett, under the supervision of Charles Kratka, and implemented by tile artist Alfonso Pardiñas. As designer Janet Bennett explained (on Louise Sandhaus' Tumblr site), her idea was... Continue Reading →
Five years ago, I had the unique opportunity to step into the shoes of Tessa Kelso, an 1890s librarian in Los Angeles, as part of the Los Angeles Public Library’s "Historical Portraits Project" video series created by Standard Vision. Recently, the library revisited this project, sharing the video of my Tessa Kelso portrayal (on Facebook,... Continue Reading →
In honor of International Women's Day, here is Judy Baca's mural "Hitting the Wall" painted, whitewashed and then re-painted on the 101 Freeway: I photographed this framed version of Baca's mural at the MOLAA's Judy Baca: Memorias de Nuestra Tierra, a Retrospective which has been extended. The exhibit will now close on March 27. In... Continue Reading →
Lately I’ve been researching textiles as historical sources for women’s history. In this process, I came across the amazing quilts of mathematician Chawne Kimber. "Chawne Kimber is making some of the most powerful artworks today about race, language, women’s rights, and police brutality—all with a needle and thread," Maria Hlohowskyj (from womenarts.org). That sentence was... Continue Reading →
On Mother’s Day, I led a women’s history walking tour through downtown Los Angeles in honor of my own deceased mother. Mom was a passionate advocate for documenting women’s stories in Los Angeles. Sharing these stories seemed like the best way to honor her memory, especially since I incorporate her research into the tour script.... Continue Reading →
Victoria Bernal 