latimes--2020-08-12--Across L.A., Black Lives Matter murals appear like billboards for justice

Jamie Masada remembered the car ride he took 38 years ago when he decided to offer his vacant lot as the site for a Black Lives Matter mural .
Click here to view the murals in 3-D .
The founder and owner of Hollywood ’ s the Laugh Factory , Masada was cruising around L.A. in a flashy Mercedes-Benz with Black comic legends Richard Pryor and Shirley Hemphill .
Paul Mooney was behind the wheel .
Within minutes , Mooney was pulled over in Beverly Hills by police officers for allegedly swerving .
Before returning to the comedy club , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Each time , the cops said he had been swerving — something Masada said was not true .
The final time they were stopped , a police officer called for backup and everyone was pulled out of the car and searched , Masada recalled .
“ Today , today , I hear from Black comedians that they get stopped ” around Los Angeles for “ swerving , ” said Masada , 60 .
When George Floyd , a Black man , died in Minneapolis police custody in May , Masada thought : “ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ” Next to his club , he had a billboard .
He let five artists — Alexandra Allie Belisle , Amanda Ferrell Hale , Noah Humes , PeQue Brown and Shplinton — paint a 148-foot-long mural in honor of a movement reinvigorated by Floyd , who died May 25 after a Minneapolis officer , Derek Chauvin , pinned his knee on Floyd ’ s neck for several minutes .
The death of Floyd , 46 , transformed Black Lives Matter into a cultural and political phenomenon — inspiring cries for racial justice .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ public art are often the most powerful and the most misunderstood forms of creating and maintaining change , ” said Georgia Van Cuylenburg , founder and executive director of Arts Bridging the Gap , which organized the Laugh Factory mural .
It was funded by L.A. City Councilman David Ryu .
“ Someone can get behind a movement and then something else happens , and they move on to that .
Art doesn ’ t let you forget , it brings people forward into a conversation.
” Art , she said , can @ @ @ @ @ @ @ constantly reminding people “ of where we ’ ve been and where we don ’ t want to go again.
” In many ways , L.A. is a natural for mural-gazing .
Often traffic-choked , its slow-moving crawl can create a kind of art gallery for murals along busy streets .
“ Once people in L.A. go back to their normal lives , they get so caught up in their day-to-day , but they spend so much time driving , ” seeing murals on freeways and streets that it sparks conversations , said @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Conservancy of Los Angeles .
Murals are like billboards with a social justice bent .
Unlike billboards , the idea they ’ re selling appeals to the conscience , not the wallet .
Public art “ is something to remind people of stuff over and over again , ” Bjorgum said .
“ It preserves something and keeps it from being lost.
” Yet time poses an existential threat to murals .
The paint used , its exposure to exhaust and the sun , vandalism , whether the art is on private or @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , the artist ’ s renown — all of these things can factor into its life span , said Bjorgum .
Some of the oldest murals in L.A. are coming up on 40 or 50 years , but their average life is “ usually two to five years before anything might happen .
It really depends on what the public likes , too ; what they want to preserve , ” he said .
Months ago , along the famed Abbott Kinney Boulevard in Venice , the streets were eerily quiet .
Boarded @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Floyd , Breonna Taylor , Michael Brown and other Black people who died at the hands of law enforcement .
The portraits were the work of Jules Muck , a Venice-based artist known as MuckRock .
Signs that read “ Black owned ” and “ POC owned ” were posted outside businesses to deter a small number of people among the mostly peaceful protesters from breaking in .
By mid-July , most of the portraits were gone .
The signs were removed ; a plywood board scrawled with Floyd ’ s last words @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ” among them — were stored in a basement .
Most of the shops and restaurants had reopened .
“ This phenomenon of massive public art that pops up really fast is pretty new , ” said Bjorgum .
“ I don ’ t think that happened in the past .
I would assume it ’ s a proliferation of spray paint art and also graffiti culture being more accepted .
It ’ ll be interesting to see which ones last and which ones don ’ t. ” The killing of Taylor shook @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , who painted the slain woman ’ s image in the Laugh Factory mural .
Taylor , a Black woman who worked as an emergency medical technician , was killed in March when Louisville police , executing a search warrant , broke down her apartment ’ s door and shot her eight times .
“ I spent seven years as a healthcare professional , specifically as an EMT , so I recognize the grueling toll it can take on one ’ s body and psyche , ” he said .
It ’ s @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Brown wanted to participate in the mural for other reasons , too .
“ I identify with the situation , being African American , and knowing all the trials and tribulations that people of color have gone through ... so it was definitely something I thought was important for me to get involved in , ” he said .
When Alexandra Allie Belisle , 22 , was approached to contribute to the Black Lives Matter mural outside the comedy club , she also wanted to honor Black women like Taylor .
Often , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ “ Black women get overlooked , ” said Belisle , a student and artist who painted a masked protester holding up a sign that read : “ Protect Black Women.
” When violence related to law enforcement happens to women of color , “ it doesn ’ t get the same type of outrage and attention , ” she said .
“ It ’ s hard enough to be a woman , but we ’ re also Black and that ’ s a whole other challenge in itself.
” Belisle said art allows @ @ @ @ @ @ @ It communicates how people are feeling ... public art and murals are a way for people to take ownership of their communities , ” she said .
“ When they ’ re removed , it takes away from the identity of an area.
” For lettering artist Alfonso Garcia , his mural on North Fairfax Avenue in Hollywood was about supporting the movement and his Black friends .
Three days and about 40 hours later , Garcia , 27 , had painted more than 500 names of victims of police brutality from 2016-20 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ even have enough space to continue ” adding more , he said .
On the wall are also the hashtags “ Say their names ” and “ Black Lives Matter.
” He wanted to elevate their message .
“ I wanted to grab people ’ s attention and make them stop to look at the mural.
” And that he did .
A woman was driving by and stopped when she saw Garcia painting the mural .
“ She ’ s reading all these names and all of a sudden she starts tearing @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , ” he recalled .
She pointed to a name on the wall : Alton Sterling , her nephew .
“ She started telling us how he used to be a very good , genuine [ person ] who would sell CDs on a street corner ” before his altercation with Louisiana police .
On July 2016 , two white police officers in Baton Rouge fatally shot Sterling , a 37-year-old Black man .
The woman ’ s response and joy moved Garcia .
“ That alone is the reward , ” he @ @ @ @ @ @ @ multidisciplinary artist , has been doing street graffiti since he was 19 years old .
He knows his mural honoring Floyd on Melrose Avenue in Hollywood will eventually be removed .
“ You just know that when you do a mural , you have to get video footage and you have to get your photos that day , as soon as you ’ re done , because you just never know ” what will happen to it , he said .
That was true even when he painted a series of murals to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the 2018 Camp fire in Paradise , Calif. On burnt cars , chimneys and what remained of people ’ s homes , Grammer painted more than a dozen murals .
Grammer said some Paradise residents “ identified those murals as a symbol of hope during such a devastating time , ” he said .
“ Those murals really helped people.
” He said he hopes the mural he painted of Floyd has the same effect .
Click here to view the murals in 3-D .

Artists painted a 148-foot-long mural outside the Laugh Factory to honor the Black Lives Matter movement. The mural was captured in 3-D using drone photogrammetry. For the full augmented reality experience, launch the link below on an iPhone 8 or later model with the latest version of iOS.
When Jamie Masada decided to offer his vacant lot as the site for a Black Lives Matter mural, he flashed back to a car ride he had taken 38 years earlier.
Click here to view the murals in 3-D.
The founder and owner of Hollywood’s Laugh Factory, Masada was cruising around L.A. in a flashy Mercedes-Benz with Black comedy legends Richard Pryor and Shirley Hemphill. Paul Mooney was behind the wheel. Within minutes, Mooney was pulled over by police officers in Beverly Hills for allegedly swerving.
Before returning to the comedy club, Mooney was pulled over twice more. Each time, the cops said he had been swerving — something Masada said was not true. The final time they were stopped, an officer called for backup and everyone was pulled out of the car and searched, Masada recalled.
“Today, today, I hear from Black comedians that they get stopped” around Los Angeles for “swerving,” said Masada, 60.
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Misteralek painted a mural of George Floyd to commemorate his life outside a Watts convenience store. Produced by Nani Sahra Walker in partnership with the Yahoo News XR Partner Program)
When George Floyd, a Black man, died in Minneapolis police custody in May, Masada thought: “I have to do something about it.”
Next to his club, he had a billboard. He let five artists — Alexandra Allie Belisle, Amanda Ferrell Hale, Noah Humes, PeQue Brown and Shplinton — paint a 148-foot-long mural in honor of a movement reinvigorated by Floyd, who died May 25 after a Minneapolis officer, Derek Chauvin, pinned his knee on Floyd’s neck for several minutes.
The death of Floyd, 46, transformed Black Lives Matter into a cultural and political phenomenon — inspiring cries for racial justice. And public art.
“Murals and public art are often the most powerful and the most misunderstood forms of creating and maintaining change,” said Georgia Van Cuylenburg, founder and executive director of Arts Bridging the Gap, which organized the Laugh Factory mural. It was funded by L.A. City Councilman David Ryu.
“Someone can get behind a movement and then something else happens, and they move on to that. Art doesn’t let you forget, it brings people forward into a conversation.”
Art, she said, can sustain a movement’s momentum by constantly reminding people “of where we’ve been and where we don’t want to go again.”
In many ways, L.A. is a natural for mural-gazing. Often traffic-choked, its slow-moving crawl can create a kind of art gallery for murals along busy streets.
Alfonso Garcia painted the names of victims of police brutality on North Fairfax Avenue in Hollywood. Produced by Nani Sahra Walker in partnership with the Yahoo News XR Partner Program)
People in L.A. get so caught up in their day-to-day lives that it’s easy to forget about these issues, said Eric Bjorgum, president of the Mural Conservancy of Los Angeles. But they spend so much time driving, seeing murals on freeways and streets, that the art sparks conversations.
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Murals are like billboards with a social justice bent. Unlike billboards, the idea they’re selling appeals to the conscience, not the wallet.
Public art “is something to remind people of stuff over and over again,” Bjorgum said. “It preserves something and keeps it from being lost.”
Yet time poses an existential threat to murals. The paint used, its exposure to exhaust and the sun, vandalism, whether the art is on private or public land, the controversy it arouses, the artist’s renown — all of these things can factor into its life span, Bjorgum said.
Some of the oldest murals in L.A. are coming up on 40 or 50 years, but their average life is “usually two to five years before anything might happen. It really depends on what the public likes, too; what they want to preserve,” he said.
Months ago, along famed Abbott Kinney Boulevard in Venice, the streets were eerily quiet. Boarded-up shops and restaurants bore portraits of Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Michael Brown and other Black people who died at the hands of law enforcement.
Jules Muck made street art in Venice to memorialize victims of police violence. (Gary Coronado / Los Angeles Times)
The portraits were the work of Jules Muck, a Venice artist known as MuckRock. Signs that read “Black owned” and “POC owned” were posted outside businesses to deter a small number of people among the mostly peaceful protesters from breaking in.
By mid-July, most of the portraits were gone. The signs were removed; a plywood board scrawled with Floyd’s last words — “I can’t breathe” among them — was stored in a basement. Most of the shops and restaurants had reopened.
“This phenomenon of massive public art that pops up really fast is pretty new,” Bjorgum said. “I don’t think that happened in the past. I would assume it’s a proliferation of spray paint art and also graffiti culture being more accepted. It’ll be interesting to see which ones last and which ones don’t.”
The killing of Taylor shook artist and teacher PeQue Brown, 54, who painted the slain woman’s image in the Laugh Factory mural.
Taylor, a Black woman who worked as an emergency medical technician, was killed in March when Louisville police, executing a search warrant, broke down her apartmentdoor and shot her eight times.
“I spent seven years as a healthcare professional, specifically as an EMT, so I recognize the grueling toll it can take on one’s body and psyche,” Brown said. It’s an experience he relates to.
But Brown wanted to participate in the mural for other reasons, too. “I identify with the situation, being African American, and knowing all the trials and tribulations that people of color have gone through ... so it was definitely something I thought was important for me to get involved in,” he said.
The Laugh Factory in Hollywood unveiled a mural dedicated to Black Lives Matter. Alexandra Allie Belisle is photographed with the part of it she worked on. (Christina House / Los Angeles Times)
When Alexandra Allie Belisle, 22, was approached to contribute to the Black Lives Matter mural outside the comedy club, she also wanted to honor Black women like Taylor. Often, in conversations about injustice and racism, “Black women get overlooked,” said Belisle, a student and artist who painted a masked protester holding up a sign that reads: “Protect Black Women.”
When violence related to law enforcement happens to women of color, “it doesn’t get the same type of outrage and attention,” she said. “It’s hard enough to be a woman, but we’re also Black and that’s a whole other challenge in itself.”
Belisle said art allows her to express these conflicts.
“It communicates how people are feeling ... public art and murals are a way for people to take ownership of their communities,” she said. “When they’re removed, it takes away from the identity of an area.”
For lettering artist Alfonso Garcia, his mural on North Fairfax Avenue in Hollywood was about supporting the movement and his Black friends.
Three days and about 40 hours later, Garcia, 27, had painted more than 500 names of victims of police brutality from 2016 to 2020. “And I didn’t even have enough space to continue” adding more, he said. On the wall are also the hashtags “Say their names” and “Black Lives Matter.”
He wanted to elevate their message, he said. “I wanted to grab people’s attention and make them stop to look at the mural.”
And that he did.
A woman who was driving by stopped when she saw Garcia painting the mural. “She’s reading all these names and all of a sudden she starts tearing up ... and she seems very happy,” he recalled. She pointed to a name on the wall: Alton Sterling, her nephew.
“She started telling us how he used to be a very good, genuine [person] who would sell CDs on a street corner” before his altercation with Louisiana police. In July 2016, two white police officers in Baton Rouge fatally shot Sterling, a 37-year-old Black man.
The woman’s response and joy moved Garcia. “That alone is the reward,” he said.
Artist Shane Grammer’s mural in the Melrose Avenue area memorializes George Floyd, who died while in the custody of the Minneapolis police in May. (Gary Coronado / Los Angeles Times)
Shane Grammer, a 48-year-old multidisciplinary artist, has been doing street graffiti since he was 19. He knows his mural honoring Floyd on Melrose Avenue in Hollywood will eventually be removed.
“You just know that when you do a mural, you have to get video footage and you have to get your photos that day, as soon as you’re done, because you just never know” what will happen to it, he said.
That was true even when he painted a series of murals to memorialize the more than 80 victims of the 2018 Camp fire in Paradise, Calif. On burnt cars, chimneys and what remained of people’s homes, Grammer painted more than a dozen murals.
Grammer said some Paradise residents “identified those murals as a symbol of hope during such a devastating time,” he said. “Those murals really helped people.”
He said he hopes the mural he painted of Floyd has the same effect.
Click here to view the murals in 3-D.


latimes--2020-08-12--Commentary: Museums are closed, but you'll find respite in UCLA's remarkable sculpture garden

The four monumental bas-reliefs of a woman ’ s back that Henri Matisse finished between 1909 and 1930 are among the most enigmatic sculptures of the 20th century .
They show him refining the figure ’ s forms — head , limbs , torso , spine — one after the other over the course of two decades .
But they ’ re a painter ’ s sculptures .
Matisse ’ s formal progress in his paintings was one inspiration for them , which I stopped by to see the other day at UCLA ’ s Franklin D. Murphy Sculpture Garden @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that remarkable public collection of some 70 Modern works , which rambles over five acres of the school ’ s North Campus .
Effectively two-dimensional , the shallowness of the reliefs is primarily a means to control the play of light across the surface of modeled clay , which was then cast in plaster and finally bronze .
The tactile modeling-marks Matisse left on the figures with his fingers and tools are like brushwork .
Light approaches what a painting ’ s adroitly handled color could achieve .
African sculpture , which Matisse @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Paris gallery on frequent walks through the Rue de Rennes , was another stimulus for the backs .
A third was classical Chinese art , which he encountered in the large collection of San Francisco ex-pats Sarah and Michael Stein , his friends and patrons .
And what of the chosen subject — a woman ’ s back ?
Paintings by Cezanne , Courbet , Gauguin and other artists surely had an influence .
Plus something more .
“ Women represent the imagination , ” Matisse said late in life to the Swiss @ @ @ @ @ @ @ perhaps just represents two men talking about something beyond themselves .
Maybe that also explains the slightly voyeuristic quality in relief sculptures that show a woman from behind .
With her left arm raised , she leans against a wall .
Uniquely identifying facial features have been purposefully hidden .
You can feel a bit like one of the lascivious elders who crept up on innocent young Susanna , naked at her bath , to spy on her — a fictional story popular in Baroque Europe that hinges on moral treachery .
That @ @ @ @ @ @ @ makes him modern , rather than academic .
You don ’ t merely watch a principled narrative play out in his art ; instead , you ’ re an active participant in it .
In fact , that ’ s what had brought me to UCLA and the Murphy Sculpture Garden in the first place .
I missed the active conceptual conversation an art experience initiates .
The COVID-19 pandemic has caused an art drought , and it was getting to me .
Museums have been closed up tight for months , their @ @ @ @ @ @ @ as the course of the disease ebbs and flows .
I was inside one that had reopened — in a cautious and limited way — just three days before , when the latest re-closure order was announced by Gov .
Gavin Newsom .
That was that ; out I went .
The solitary visit made for the third shut-down museum exhibition that I had seen but couldn ’ t write about , since readers couldn ’ t visit .
Granville Redmond ’ s early 20th century landscape paintings at the Laguna Art Museum @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Ree Morton ’ s painted reliefs from the 1970s at the Institute of Contemporary Art , Los Angeles , and the enigmatic Ming Dynasty landscapes of Qiu Ying at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art .
( The Redmond is still installed inside locked museum rooms , where the paintings await another reopening . )
So : Murphy Sculpture Garden to the rescue .
It ’ s an exceptional place ( the Hammer Museum oversees it ) .
Unlike most L.A. art galleries , where new art is emphasized , aspects of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Two-thirds of the sculptures date from the 1950s through the 1970s .
A dozen come from the first half of the 20th century in America and Western Europe .
Only one was made in the 21st century .
That one is on the plaza next to the Matisse .
( Incidentally , the sun-drenched plaza could use a bench near the reliefs . )
A tall , curved wall of torqued steel , Richard Serra ’ s “ T.E.U.C.L.A.
” ( 2006 ) forms an almost closed oval shape .
A narrow opening @ @ @ @ @ @ @ tilting enclosure wraps around your peripheral vision , enveloping it in impenetrable steel .
Your body just naturally begins to lean with it .
The sculpture pushes a visitor around .
The feeling is strange .
Walk inside , and shifting spatial perception causes otherwise ordinary and expected physical balance to get vigorously , disconcertingly challenged .
Matisse and Serra engage bodily awareness , but in very different ways .
Just past the Serra , on a sidewalk that leads to a grassy field , Auguste Rodin ’ s 1905 “ Walking Man @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Headless , armless and set on a low plinth that approximates the ground plane a viewer shares with the sculpture , this bronze figure is taking a wide stride with straight legs and both feet planted firmly on the ground .
Nobody can walk like that ; it ’ s impossible .
Copy the pose yourself , and you discover your virtual immobility .
Yet Rodin ’ s life-size figure , muscles and tendons rippling beneath surface skin , nonetheless appears dynamic , not static .
The fragmented body recalls the headless and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Roman antiquity , like “ The Winged Victory of Samothrace ” at the Louvre , while that impossibly flat-footed , straight-legged stride goes back to the colossi of ancient Egypt .
“ Walking Man ” marches from the mists of time into the space of modernity .
For years , Matisse owned a Rodin plaster bust of the wild-haired radical journalist Victor-Henri Rochefort , once in the possession of painter Édouard Manet .
He understood the sculptural intensity of Rodin , whom he knew as a young man .
A great feature of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ invitation to ricochet around various works like that — Matisse to Serra to Rodin , all artists working at the top of their game .
Not everything here is superlative , of course , but enough is to keep the engagement going .
There are lots of famous names : Arp , Bourdelle , Calder , Miró , Noguchi , Voulkos and more .
And there are surprises .
Anna Mahler ’ s 1961 “ Tower of Masks ” is arguably the finest work by a not well-known Austrian sculptor — a piled-up @ @ @ @ @ @ @ faces carved from pale sandstone .
The precarious , three-dimensional balance and visual rhythm of the masks is executed through a Brancusi-like practice of direct carving , common in non-Western art but not much employed in 1960s America .
( Mahler taught at UCLA . )
The sculpture is a totem , both in form and subject .
A totem-subject of diverse masks , emblematic of artists ’ creative lives , is unsurprising for Mahler .
She led an active personal life ( five husbands , two more than her mother , composer @ @ @ @ @ @ @ commissioned bust of her father , composer Gustav Mahler , and her stepfather was architect Walter Gropius .
Being a woman navigating male-dominated creative fields required grit .
In fact , only four women are represented in the Murphy Sculpture Garden — Mahler , Deborah Butterfield , Claire Falkenstein and Barbara Hepworth — among 47 men .
Almost all the artists are white .
Many works entered the collection following museum exhibitions in L.A. , which is one indicator of just how traditionally blinkered the city ’ s art scene had been .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ period piece — contemporary because mostly chosen in the 1960s and 1970s , a time when art dramatically changed , often led by sculpture .
Minimal , Conceptual , Post-Minimal — younger artists in those years were shaking up things , but you won ’ t find much of that here .
One modest exception is a Minimalist structural “ fence ” of repeated , intersecting white cylinders by William Tucker .
( The young British sculptor credited the syntax of limbs and spine in Matisse ’ s “ Backs ” as an @ @ @ @ @ @ @ is another .
Neither one is a sculptural object in the conventional sense .
Anthony Caro ’ s “ Halfway ” is abstract , but the relationships among its steel I-beams painted red and lying on the ground recall the composition of torso and limbs in an odalisque lolling on a divan .
The ballooning bodily forms of Gaston Lachaise ’ s Amazonian bronze woman , who looms 7 feet tall , are fantastical ; but her swollen voluptuousness still describes a discrete figure in contained space .
In contrast , Tucker ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , while Serra ’ s steel plates take a slice through curved space , eliding sculpture ’ s traditional separations between an object ’ s inside and its outside .
These works are outliers in UCLA ’ s garden , which is primarily home to an anthology of classic Modernist sculpture — artistic ideas born in Europe and transferred to the United States after World War II .
One feature of that Modernist legacy assumes a distinct poignancy today , when hospitals overflow , an economy is in free-fall and long-hidden social stresses @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , these sculptures refer to Western antiquity — to decay and dissolution and an archaic world in need of overhaul and renewal .
Modernity in sculpture wasn ’ t just about looking toward the future ; it was about starting over , a daunting task that required acknowledgment of past limits and even failure .
Lachaise ’ s Amazon is blowing up Classical tradition .
Rodin ’ s “ Walking Man , ” striding into a new world , tears it apart , limb from limb .
Hepworth ’ s punctured bronze “ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ form upright on a pedestal — pokes a lamenting hole in it , physically letting nature in .
The rough-hewn ancient forms of Henry Moore ’ s “ Two Piece Reclining Figure No .
3 ” seem poised to interpenetrate , like a plug and socket — a sculpture virtually copulating with itself to bring forth something new .
Chicago-based Richard Hunt , the only African American artist represented in the collection , asks “ Why ?
” in a metal abstraction of upright organic forms suggestive of a hand fused with a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ emblem for Ogun , Yoruba god of iron , or Vulcan or Hephaestus at his forge on Mount Olympus .
And Matisse — well , the more Matisse pared down his forms , the more primal his figure became .
Leaning face-first on her arm against a wall , she ’ s anxiety and foreboding personified .
That wailing wall could be Alberto Burri ’ s monumental “ Grande Cretto Nero ” — a “ large black crack ” that ’ s a massive expanse of glazed clay inspired by visits to the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ( The late Italian artist wintered in L.A. for decades . )
Seven hundred chunky forms in a wall 49 feet wide and 16 feet high are cracked and riven , a macrocosm matched by the microcosm of hairline crackling in the shiny black glaze .
Burri once described his work as “ the archaeology of the future , ” and his UCLA sculpture is surely that .
The battered wall unintentionally conjures a defining episode in the life of Franklin Murphy ( 1916-1994 ) , the Missouri-born physician who became UCLA chancellor @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Mirror Co. , The Times ’ former owner ) .
The doctor initiated the sculpture garden project in 1963 , before the city had any serious art museums .
As a medical student in Munich , Germany , in 1936 , Murphy had witnessed Adolf Hitler ’ s notorious “ Degenerate Art ” exhibition , which first mocked , then criminalized Modern painting and sculpture , all while promoting the artistic fraud of authoritarian state propaganda .
That ’ s another rather grim reason the Murphy Sculpture Garden is worth visiting right now @ @ @ @ @ @ @ erupt and grandiose pandering unfolds at super-kitsch Mt .
Rushmore .
A place like UCLA ’ s sculpture garden probably couldn ’ t be built today — partly because its lovely open acreage has become rare at the crowded campus , and partly because sculpture collectively worth hundreds of millions of dollars has been put far out of reach by the explosive investment market for Modern art .
But there it is , just when we needed it .
I spent a couple lovely hours , absorbed .
In the midst of a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ just what the doctor ordered .

Joan Miró’s “Mère Ubu” stands in the Franklin D. Murphy Sculpture Garden at UCLA. The collection includes works by Noguchi, Calder, Matisse, Rodin and dozens more.
The four monumental bas-reliefs of a woman’s back that Henri Matisse finished between 1909 and 1930 are among the most enigmatic sculptures of the 20th century. They show him refining the figure’s forms — head, limbs, torso, spine — one after the other over the course of two decades.
But they’re a painter’s sculptures. Matisse’s formal progress in his paintings was one inspiration for them, which I stopped by to see the other day at UCLA’s Franklin D. Murphy Sculpture Garden. They’re the pinnacle of that remarkable public collection of some 70 Modern works, which rambles over five acres of the school’s North Campus.
Effectively two-dimensional, the shallowness of the reliefs is primarily a means to control the play of light across the surface of modeled clay, which was then cast in plaster and finally bronze. The tactile modeling-marks Matisse left on the figures with his fingers and tools are like brushwork. Light approaches what a painting’s adroitly handled color could achieve.
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Henri Matisse, “Bas Relief I-IV (Backs),” 1909-1930, bronze. (Christopher Knight/Los Angeles Times)
African sculpture, which Matisse regularly saw in the window of a Paris gallery on frequent walks through the Rue de Rennes, was another stimulus for the backs. A third was classical Chinese art, which he encountered in the large collection of San Francisco ex-pats Sarah and Michael Stein, his friends and patrons.
And what of the chosen subject — a woman’s back? Paintings by Cezanne, Courbet, Gauguin and other artists surely had an influence. Plus something more.
“Women represent the imagination,” Matisse said late in life to the Swiss art critic Pierre Courthion. The claim perhaps just represents two men talking about something beyond themselves.
Maybe that also explains the slightly voyeuristic quality in relief sculptures that show a woman from behind. With her left arm raised, she leans against a wall. Uniquely identifying facial features have been purposefully hidden.
Henri Matisse, “Bas Relief IV,” 1930, bronze. (Christopher Knight/Los Angeles Times)
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You can feel a bit like one of the lascivious elders who crept up on innocent young Susanna, naked at her bath, to spy on her — a fictional story popular in Baroque Europe that hinges on moral treachery. That’s one aspect of Matisse that makes him modern, rather than academic. You don’t merely watch a principled narrative play out in his art; instead, you’re an active participant in it.
In fact, that’s what had brought me to UCLA and the Murphy Sculpture Garden in the first place. I missed the active conceptual conversation an art experience initiates. The COVID-19 pandemic has caused an art drought, and it was getting to me.
Museums have been closed up tight for months, their tentative reopening plans changing day by day as the course of the disease ebbs and flows. I was inside one that had reopened — in a cautious and limited way — just three days before, when the latest re-closure order was announced by Gov. Gavin Newsom. That was that; out I went.
The solitary visit made for the third shut-down museum exhibition that I had seen but couldn’t write about, since readers couldn’t visit. Granville Redmond’s early 20th century landscape paintings at the Laguna Art Museum were in a holding pattern, joining Ree Morton’s painted reliefs from the 1970s at the Institute of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, and the enigmatic Ming Dynasty landscapes of Qiu Ying at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. (The Redmond is still installed inside locked museum rooms, where the paintings await another reopening.) So: Murphy Sculpture Garden to the rescue.
It’s an exceptional place (the Hammer Museum oversees it). Unlike most L.A. art galleries, where new art is emphasized, aspects of postwar history unfold across the lawn. Two-thirds of the sculptures date from the 1950s through the 1970s. A dozen come from the first half of the 20th century in America and Western Europe. Only one was made in the 21st century.
That one is on the plaza next to the Matisse. (Incidentally, the sun-drenched plaza could use a bench near the reliefs.) A tall, curved wall of torqued steel, Richard Serra’s “T.E.U.C.L.A.” (2006) forms an almost closed oval shape. A narrow opening invites you inside. There, the tilting enclosure wraps around your peripheral vision, enveloping it in impenetrable steel. Your body just naturally begins to lean with it.
Richard Serra, “T.E.U.C.L.A.,” 2006, weathering steel. (Christopher Knight/Los Angeles Times)
The sculpture pushes a visitor around. The feeling is strange. Walk inside, and shifting spatial perception causes otherwise ordinary and expected physical balance to get vigorously, disconcertingly challenged. Matisse and Serra engage bodily awareness, but in very different ways.
Just past the Serra, on a sidewalk that leads to a grassy field, Auguste Rodin’s 1905 “Walking Man” provides a compelling corporeal twist. Headless, armless and set on a low plinth that approximates the ground plane a viewer shares with the sculpture, this bronze figure is taking a wide stride with straight legs and both feet planted firmly on the ground.
Nobody can walk like that; it’s impossible. Copy the pose yourself, and you discover your virtual immobility.
Yet Rodin’s life-size figure, muscles and tendons rippling beneath surface skin, nonetheless appears dynamic, not static. The fragmented body recalls the headless and armless sculptures we know from Greek and Roman antiquity, like “The Winged Victory of Samothrace” at the Louvre, while that impossibly flat-footed, straight-legged stride goes back to the colossi of ancient Egypt. “Walking Man” marches from the mists of time into the space of modernity.
For years, Matisse owned a Rodin plaster bust of the wild-haired radical journalist Victor-Henri Rochefort, once in the possession of painter Édouard Manet. He understood the sculptural intensity of Rodin, whom he knew as a young man. A great feature of the Murphy Sculpture Garden is the unspoken invitation to ricochet around various works like that — Matisse to Serra to Rodin, all artists working at the top of their game.
Auguste Rodin, “Walking Man,” 1905, bronze. (Christopher Knight/Los Angeles Times)
Not everything here is superlative, of course, but enough is to keep the engagement going. There are lots of famous names: Arp, Bourdelle, Calder, Miró, Noguchi, Voulkos and more. And there are surprises.
Anna Mahler’s 1961 “Tower of Masks” is arguably the finest work by a not well-known Austrian sculptor — a piled-up column of primitive, blank-eyed but emotive faces carved from pale sandstone. The precarious, three-dimensional balance and visual rhythm of the masks is executed through a Brancusi-like practice of direct carving, common in non-Western art but not much employed in 1960s America. (Mahler taught at UCLA.) The sculpture is a totem, both in form and subject.
A totem-subject of diverse masks, emblematic of artists’ creative lives, is unsurprising for Mahler. She led an active personal life (five husbands, two more than her mother, composer Alma Schindler). Rodin executed a commissioned bust of her father, composer Gustav Mahler, and her stepfather was architect Walter Gropius. Being a woman navigating male-dominated creative fields required grit.
In fact, only four women are represented in the Murphy Sculpture Garden — Mahler, Deborah Butterfield, Claire Falkenstein and Barbara Hepworth — among 47 men. Almost all the artists are white. Many works entered the collection following museum exhibitions in L.A., which is one indicator of just how traditionally blinkered the city’s art scene had been.
The garden is itself a kind of period piece — contemporary because mostly chosen in the 1960s and 1970s, a time when art dramatically changed, often led by sculpture.
Minimal, Conceptual, Post-Minimal — younger artists in those years were shaking up things, but you won’t find much of that here. One modest exception is a Minimalist structural “fence” of repeated, intersecting white cylinders by William Tucker. (The young British sculptor credited the syntax of limbs and spine in Matisse’s “Backs” as an inspiration.) The more recent Serra is another.
William Tucker, “Untitled,” 1967, painted steel. (Christopher Knight/Los Angeles Times)
Neither one is a sculptural object in the conventional sense. Anthony Caro’s “Halfway” is abstract, but the relationships among its steel I-beams painted red and lying on the ground recall the composition of torso and limbs in an odalisque lolling on a divan. The ballooning bodily forms of Gaston Lachaise’s Amazonian bronze woman, who looms 7 feet tall, are fantastical; but her swollen voluptuousness still describes a discrete figure in contained space.
In contrast, Tucker’s cylinder forms could repeat into infinity, while Serra’s steel plates take a slice through curved space, eliding sculpture’s traditional separations between an object’s inside and its outside. These works are outliers in UCLA’s garden, which is primarily home to an anthology of classic Modernist sculpture — artistic ideas born in Europe and transferred to the United States after World War II.
One feature of that Modernist legacy assumes a distinct poignancy today, when hospitals overflow, an economy is in free-fall and long-hidden social stresses are brutally exposed. Over and over, these sculptures refer to Western antiquity — to decay and dissolution and an archaic world in need of overhaul and renewal. Modernity in sculpture wasn’t just about looking toward the future; it was about starting over, a daunting task that required acknowledgment of past limits and even failure.
Lachaise’s Amazon is blowing up Classical tradition. Rodin’s “Walking Man,” striding into a new world, tears it apart, limb from limb.
Gaston Lachaise, “Standing Woman,” 1932, bronze. (Christopher Knight/Los Angeles Times)
Hepworth’s punctured bronze “Elegy III” — a sleek organic form upright on a pedestal — pokes a lamenting hole in it, physically letting nature in. The rough-hewn ancient forms of Henry Moore’s “Two Piece Reclining Figure No. 3” seem poised to interpenetrate, like a plug and socket — a sculpture virtually copulating with itself to bring forth something new.
Chicago-based Richard Hunt, the only African American artist represented in the collection, asks “Why?” in a metal abstraction of upright organic forms suggestive of a hand fused with a bonfire. The composition is like an emblem for Ogun, Yoruba god of iron, or Vulcan or Hephaestus at his forge on Mount Olympus.
And Matisse — well, the more Matisse pared down his forms, the more primal his figure became. Leaning face-first on her arm against a wall, she’s anxiety and foreboding personified.
That wailing wall could be Alberto Burri’s monumental “Grande Cretto Nero” — a “large black crack” that’s a massive expanse of glazed clay inspired by visits to the dried-up lake bed of Death Valley. (The late Italian artist wintered in L.A. for decades.) Seven hundred chunky forms in a wall 49 feet wide and 16 feet high are cracked and riven, a macrocosm matched by the microcosm of hairline crackling in the shiny black glaze.
Alberto Burri, “Grande Cretto Nero,” 1976-77, glazed ceramic. (Christopher Knight/Los Angeles Times)
Burri once described his work as “the archaeology of the future,” and his UCLA sculpture is surely that.
The battered wall unintentionally conjures a defining episode in the life of Franklin Murphy (1916-1994), the Missouri-born physician who became UCLA chancellor (and later chief executive of Times Mirror Co., The Times’ former owner). The doctor initiated the sculpture garden project in 1963, before the city had any serious art museums. As a medical student in Munich, Germany, in 1936, Murphy had witnessed Adolf Hitler’s notorious “Degenerate Art” exhibition, which first mocked, then criminalized Modern painting and sculpture, all while promoting the artistic fraud of authoritarian state propaganda.
That’s another rather grim reason the Murphy Sculpture Garden is worth visiting right now, as fights over kitsch Confederate statues erupt and grandiose pandering unfolds at super-kitsch Mt. Rushmore. A place like UCLA’s sculpture garden probably couldn’t be built today — partly because its lovely open acreage has become rare at the crowded campus, and partly because sculpture collectively worth hundreds of millions of dollars has been put far out of reach by the explosive investment market for Modern art.
But there it is, just when we needed it. I spent a couple lovely hours, absorbed. In the midst of a crushing health catastrophe, it’s just what the doctor ordered.
Elden Tefft, “Franklin D. Murphy,” 1960, bronze. (Christopher Knight/Los Angeles Times)


latimes--2020-08-12--California voters overwhelmingly support sweeping police reforms, new poll finds

After weeks of protests in the wake of George Floyd ’ s death , a new poll shows that a majority of Californians support sweeping reforms to law enforcement — including measures that would make it easier to prosecute and sue police officers , limit the negotiating power of police unions and shift police funding to social workers and mental health providers .
The backing for such measures comes amid growing concern about race relations in the state , the poll found , and despite the fact that a majority of respondents expressed some satisfaction with their local police force @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ s widespread public concern about police practices , ” said Eric Schickler , co-director of UC Berkeley ’ s Institute of Governmental Studies , which conducted the poll of likely voters at the end of July .
“ For many voters , that does not translate into a simple condemnation of police but a more nuanced position that reforms are needed.
” G. Cristina Mora , Schickler ’ s co-director , said the data show that people still trust their local cops , but it is “ not a blind trust.
” @ @ @ @ @ @ @ favored passing laws that would make it easier to prosecute police officers who use excessive force , 78 % favored banning officers from using chokeholds and strangleholds when detaining suspects , 70 % favored granting civilians the right to sue officers for misconduct and excessive force , and 61 % favored limiting the power of police unions by reducing their collective bargaining rights .
In Los Angeles County , where satisfaction with police was significantly lower than it was in other parts of the state , a majority of respondents — 63 % @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ” or “ somewhat satisfied ” with the work of their local police force .
The data did not distinguish between specific agencies or isolate the city of L.A. from the rest of the county .
At the same time , nearly three-quarters of county respondents favored redirecting police funding to other agencies for incidents involving substance abuse , mental illness and homelessness , and a similar percentage said it should be easier for civilians to sue officers .
Statewide , 63 % of respondents had a favorable view of the Black Lives @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that Black people in California are more likely to experience police violence than white people .
In L.A. County , those figures were 67 % and 72 % , respectively .
“ It definitely sounds like a victory for the protests .
It sounds like our messaging was heard , ” said Melina Abdullah , a co-founder of Black Lives Matter-L.A. and a leader at recent demonstrations .
An LAPD spokesman did not respond to a request for comment on the polling data .
Lt. Craig Lally , president of the union that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ not surprised that a majority of respondents reported being satisfied with the work of their local police , because similar results are routinely found in polling at the national level .
Police unions hold sway because police are popular , he said , and they shouldn ’ t be targeted for negotiating just like other public-sector unions .
He said police also would like to see some of their responsibilities shifted to other agencies , but he has yet to see a coherent explanation as to how such changes would work — or @ @ @ @ @ @ @ will do when incidents to which they have responded suddenly turn violent .
“ They ’ ve put the cart before the horse , ” he said of activists and public officials who have pushed for a “ re-imagining ” of public safety in recent months .
While some activists have called for abolishing police altogether , others have educated Californians on the nuances of a “ defunding ” platform that calls for reallocating a proportion of police funding toward alternative mental health and other social services while retaining police to address and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ across Los Angeles and cities nationwide following the May 25 death of Floyd , a Black man who was killed when a white Minneapolis police officer knelt on his neck .
Since then , the “ defund ” platform has gone mainstream , and many cities , including Los Angeles , have begun to implement changes .
The Democrat-controlled L.A. City Council recently cut $ 150 million from the budget of the Los Angeles Police Department , and LAPD commanders are contemplating a future in which more of their duties are shifted to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and other police supporters have attempted to cast the movement to defund the police as an existential threat to law and order and a harbinger of chaos on the streets and upticks in crime .
Schickler said the latest polling data reflect some familiar fault lines among voters , with white people expressing far more support for police than Latino and Black respondents , conservatives expressing more support for police than liberals , and older residents expressing more support for police than younger ones .
Overall satisfaction with police was highest in Orange @ @ @ @ @ @ @ said they were “ very satisfied , ” compared with 26 % in Los Angeles County .
The data show a broad base of support for specific reforms — and a level of intellectual sophistication among voters on law enforcement issues that could inform policymakers moving forward , Schickler said .
While a wholesale rejection of policing likely wouldn ’ t enjoy widespread support , specific reforms would , he said .
“ When it comes to a lot of the specific proposed reforms or potential reforms on policing , you see really @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Abdullah ’ s group had called for a dramatically larger cut to the LAPD budget , and she said the new polling seems to reflect a desire among the public for greater change than has occurred to date .
“ People are ready for more transformative change , rather than tinkering around the edges , ” she said .
“ That is what the defunding call is about — larger-scale change — and it sounds like people are ready to move in that direction.
” Statewide , 83 % of respondents said they @ @ @ @ @ @ @ state , with 49 % saying they were “ extremely concerned.
” In a similar poll in 2010 , just 14 % said they were “ extremely concerned.
” In the new poll , 70 % of Black respondents said they were “ extremely concerned , ” compared to 45 % of white respondents , 50 % of Asian and Pacific Islander respondents and 54 % of Latino respondents .
Abdullah said differences in how people of various races responded to the poll questions are telling .
While 74 % of white people @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 72 % of Asian people and Pacific Islanders said they were “ very satisfied ” or “ somewhat satisfied ” with their local police , 50 % of Black people said they were satisfied .
While 70 % of white people , 67 % of Latino people and 75 % of Asian people and Pacific Islanders said they felt Black people are more likely to experience police violence , 92 % of Black people felt that way .
Abdullah said the gaps were not surprising but nonetheless “ stark.
” “ Those who @ @ @ @ @ @ @ violence are Black people , ” Abdullah said .
“ We ’ re the closest to that , so we have the highest levels of dissatisfaction with police.
” The poll was conducted via email in English and Spanish from July 21 to July 27 among 8,328 registered voters in California .
It did not include input from undocumented residents .
Researchers estimated that the findings are subject to a sampling error of plus or minus 2 % .

LAPD officers monitor a peaceful protest in June in Los Angeles after the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis.
After weeks of protests in the wake of George Floyd’s death, a new poll shows that a majority of Californians support sweeping reforms to law enforcement — including measures that would make it easier to prosecute and sue police officers, limit the negotiating power of police unions and shift police funding to social workers and mental health providers.
The backing for such measures comes amid growing concern about race relations in the state, the poll found, and despite the fact that a majority of respondents expressed some satisfaction with their local police force.
“The data suggest that there’s widespread public concern about police practices,” said Eric Schickler, co-director of UC Berkeley’s Institute of Governmental Studies, which conducted the poll of likely voters at the end of July. “For many voters, that does not translate into a simple condemnation of police but a more nuanced position that reforms are needed.”
G. Cristina Mora, Schickler’s co-director, said the data show that people still trust their local cops, but it is “not a blind trust.”
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Across California, 80% of respondents favored passing laws that would make it easier to prosecute police officers who use excessive force, 78% favored banning officers from using chokeholds and strangleholds when detaining suspects, 70% favored granting civilians the right to sue officers for misconduct and excessive force, and 61% favored limiting the power of police unions by reducing their collective bargaining rights.
In Los Angeles County, where satisfaction with police was significantly lower than it was in other parts of the state, a majority of respondents — 63% — still reported being “very satisfied” or “somewhat satisfied” with the work of their local police force. The data did not distinguish between specific agencies or isolate the city of L.A. from the rest of the county.
At the same time, nearly three-quarters of county respondents favored redirecting police funding to other agencies for incidents involving substance abuse, mental illness and homelessness, and a similar percentage said it should be easier for civilians to sue officers.
Statewide, 63% of respondents had a favorable view of the Black Lives Matter movement, and 70% agreed that Black people in California are more likely to experience police violence than white people. In L.A. County, those figures were 67% and 72%, respectively.
Police made arrests June 2 for curfew violations after a day of peaceful protests in Los Angeles. (Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times)
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“It definitely sounds like a victory for the protests. It sounds like our messaging was heard,” said Melina Abdullah, a co-founder of Black Lives Matter-L.A. and a leader at recent demonstrations.
An LAPD spokesman did not respond to a request for comment on the polling data.
Lt. Craig Lally, president of the union that represents LAPD officers, said he was not surprised that a majority of respondents reported being satisfied with the work of their local police, because similar results are routinely found in polling at the national level.
Police unions hold sway because police are popular, he said, and they shouldn’t be targeted for negotiating just like other public-sector unions.
He said police also would like to see some of their responsibilities shifted to other agencies, but he has yet to see a coherent explanation as to how such changes would work — or what social workers or mental health providers will do when incidents to which they have responded suddenly turn violent.
“They’ve put the cart before the horse,” he said of activists and public officials who have pushed for a “re-imagining” of public safety in recent months.
While some activists have called for abolishing police altogether, others have educated Californians on the nuances of a “defunding” platform that calls for reallocating a proportion of police funding toward alternative mental health and other social services while retaining police to address and respond to violent crime.
Protests raged across Los Angeles and cities nationwide following the May 25 death of Floyd, a Black man who was killed when a white Minneapolis police officer knelt on his neck.
Since then, the “defund” platform has gone mainstream, and many cities, including Los Angeles, have begun to implement changes. The Democrat-controlled L.A. City Council recently cut $150 million from the budget of the Los Angeles Police Department, and LAPD commanders are contemplating a future in which more of their duties are shifted to other agencies.
Meanwhile, some Republicans and other police supporters have attempted to cast the movement to defund the police as an existential threat to law and order and a harbinger of chaos on the streets and upticks in crime.
Schickler said the latest polling data reflect some familiar fault lines among voters, with white people expressing far more support for police than Latino and Black respondents, conservatives expressing more support for police than liberals, and older residents expressing more support for police than younger ones.
Overall satisfaction with police was highest in Orange County, where 50% of respondents said they were “very satisfied,” compared with 26% in Los Angeles County.
The data show a broad base of support for specific reforms — and a level of intellectual sophistication among voters on law enforcement issues that could inform policymakers moving forward, Schickler said. While a wholesale rejection of policing likely wouldn’t enjoy widespread support, specific reforms would, he said.
“When it comes to a lot of the specific proposed reforms or potential reforms on policing, you see really wide-ranging support,” he said.
Abdullah’s group had called for a dramatically larger cut to the LAPD budget, and she said the new polling seems to reflect a desire among the public for greater change than has occurred to date.
Demonstrators in front of the North Hollywood police station protested police brutality on June 4. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)
“People are ready for more transformative change, rather than tinkering around the edges,” she said. “That is what the defunding call is about — larger-scale change — and it sounds like people are ready to move in that direction.”
Statewide, 83% of respondents said they were concerned about race relations in the state, with 49% saying they were “extremely concerned.” In a similar poll in 2010, just 14% said they were “extremely concerned.” In the new poll, 70% of Black respondents said they were “extremely concerned,” compared to 45% of white respondents, 50% of Asian and Pacific Islander respondents and 54% of Latino respondents.
Abdullah said differences in how people of various races responded to the poll questions are telling.
While 74% of white people, 64% of Latino people and 72% of Asian people and Pacific Islanders said they were “very satisfied” or “somewhat satisfied” with their local police, 50% of Black people said they were satisfied. While 70% of white people, 67% of Latino people and 75% of Asian people and Pacific Islanders said they felt Black people are more likely to experience police violence, 92% of Black people felt that way.
Abdullah said the gaps were not surprising but nonetheless “stark.”
“Those who most experience police corruption, abuse and violence are Black people,” Abdullah said. “We’re the closest to that, so we have the highest levels of dissatisfaction with police.”
The poll was conducted via email in English and Spanish from July 21 to July 27 among 8,328 registered voters in California. It did not include input from undocumented residents. Researchers estimated that the findings are subject to a sampling error of plus or minus 2%.


latimes--2020-08-12--In her native California, Kamala Harris VP pick brings excitement and doubts

Not long after 1 p.m. Tuesday on the West Coast , Google searches for “ Kamala Harris ” skyrocketed across the U.S .
The searches , in large part , originated from computers in Washington D.C. , Delaware and Massachusetts .
But as the rest of the nation began its up-close look at the politician who could make history three times over — if elected alongside Joe Biden , Harris would be the first woman , the first Black person and the first person of Indian descent to ever hold the job of vice president — many Californians already had @ @ @ @ @ @ @ They knew her from the flats in Berkeley , where she grew up , and from San Francisco , where she earned a law degree at UC Hastings College of the Law , which she then used to prosecute crimes in Alameda County and later back in San Francisco .
They knew her too in Los Angeles , where she now lives with her husband , an entertainment lawyer , and down in Calexico , on the U.S.-Mexico border , where she toured drug-smuggling tunnels as the state ’ s attorney general from @ @ @ @ @ @ @ people up and down the Golden State began to foreshadow what their future might look like with a California-born politician in the second-highest job in the land — only the second time in history , following Richard Nixon ’ s stint as the nation ’ s 36th vice-president .
As word began to swirl Tuesday that an announcement was imminent , Aizehi Nomo and her sister , Ivie , sat near a computer searching for information .
“ Who ’ s he going to pick ?
” Ivie asked , refreshing the computer @ @ @ @ @ @ @ looked down at her phone and saw a notification .
She showed it to her sister and they sat in silence .
“ It ’ s not who we wanted , ” said Nomo , of Sherman Oaks , explaining that she and her sister disagreed with some of Harris ’ decisions as a prosecutor , as well as her ties with some corporations .
Their top choice was Elizabeth Warren , she said , but a Biden-Harris ticket was better than the alternative of the current White House occupant .
“ The @ @ @ @ @ @ @ said .
But for Tyree Robinson , 33 , of Koreatown , it was exactly the right choice .
Harris has a stern , to-the-point energy that he really appreciates .
“ She ’ s from the Bay and she ’ s Black .
She ’ s smart .
She ’ s educated , ” said Robinson , a fashion publicist .
“ I ’ m just excited.
” The pick also pleased many local and state politicos .
L.A. City Councilman Herb Wesson , who for years regularly met Harris for lunch @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , has followed her political moves with excitement since she joined the campaign for president last year .
“ I always love campaign season , but this time it ’ s personal and different , ” said Wesson , who noted that he ’ d recently sent “ good luck ” texts to both Harris and Rep. Karen Bass , who had emerged as another possible Biden running mate .
Former San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown , who dated Harris years ago , penned a piece a few days ago saying that should @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ d advise her to “ politely decline , ” saying he thought her skill set would be put to better use as , say , attorney general in a Biden administration .
But reached on Tuesday , Brown expressed excitement , saying he suspects that many Black voters will be as thrilled by this announcement as they were when Barack Obama was nominated as the Democratic party ’ s pick in 2008 .
He thinks Black women — a key voting bloc — will be particularly loyal to Harris .
“ A @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , ” he said .
For some other Angelenos , the news elicited more subdued responses .
Tony Jolly , 46 , who owns Hot and Cool Cafe in Leimert Park , said he was hoping that Biden would pick Bass , who he said he trusted would be a fierce advocate for South L.A. “ We were kind of disappointed , ” Jolly said , before adding that he was pleased that Biden had ultimately picked a Black woman .
Biden ’ s pick earned praise from some immigrants ’ rights groups @ @ @ @ @ @ @ emigrated from Jamaica and her mother from India — sent a forceful statement .
But other immigrants ’ advocates weren ’ t as enthusiastic .
In a letter to Harris , Gov .
Gavin Newsom and Atty .
Gen. Xavier Becerra last month , nearly 70 groups urged the three leaders to take concrete action to protect detained immigrants .
The letter specifically called out what advocates describe as Harris ’ hypocrisy , saying she has positioned herself as a champion for racial equality , but ignored the plight of Black immigrants , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ managing attorney for Centro Legal de la Raza in Oakland .
Melina Abdullah , co-founder of Black Lives Matter Los Angeles , said she had hoped Biden would pick Bass , whom she saw as the most progressive option .
Still , she said , BLM leaders had had several positive interactions with Harris shortly after the group ’ s founding .
Abdullah also praised the criminal justice data produced by Open Justice , a transparency initiative spearheaded by Harris at the California Department of Justice , as well as Harris ’ willingness @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and her strong stance against the death penalty .
But Abdullah criticized what she called Harris ’ refusal to authorize independent investigations into police shootings of Black people .
After Harris was announced as the pick on Tuesday , Abdullah tweeted , “ I told y ’ all from the beginning ” that Biden would pick Harris .
“ Somebody owes me a dollar , ” she joked , adding her Venmo and CashApp usernames .
Within an hour , she had $ 46 .
Times staff writers Dakota Smith and David Zahniser @ @ @ @ @

Kailyn Brown, Marisa Gerber, Andrea Castillo, Susanne Rust

Democratic presidential candidate former Vice President Joe Biden, left, and Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif. shake hands after a Democratic presidential primary debate hosted at Texas Southern University in Houston.
Not long after 1 p.m. Tuesday on the West Coast, Google searches for “Kamala Harris” skyrocketed across the U.S. The searches, in large part, originated from computers in Washington D.C., Delaware and Massachusetts.
But as the rest of the nation began its up-close look at the politician who could make history three times over — if elected alongside Joe Biden, Harris would be the first woman, the first Black person and the first person of Indian descent to ever hold the job of vice president — many Californians already had well-solidified views of the 55-year-old senator.
They knew her from the flats in Berkeley, where she grew up, and from San Francisco, where she earned a law degree at UC Hastings College of the Law, which she then used to prosecute crimes in Alameda County and later back in San Francisco. They knew her too in Los Angeles, where she now lives with her husband, an entertainment lawyer, and down in Calexico, on the U.S.-Mexico border, where she toured drug-smuggling tunnels as the state’s attorney general from 2011 to 2017.
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On Tuesday, people up and down the Golden State began to foreshadow what their future might look like with a California-born politician in the second-highest job in the land — only the second time in history, following Richard Nixon’s stint as the nation’s 36th vice-president.
1 / 21 Kamala Harris hugs Joe Biden after endorsing him at a campaign rally in Detroit on March 9. (Jeff Kowalsky / AFP-Getty Images) 2 / 21 Kamala Harris and Joe Biden in a Democratic primary debate. (Jim Watson / AFP-Getty Images) 3 / 21 After a debate. (David J. Phillip / Associated Press ) 4 / 21 Before a debate. (Paul Sancya / Associated Press) 5 / 21 Sen. Kamala Harris launches her presidential campaign in her hometown of Oakland in January 2019. (Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times) 6 / 21 A sizable crowd attends the campaign kickoff speech by Sen. Kamala Harris in Oakland. (Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times) 7 / 21 From left, Cory Booker, Tulsi Gabbard, Amy Klobuchar, Pete Buttigieg, Elizabeth Warren, Joe Biden, Bernie Sanders, Kamala Harris, Andrew Yang and Tom Steyer in Atlanta on Nov. 20 for the fifth Democratic primary debate. (Nicholas Kamm / AFP-Getty Images) 8 / 21 Kamala Harris speaks at a protest in Washington over the Supreme Court nomination of Brett M. Kavanaugh on Oct. 4, 2018. (Drew Angerer / Getty Images) 9 / 21 Kamala Harris recognizes a friend in the crowd during a visit to Long Beach. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times) 10 / 21 Kamala Harris, with Joe Biden, takes part in a reenacted swearing-in at the Capitol on Jan. 3, 2017. Earlier in the day, Biden swore in the newly elected and returning members on the Senate floor. (Kevin Wolf / Associated Press) 11 / 21 Sen. Kamala Harris shares a moment backstage with her godson before her campaign kickoff speech in Oakland. (Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times) 12 / 21 Kamala Harris waits backstage before making her appearance at the Oakland rally. (Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times) 13 / 21 Kamala Harris takes the stage at her election night party in downtown L.A. after winning a Senate seat on Nov. 8, 2016. (Barbara Davidson / Los Angeles Times) 14 / 21 Kamala Harris greets people who were sworn in as citizens in a ceremony on the battleship Iowa in Los Angeles on July 3, 2017. (Christian K. Lee / Los Angeles Times) 15 / 21 Gavin Newsom and Kamala Harris with President Obama in San Francisco in 2012. (Eric Risberg / Associated Press) 16 / 21 Sen. Dianne Feinstein, right, talks with California’s then-Atty. Gen. Kamala Harris and Democratic State Party Chairman John Burton in 2011 in Sacramento. (Rich Pedroncelli / Associated Press) 17 / 21 Kamala Harris endorses Gavin Newsom for California governor at USC on Feb. 16, 2018. (Damian Dovarganes / Associated Press) 18 / 21 Then-Gov. Jerry Brown endorses Kamala Harris for U.S. Senate in May 2016. (Rich Pedroncelli / Associated Press ) 19 / 21 Kamala Harris, in April 2017, speaks at a downtown L.A. news conference on police bias, alongside former L.A. County Sheriff Jim McDonnell and former LAPD Chief Charlie Beck, second from right. (Barbara Davidson / Los Angeles Times) 20 / 21 Kamala Harris receives an honorary degree from USC in May 2015. (Patrick T. Fallon / Los Angeles Times) 21 / 21 Kamala Harris, left, sister Maya and mom Shyamala outside their Berkeley apartment in 1970. (Kamala Harris campaign)
As word began to swirl Tuesday that an announcement was imminent, Aizehi Nomo and her sister, Ivie, sat near a computer searching for information.
“Who’s he going to pick?” Ivie asked, refreshing the computer screen constantly. Moments later, Nomo looked down at her phone and saw a notification. She showed it to her sister and they sat in silence.
“It’s not who we wanted,” said Nomo, of Sherman Oaks, explaining that she and her sister disagreed with some of Harris’ decisions as a prosecutor, as well as her ties with some corporations.
Their top choice was Elizabeth Warren, she said, but a Biden-Harris ticket was better than the alternative of the current White House occupant.
“The lesser of two evils,” she said.
But for Tyree Robinson, 33, of Koreatown, it was exactly the right choice. Harris has a stern, to-the-point energy that he really appreciates.
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“She’s from the Bay and she’s Black. She’s smart. She’s educated,” said Robinson, a fashion publicist. “I’m just excited.”
The pick also pleased many local and state politicos.
L.A. City Councilman Herb Wesson, who for years regularly met Harris for lunch at a vegan spot in downtown L.A., has followed her political moves with excitement since she joined the campaign for president last year.
“I always love campaign season, but this time it’s personal and different,” said Wesson, who noted that he’d recently sent “good luck” texts to both Harris and Rep. Karen Bass, who had emerged as another possible Biden running mate.
Former San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown, who dated Harris years ago, penned a piece a few days ago saying that should Biden offer Harris the vice presidency he’d advise her to “politely decline,” saying he thought her skill set would be put to better use as, say, attorney general in a Biden administration.
But reached on Tuesday, Brown expressed excitement, saying he suspects that many Black voters will be as thrilled by this announcement as they were when Barack Obama was nominated as the Democratic party’s pick in 2008. He thinks Black women — a key voting bloc — will be particularly loyal to Harris.
“A sisterhood is going to make it possible,” he said.
For some other Angelenos, the news elicited more subdued responses.
Tony Jolly, 46, who owns Hot and Cool Cafe in Leimert Park, said he was hoping that Biden would pick Bass, who he said he trusted would be a fierce advocate for South L.A.
“We were kind of disappointed,” Jolly said, before adding that he was pleased that Biden had ultimately picked a Black woman.
Biden’s pick earned praise from some immigrants’ rights groups who said picking Harris — whose father emigrated from Jamaica and her mother from India — sent a forceful statement. But other immigrants’ advocates weren’t as enthusiastic.
In a letter to Harris, Gov. Gavin Newsom and Atty. Gen. Xavier Becerra last month, nearly 70 groups urged the three leaders to take concrete action to protect detained immigrants. The letter specifically called out what advocates describe as Harris’ hypocrisy, saying she has positioned herself as a champion for racial equality, but ignored the plight of Black immigrants, said Lisa Knox, immigrant rights’ managing attorney for Centro Legal de la Raza in Oakland.
Melina Abdullah, co-founder of Black Lives Matter Los Angeles, said she had hoped Biden would pick Bass, whom she saw as the most progressive option.
Still, she said, BLM leaders had had several positive interactions with Harris shortly after the group’s founding. Abdullah also praised the criminal justice data produced by Open Justice, a transparency initiative spearheaded by Harris at the California Department of Justice, as well as Harris’ willingness to prosecute big banks for predatory lending and her strong stance against the death penalty.
But Abdullah criticized what she called Harris’ refusal to authorize independent investigations into police shootings of Black people.
“That’s hugely problematic,” she said.
After Harris was announced as the pick on Tuesday, Abdullah tweeted, “I told y’all from the beginning” that Biden would pick Harris.
“Somebody owes me a dollar,” she joked, adding her Venmo and CashApp usernames. Within an hour, she had $46.
Times staff writers Dakota Smith and David Zahniser contributed to this report.


latimes--2020-08-12--Magnitude 3.9 earthquake hits near Clearlake, Calif.

A magnitude 3.9.0 earthquake was reported Wednesday morning at 4:45 a.m. 11 miles from Clearlake , Calif. , according to the U.S. Geological Survey .
The earthquake occurred 12 miles from Healdsburg , Calif. , 17 miles from Windsor , Calif. , 22 miles from Santa Rosa , Calif. , and 28 miles from Ukiah , Calif .
The quake was originally reported as being a magnitude 4.0 , then was downgraded to magnitude 3.9 on the USGS website .
In the last 10 days , there have been no earthquakes of magnitude 3.0 or greater centered nearby .
An @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 4.0 and 5.0 occur per year in California and Nevada , according to a recent three year data sample .
The earthquake occurred at a depth of 2.5 miles .
Did you feel this earthquake ?
Consider reporting what you felt to the USGS .
Find out what to do before , and during , an earthquake near you by reading our five-step earthquake preparedness guide .
This story was automatically generated by Quakebot , a computer application that monitors the latest earthquakes detected by the USGS .
A Times editor reviewed the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ you ’ re interested in learning more about the system , visit our list of frequently asked questions .

A magnitude 3.9.0 earthquake was reported Wednesday morning at 4:45 a.m. 11 miles from Clearlake, Calif., according to the U.S. Geological Survey.
The earthquake occurred 12 miles from Healdsburg, Calif., 17 miles from Windsor, Calif., 22 miles from Santa Rosa, Calif., and 28 miles from Ukiah, Calif.
The quake was originally reported as being a magnitude 4.0, then was downgraded to magnitude 3.9 on the USGS website.
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In the last 10 days, there have been no earthquakes of magnitude 3.0 or greater centered nearby.
An average of 25 earthquakes with magnitudes between 4.0 and 5.0 occur per year in California and Nevada, according to a recent three year data sample.
The earthquake occurred at a depth of 2.5 miles. Did you feel this earthquake? Consider reporting what you felt to the USGS.
Find out what to do before, and during, an earthquake near you by reading our five-step earthquake preparedness guide.
This story was automatically generated by Quakebot, a computer application that monitors the latest earthquakes detected by the USGS. A Times editor reviewed the post before it was published. If you’re interested in learning more about the system, visit our list of frequently asked questions.


latimes--2020-08-12--Pregnant woman struck by Jeep, killed while walking on sidewalk with husband in Anaheim

A woman who was 35 weeks pregnant was killed Tuesday night in a suspected DUI crash in Anaheim , authorities @ @ @ @ @ by Katella Avenue and Bayless Street when a driver lost control of her vehicle , @ @ @ @ @ the 23-year-old woman , who was walking on the sidewalk with her husband .
Officials @ @ @ @ @ crash just after 7:30 pm , said Sgt .
Shane Carringer , a spokesman for @ @ @ @ @ The woman was pronounced dead , and her baby , who was delivered by cesarean @ @ @ @ @ condition .
Her husband was uninjured , Carringer said .
The driver of the vehicle @ @ @ @ @ with non-life-threatening injuries .

A driver lost control, jumped a curb and struck a 23-year-old pregnant woman, who was walking on the sidewalk with her husband at Katella Avenue and Bayless Street in Anaheim on Tuesday, police said.
A woman who was 35 weeks pregnant was killed Tuesday night in a suspected DUI crash in Anaheim, authorities said.
The incident occurred by Katella Avenue and Bayless Street when a driver lost control of her vehicle, jumped a curb and struck the 23-year-old woman, who was walking on the sidewalk with her husband. Officials received a call about the crash just after 7:30 pm, said Sgt. Shane Carringer, a spokesman for the Anaheim Police Department.
The woman was pronounced dead, and her baby, who was delivered by cesarean section, is in critical condition. Her husband was uninjured, Carringer said.
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The driver of the vehicle was transported to a hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.