Theatre Design & Technology - Summer 2000 - 76

United States Institute
for Theatre Technology, Inc.
The Association of Design, Production, and
Technology Professionals in the Performing
Arts and Entertainment Industry

visit us at www.usitt.org
or call 800-93-USITT
for membership information
and application

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year, but it also provides access to its collection at indilidual screening and
listening stations. At anyone time, as many as -l00 television programs are
readily available to Visitors, but any other program in tlle archive may be
screened if it has been requested one week in advance.
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences features two resources in Beverly Hills that should be of interest to USITI members: the
Academy Gallery, located in the Academy's office building on Wilshire
Blvd., and the Margaret Herrick Library, housed in a beautiful old Spanish-style building on La Cienega Blvd. The Academy Gallery features exhibits that often focus on production design and costume design for
films. The Herrick Library has an extensive collection of film-related resources, including some original designs for motion pictures. The library
is open to the public on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays.
Since next year's SlIT conference will be held during the week leading
up to the Academy Awards ceremony, it should be a busy time at both the
gallety and the libraty.
While recent writers and scholars have debated whether or not California is still part of the contemporary Americ:m West, there is plenty of
evidence of California's Western past in two local museums: the Autry
Museum of r estern Heritage and the Southwest Museum. The Autry Museum, named for the singing cowboy himself, Gene Autry, houses a wonderfully eclectic collection of art, historical artifacts, and Hollywood
memorabilia, all related to the history and culture of the American West,
including that of Native Americans. The museum is located in Griffith
Park, within walking distance {rom the Los Angeles Zoo. The Southwest
Museum is dedicated to the preservation of 'ative American art and histOlY and is located between downtown Los Angeles and Pasadena.
Other museums further allest to the culnlral diversity of southern
California. The California African-Anlerican Museum has both fine arts
and history exhibits about African-American life. The Japanese Anlerican
National Museum, in the Little Tokyo district, is devoted to the history
and contributions of Japanese immigral1ls and Japanese Anlericans, and
features a new exhibition wing. The Museum of Tolerance examines the
problems of racism and prejudice and includes exhibits about the Holocaust and other similarly importal1l subjects. On the lighter side, the Hollywood Entertainment Museum includes some of the sets from the TV
shows "Cheers" and "Star Trek." There are also the Movieland Wax Museum in Buena Park, near Knott's Berry Farm, and the Museum of I eon
Art and the Petersen Automotive Museum, both in Los Angeles.
Even if you can't travel beyond Long Beach while you're in town for
the conference, you can still enhance your stay by I~sits to two localmuseums. The Museum of Latin American Art is the only museum in the .S.
devoted exclusively to the art of Mexico, Central Anlerica, South Anlerica,
and the Spanish-speaking Caribbean. The Long Beach Museum of Art has
a modern and contemporalY collection of painting, sculpture, video art
and photography within a 19 I2 mansion that overlooks the Pacific. The
museum is celebrating its 50th anniversaly this year with the opening of
a new wing that will double its exhibition space.
All in all, the arts, history, and cultures of the world get their due in
the museums of southern California. For USITI members attending the
200 I Conference and Stage Expo, Long Beach can serve as a base camp
for discovering what these museums have to offer, making the conference that much more enriching and enjoyable.*:.

of ~si9n. Production. lind T~chnol09Y
Pf!rformlll9 Ans .lind

Prof~SSlonll'sin lh~

Entf!rlllinm~ntIndustry

Brian Reed is tbe designel; tecbllical director and cbair of
tbeatre arts at IfIbillier College, and tbe regional prograJl/ming
coordillatorfor tbe 2001 USITT Conference & Stage £.\po.
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http://www.usitt.org

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Theatre Design & Technology - Summer 2000