11 Years of Lummis Day!

Juggler Alan Laurano | Courtesy Lummis Day

Juggler Alan Laurano | Courtesy Lummis Day

With music, poetry, dance, film, art and a puppet parade, the 11th annual Lummis Day festival delighted participants of all ages across four locations in Northeast Los Angeles during the first weekend in June 2016.

These diverse performances and exhibits represented the city’s rainbow of cultural traditions, and would not be possible without the support of a grassroots coalition of arts groups and neighborhood associations. Two changes to 2016's program were the addition of Occidental College in Eagle Rock as the site of the opening night film presentation and the annual Sunday morning poetry gala's debut at its new venue, the Southwest Museum,

The festival’s performances took place at Sycamore Grove Park on Sunday, June 5 and York at Avenue 50 on Saturday, June 4, while a major art exhibition — “The Spirit, Work and Impact of Highland Park’s Centro de Arte Publico 1977”– took place on Saturday, June 4 with a reception featuring some of the preeminent voices of Southern California’s Chicano arts community.


The schedule of events for 2016's Lummis Day celebration:

 

  • Friday, June 3, 7:00 pm: Occidental College, Choi Auditorium, 1600 Campus Road —  Do you think you know LA?: Three films about Los Angeles.” (Presented by the Highland Park Independent Film Festival and Lummis Day.) Screenings of two short short films and one acclaimed feature documentary that speak to the Northeast L.A. community: “Once Upon a Time in Chavez Ravine,” “Murals of Aztlan” and “East LA Interchange.” Followed by a q&a panel moderated by Terrence Butcher.
Award-winning “East L.A. Interchange” screens at Occidental College, Friday, June 3 on Lummis Day’s opening night.

Award-winning “East L.A. Interchange” screens at Occidental College, Friday, June 3 on Lummis Day’s opening night.

  • Saturday, June 4, 11:00 am: Art exhibit — “The Spirit, Work and Impact of Highland Park’s Centro de Arte Publico 1977.” Rare work by artists Carlos Almaraz, Frank Romero, John Valadez, Leo Limon, Robert “Tito” Delgado, Barbara Carrasco, Dolores Hernandez Guerrero, Dan Benesch, Richard Duardo and Guillermo Bejarano. With a noon reception for the artists featuring filmmaker/playwright Richard Montoya, writer Tomas Benitez and music by Willie Herron with Los Illegals.
  • Saturday, June 4, 1:00 pm-6:00 pm: York Boulevard at Avenue 50 — Live music, crafts, art, food trucks. Performers include Highland Park’s The Remstoys, Occidental College’s Campus Security, chanteuse Jessica Fichot, The Tall Men Group and power trio, Superbean.
  • Sunday, June 5, 10:30 am-noon: Southwest Museum, 234 Museum Drive — Annual poetry gala: readings by acclaimed poets in the courtyard featuring Laurel Ann Bogen, Wendy Ortiz, Antonieta Villamil, Henry Morro and Lummis Day’s poetry host, Suzanne Lummis. Music provided by master guitarist, Joe Calderón.
Noted poet Suzanne Lummis hosts the annual poetry gala, Sunday June 5 at the Southwest Museum.

Noted poet Suzanne Lummis hosts the annual poetry gala, Sunday June 5 at the Southwest Museum.

  • Sunday June 5, 10:00 am-4:00 pm: Southwest Museum Art exhibit continues in the Sprague Gallery. “The Spirit, Work and Impact of Highland Park’s Centro de Arte Publico 1977”
  • Sunday, June 5, Noon-7:00 pm: Sycamore Grove Park, 4902 North Figueroa St.  — Music, dance, puppets, fish and robots on five stages. On Stages 1 and 2, performers include The Andersons, Blue Agave, Highland Hawks, GrooveSession, Yari More, the JC Cultural Foundation’s Lion Dancers, the Sophie Olson Dance Explosion, the USC Ballroom and Latin Dance Team, and Futuro / The Jr. Dance Company of CONTRA-TIEMPO. Stage 3 features Laura Jean Anderson, Levitation Room, Viento Callajero, Blues Channel and De’Anza. The Puppets and Players Little Theatre present their version of The Wizard of Oz and on the adjoining Bugs and Balloons stage, special performances for the little ones from Skeleton Crew Pirate Band and Tuba Heatherton. The Emerging Talent Stage hosts The Children’s Living History of Los Angeles performance, PG Dance, and bands The Friendly Strangers, Ceviche Springs and The Crudes. MC’s will include veteran Fox 11 and My 13 TV reporter Hal Eisner and comedians Carl Kozlowski and Robin Reiser.

For the first time in 2016 Anahuak Soccer sponsors a Run / Walk at 11:30 am and, in the afternoon, five 20-minute junior soccer matches will be held on an hourly basis. The Family Fun area includes The FoLar River Rover, a visor decorating workshop sponsored by ASNC, the Franklin RoboNerds, Home Depot and Color Spot’s planting experience, the Urban Science Corps “Ecovoices,” The Tongva necklace workshop and a fish puppet making workshop sponsored by the Arroyo Arts Collective and Teatro Arroyo. Fun for everyone.

LummisDay.org takes its name from Charles Fletcher Lummis.. A prolific writer and photographer, Lummis founded Los Angeles’ first museum, the Southwest Museum of the American Indian. He was also one of the city’s first librarians, founded the Landmark Society which preserved the California missions and helped introduce the concept of multi-culturalism to Southern California.