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On Sunday, November 13 at 3 p.m., Claremont Heritage will premiere Claremont Modern: The Convergence of Art + Architecture at Midcentury, a documentary chronicling the movement that has come to be known as the “Claremont School,” where the intersection of art and architecture produced an incredible creative output at mid-century. The premiere will be held at the Garrison Theater at Scripps College, including a Q & A with Filmmaker Paul Bockhorst and Alan Hess, architectural historian and author, followed by a wine reception. Claremont is known for its tree-lined streets, stately college campuses, diverse architectural styles and a small-town, quintessential American village. It could be the perfectly designed, all-American setting for any film. It is lesser known as one of the rare places with a cultural character embracing art, architecture, design and education. Recently new attention and scholarship is being given to its important role in the history of mid-20th century architecture, craft and art. The focus on Claremont began in 2012, with the Getty initiative, Pacific Standard Time: Art in LA 1945-1980, that celebrated the vibrancy of art in the Los Angeles area with more than 30 concurrent exhibitions, some featuring Claremont artists. Locally, two organizations have advanced the scholarship and interest even more—Claremont Heritage and the Claremont Museum of Art. The organizations collaborated to present a series of four exhibitions in 2012, in conjunction with Pacific Standard Time, under the banner of Claremont Modern. The series explored both the art and architecture of the community. And, in 2014, the museum premiered its film Design for Modern Living: Millard Sheets and the Claremont Art Community 1935–1975 that focused on Claremont as an important center for the visual arts. With the development of substantial art programs at the Claremont Colleges, spearheaded by the artist and educator Millard Sheets, Claremont attracted a large number of artists in the years following World War II. Painters, sculptors, ceramists, muralists and mosaic artists, architects and designers shared ideas and forged close friendships. With a cultural climate that was conducive to the integration of art, craft and architecture, Claremont became an important center of midcentury modern design. Claremont had developed as an art community in the 1930 and 1940s with artist/teachers such as Arthur and Jean Ames, William Manker, Henry McFee, Richard Petterson, Albert Stewart, Millard Sheets and Milford Zornes. But it was in the 1950s that Claremont really buzzed. With the end of war came a renewed hope in the American Dream and all things possible. Returning vets used the GI Bill to attend college. The electricity in Claremont was generated by Millard Sheets who accepted many young artists into the Graduate School to study at Scripps College and took on Sam Maloof and others as apprentices. Claremont became a veritable hotbed of modernism and as painter Karl Benjamin would later say, “the epicenter of the art world in Southern California in the 1950s and 1960s.” Claremont had long enjoyed the works of turn-ofthe-century classic revivalist architects such as Marston and Maybury, Gordon Kaufmann and Myron Hunt, who worked with several of the Claremont Colleges. The Modernist movement in Claremont can be traced back to one of the earliest Arts and Crafts houses, The Darling House, designed in 1903 by Greene and Greene, that marked the brothers’ shift from an early, more conventional style to a groundbreaking new form of design. People associated with the Claremont art community and the Claremont Colleges were highly receptive to modern trends in architecture, and many of them engaged the services of local architects to create houses and other structures suited to the informal, nature-oriented lifestyle of southern California. Post-and-beam construction, flat or low-pitched roofs, extensive use of glass, perforated concrete-block sun screens, carports, integrated atriums and patios, and careful attention to landscape design typify the modern architecture produced in the Pomona Valley in the postwar period. At mid-century, the architects who created work in Claremont reads like an American Institute of Architects Who’s Who: Richard Neutra, Theodore Criley Jr., Foster Rhodes Jackson, Cliff May, Everett Tozier, Buff and Hensman, Whitney Smith, Fred McDowell, and Paul R. Williams. Others such as Boyd Georgi, Claremont COURIER/Friday, November 4, 2016 8 Claremont Modern: The Convergence of Art + Architecture by John Neiuber Photo from Claremont Heritage US Bank & Trust, formerly Pomona First Federal, boasts a a mosaic of Native Americans on horses surrounded by flowering yucca plants created by Millard Sheets. COURIER photo/Steven Felschudneff Cliff May and Chris Choate designed the Milford Zornes home on Via Padova in 1953, which now includes a studio and carport addition by Theodore Criley and Fred McDowell in 1963. Carl Troedsson and Leland Evison also made their collective mark on the residential landscape. Not to be overshadowed by residential commissions, the institutional and commercial output during this period included work by A. Quincy Jones & Frederick Emmons, Victor Gruen & Associates, Pereira & Luckman, Edward A. Killingsworth and famed east coast architect Edward Durell Stone. John Lautner designed an office building and shopping center for Claremont although they were never built. Mr. Lautner did design Henry’s Diner (now demolished) on Route 66 on the Pomona border that was the epitome of modern drive-in architecture; a huge whale-like structure that offered respite on the drive from the desert to the city. The buildings and homes were filled with modern furnishings and artwork by local artists and craftsmen. Those artists and craftsmen, many of whom came to study after WWII, made Claremont their lifelong home, working as professors, designers and studio artists. These included Karl Benjamin, Harrison McIntosh, Paul Darrow, Betty Davenport Ford, Rupert Deese, Phil Dike, John and Gretchen Fassbinder, Carl and Sue Hertel, and John Svenson, among others. Modernism had a deep and enduring influence in Claremont. The 90-minute documentary chronicles the efforts of forward-looking architects and designers to create living environments suited to the physical and cultural landscape of Claremont and southern California. The film captures the area’s rich architectural heritage, from early expressions of modern thinking to the residential housing boom of the postwar period to institutional and commercial projects that advanced modern ideas in architecture and design. Few places of equally small geographic area have produced such a plethora of outstanding work in both architecture and art that impacted the Modernism movement. Tickets for the November 13 screening and reception are $20 in advance or $25 at the door and are available at claremontheritage.org. Thanks to David Shearer, executive director of Claremont Heritage, for his contributions to this column. SUBSCRIBE (or renew!) ONLINE and get $5 off! Every Friday in print. Every day online. claremont-courier.com • 621 4761 Claremont <strong>Cour</strong>ier claremont-courier.com
Claremont COURIER/Friday, November 4, 2016 9 Claremont mayor urges ‘yes’ vote on Measure M by Sam Pedroza, mayor of Claremont Measure M on the November 8 ballot is unanimously supported by the Claremont City Council, and is a measure I strongly believe should be passed by voters. Measure M is a new half-cent sales tax that will fund 40 major highway and transit projects throughout our county in the first 40 years, including the Foothill Gold Line light rail project to Claremont (which is one of the first projects to be funded under Measure M if it passes). All of these projects will provide alternative means of transportation and improvements to existing modes, giving residents of Claremont valuable time back by reducing time spent sitting in traffic. Not only does the extension of the Foothill Gold Line provide more transit options for Claremont residents, but it also creates another way to build our local economy by bringing people from Pasadena and Los Angeles to enjoy Claremont’s shopping, dining and cultural events. Other important local projects that would be funded by Measure M include improving the 57 and 60 interchange, the 605 and 10 and 605 and 60 interchanges, completing the SR-71 through Pomona, and providing hundreds of millions of dollars for bike, bus and other local projects to improve the way we move. Importantly, the measure also includes local return VIEWPOINT funds, estimated to bring more than $500,000 to the city of Claremont each year for improvements we decide to make to our transportation system here in our city. Notably, Metro has built-in room for flexibility in case new technologies come online or better solutions are found that we don’t know of today. They have also built in independent oversight to ensure the funds are spent as promised (both at the county level and at the city level). I have heard some people say they are against any new, permanent tax. I understand their concerns, but I must say that I believe a permanent sales tax is the best option in the case of Measure M. In addition to being able to bond against future revenues to build more projects and build them sooner, a permanent tax provides a higher proportion of local return to each local city; keeps fares low for seniors, students and the disabled; and provides Metro the ongoing funding they need to maintain their growing system in a state of good repair as it ages. If you look around the country today, many of the larger, older systems—like Washington, DC, Boston, Chicago and San Francisco—are having a terrible time maintaining their systems because they did not create a permanent funding stream to use for maintenance. This has caused safety issues as well as loss of service due to breakdowns or wearing of equipment. Rather than just asking voters to build additional rail miles and finish freeway segments that are long overdue for completion, Metro is strategically planning for the system’s future and ensuring they have the resources needed to keep the system running smoothly in the decades ahead. Measure M will also provide a huge economic boon for our region. The Los Angeles Economic Development Corporation estimates the measure will create more than 465,000 jobs for our region and generate billions of dollars of economic output that will boost our local economy. Unlike previous tax measure proposals, Metro did it right this time. They have spent time, worked with each area of the county, listened to the feedback and proposed a plan that benefits everyone. For us here in Claremont, it will mean getting the Foothill Gold Line to finally arrive in our city, at least $500,000 a year for local transportation improvements, funding for Metrolink and Dial-a-Ride and much more. There is no other source of money available to accomplish what Metro is proposing through Measure M, and I believe this is our chance to become a county prepared for the next century. I urge you to join our city council in support of Measure M on November 8. Every Friday in print. Every day online claremont-courier.com 621 4761
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