VILLAGE PARTY
Larchmont Spring Block Party drew its biggest crowd yet and raised money Page 2 BREAKING
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Exploring galleries on L.A.’s newest arts corridor—Western Avenue. Page 8
Larchmont Block party is a huge success
By Nona Sue Friedman
Born out of a desire to develop a sense of community coming out of COVID-19, Larchmont Village families created what has become a lasting neighborhood event.
The third annual Larchmont Spring Block Party took place May 4 on the 500 block of North Bronson Avenue. Well over 1,000 attended, making this year’s event is the biggest one yet.
Annie O’Rourke of North Irving Boulevard, who is part of the team that organized the event, says, “We’ve created a really nice team dynamic and a vibrant community for our kids.” In addition to bringing neighbors togeth-
er and having a plethora of local vendors, activities and food items, the event raised about $5,000. The funds were divided between TortoiseLand, Alexandria House and the Larchmont United Neighborhood Association.
Got Game facilitated the much anticipated balloon toss and a giant gaga game, while
the Anderson Munger YMCA debuted a street hockey setup, art projects and cardboard crafts. Musical performances filled the afternoon. Small, local businesses that do not yet have brick-and-mortar shops displayed their wares for attendees to peruse.
Barnsdall wine series fundraiser returns June 6
Nothing says summer better than lounging on the grass with friends, sipping wine and listening to music.
Barnsdall Art Park’s Friday Wine Tastings is just the place to do that, starting June 6. With the success of last year’s season, this 16th one is set to extend through Sept. 26. All proceeds support programming within the park.
The community event takes place on Olive Hill and the West Lawn of Frank Lloyd Wright’s Hollyhock House, the sole UNESCO World Heritage Site in L.A., Fridays from 5:30 to 9 p.m. Indulge in exquisite wines from long-standing partner Silverlake Wine, rel-
ish selections from a variety of food trucks and enjoy DJ performances. Attendees are advised to bring blankets for optimal comfort. Olive Hill takes you away from the urbanism of Los Angeles.
While on site, visit the exhibitions in the Los Angeles Municipal Art Gallery and the Barnsdall Junior Arts Center Gallery.
Tickets for the event, at 4800 Hollywood Blvd., start at $45 with other ticket options that include a tour of the Hollyhock House for $80. Rideshare and public transportation are highly encouraged. More information is at barnsdall.org.
HOLLYWOOD Highsteppers feature Larchmont neighbor Joseph Baun, pictured playing the washboard.
Photo by Keith Johnson
KIDS PLAY street hockey, the gear for which was provided by the Anderson Munger YMCA.
IN FRONT OF the bandstand are (left to right) Councilmember Hugo Soto-Martinez; Block Party committee members Claire Kosloff, Kelly McAdams and Annie O’Rourke; Joshua Marin-Mora, a Field Representative from Assemblymember Rick Chavez Zbur’s office; and Block Party committee member Maggie Peña.
ATTENDEES WAIT to pet a rescued tortoise held by TortoiseLand founder Kevin Proulx of Windsor Village.
SUMMER FRIDAYS will be celebrated at Barnsdall Park.
Budget cuts threaten Hollyhock House’s World Heritage status
Editor’s note: As we went to press, the Chronicle learned Council District 13 found alternative funding to keep Hollyhock House and Barnsdall Art Park off the chopping block for the new city budget.
The following was written prior to the Council action.
The release of the mayor’s draft budget last month was a citywide gut punch. The proposed cuts were in some sense justifiably draconian, reflective of the financial state in which Los Angeles finds itself. Few areas of civic life escaped the mayor’s budget cutting, including preservation. I despaired at the proposed cuts to the Office of Historic Resources, which will further erode the governance of Historic Preservation Overlay Zones and cause the cessation of updating SurveyLA, our main online preservation information resource. What really stopped the clock, however was the proposed cutting of all staff but one at Hollyhock House in Barnsdall Art Park, effectively closing it to the public and threatening its UNESCO World Heritage status.
Hollyhock House and its ancillary buildings were the brainchild of Pennsylvania oil heiress and arts patron Aline
Barnsdall, who in 1916 commissioned architect Frank Lloyd Wright to design an arts and theater complex for her. Named for the hollyhock flower-inspired motifs Wright spread throughout the property, it was designed in a hybrid style he called “California Romanza.” Largely complete by 1922, Barnsdall donated the house to the city four years later, in 1926. It has remained a center for the arts ever since. While at first considered an anomaly among Wright’s works, it has since been recognized for being a turning point in California architecture. Renowned architects Rudolph Schindler, Richard Neutra and Wright’s son Lloyd Wright all worked intimately on the complex, and other influential California architects such as John Lautner and Gregory Ain were inspired by it.
When Wright’s iconic Hollyhock House in Barnsdall Art Park was inscribed on the UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization) World Heritage List on July 7, 2019,
Los Angeles had its first bona fide internationally-recognized monument. This award was significant because, while L.A. has world-famous landmarks and places such as the Hollywood Sign, none of these had been chosen by an international body as a property “having outstanding universal value,” i.e. benefit to all mankind. It is essentially Los Angeles’ most significant architectural treasure.
It beggars belief then that the caretakers of this World Heritage Site at the Department of Cultural Affairs would countenance such a proposal after cutting staff previously, especially after a
grand reopening to the public in 2022, following a multimillion-dollar restoration. Such a move would threaten Hollyhock House’s World Heritage status, as it must retain at least four paid employees to remain on the list. The loss of this designation would be a cultural low point for Los Angeles which is expecting millions of tourists in coming years to attend high profile international events including the Olympics. Justifiably alarmed, The Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation released a statement declaring, “The eyes of the world are on the City of Los Angeles. We hope they will choose to properly
steward this incredible piece of our global cultural heritage.”
Thankfully the threat of the loss of world heritage status has galvanized opposition to the cuts and garnered numerous press articles
Even Councilmember Hugo Soto-Martínez of Council District 13 weighed in, telling the L.A. Times, “We’re exploring all options through the budget process to save our dedicated Hollyhock House staff and preserve its protected status.”
You can still send your comments to councilmember.soto-martinez@lacity.org or call 213-473-7013.
HOLLYHOCK HOUSE in Barnsdall Art Park in 2022
Photo by Joshua White/JWPictures
On Preservation by Brian Curran
Fashion, Derby and Wild West galas; Egg and Eye turns 60
May was a busy month around Los Angeles, so let’s not waste any time! Here we go!
The Assistance League of Los Angeles took over The Lakeside Golf Club in Burbank May 1 to celebrate their annual “A Chic Affaire” fundraising celebration.
Guests were treated to a
ASSISTANCE LEAGUE
CEO Greg Kovacs, College
Alumnae Auxiliary Chair June Bilgore and honorees Dia and Ray Schuldenfrei.
Around the Town with Sondi Toll Sepenuk
luncheon, a fashion show featuring locals aplenty and boutique shopping galore. The League, which has been around for 106 years, supports five local auxiliaries, including Anne Banning (Operation School Bell), Assisteens, College Alumnae, Hilltoppers, Mannequins, Nine O’Clock Players and the Preschool Auxiliary. In 2024 alone, these auxiliaries provided clothing for over 10,000 needy kids, performed live theater productions for over 7,000 children, sent low-income children to preschool and helped many young adults see their dream of going to col-
lege become a reality. Catwalk fashion models, who wore clothes from Michael Kors spring/summer 2025 collection, included Jan Daley, Donna Econn, Alice Chan and Rebecca Trail. Guests enjoyed champagne and charcuterie, gorgonzola mixed green salad with tomatoes and candied pecan and grilled chicken breast with butternut squash and asparagus. Honorees were community members Dia and Ray Schuldenfrei, who have dedicated decades of time and resources to helping the children of Los Angeles. Reflecting upon their years of support for the organization, Ray Schuldenfrei told the guests, “I had hoped that with the effort that you, I and everyone else has put in for
more than the last 50 years, the problem would get a heck of a lot better. But sadly, it hasn’t. As you see here, the need is greater today than it ever was even 50 years ago… If you’re not taking any active role in improving your community, especially starting with kids, do it now. Do it with the envelope, join the organization. Continue to give your support, as you are today, and tomorrow will be better for everyone.”
• • •
The annual Big Sunday fundraiser event, held on April 27, looked a little different this year—for good reason. Instead of the usual restaurant venue, this year’s celebration was held at thdd organization’s new permanent home in Hollywood (just a stone’s throw from Musso & Frank!), with the event serving double duty as an
energetic housewarming party and the 10th annual gala celebration. The garden party featured art, music, good food and great people. Eating stations included an interactive pasta station with cacio e pepe and strozzapreti pasta; a barbecue station filled with charred green bean salad, house-smoked beef brisket,
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ALICE CHAN models.
MODEL DONNA ECONN wearing one of the Michael Kors dresses.
ATTENDEES (left to right) Isabel Mayfield, Susan Kneafsey, Erin Garvan, Danielle Reyes, Shelagh Callahan, Kiel Fitzgerald, Marion Plato, Margaret Cherene, Jan Daley and Donna Econn.
JAN DALEY struts her stuff on the Chic Affaire runway.
Around the Town
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thick-cut seasoned wedge fries; and an imported and domestic cheese station loaded with marinated Spanish olives, candied nuts, dried fruits and handmade lavash. A Big Vodka Cranberry and Tequila Sunday cocktail bar kept everyone in good spirits as singers and musicians took to the outdoor stage, welcoming all volun-
teers and attendees to join them onstage for a rousing rendition of “Put a Little Love in Your Heart.” The mission of the Big Sunday organization is to connect people through helping, offering an enormous variety of opportunities and projects that unite people to improve lives, build community and give everyone a sense of belonging. Locals spotted in the crowd included Zoe and Danny Corwin, Dr. Howard Mandel, Allan Marks and Bill Devlin. Founder and Executive Director David Levinson thanked guests with a heartfelt recap of everything that the organization has done since 1999 and everything it continues to do as it grows and moves forward. “From Studio City and Santa Ana to London to Shanghai, I like to
COMING DRESSED to the nines for the Kentucky
think that everyone that came through that door has felt seen and heard and respected and been appreciated and known.”
• •
•
Couldn’t make it to the Kentucky Derby? For many locals who found themselves in that completely unfortunate predicament, the next best thing was the backyard lawn party in Lafayette Square of interior designer Jenna Flexner and realtor Erik Flexner of The Flexner Group. Residents came from surrounding neighborhoods, including Brookside, Hancock Park, Larchmont and Lafayette/Wellington Square. I mean, if you weren’t wearing hats, seersucker suits and bright floral dresses, why
were you even there? In other words, everyone understood the assignment and came dressed to impress. The fun didn’t stop there, though. While waiting for the big race, guests quenched their thirst
with Derby Day cocktails including the mint julep, Kentucky mule, and bourbon and
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WEARING THEIR HATS are Jenna Flexner, Jacquie Menville, Ina Bryant and Sondi Sepenuk, bottom, wearing a hat which was her Granny’s, who passed away two weeks before, at the age of 104.
COLORFUL GROUP: Steve and Susan Matloff, Fawn and Jeremy Fletcher. DRESSED FOR THE EVENT: Janell Fonsworth English, Traci Bates, Lauran Jackson, Shawn Holley, Ina Bryant and Donna Robertson.
LOCAL SUPPORTERS, left to right, Pete Sepenuk of Brookside and Zoe and Danny Corwin of Windsor Square.
LOCAL ATTENDEES to Big Sunday included Allan Marks (left) with Dr. Howard Mandel.
BIG SUNDAY EVENT.
Derby party was this dapper couple.
BACKYARD KENTUCKY Derby party hosts Jenna and Erik Flexner are ready for the races!
Around the Town
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Coke. Hand-served appetizers found their way onto every guest’s plate; fruits, cheeses, mini sliders and so much more made sure the guests were ready for the big race. After hours of anticipation, it was time for the big event and a hush came upon the crowd. Within minutes, Sovereignty, listed at 9-1 odds, crossed the finish line first to enthusiastic hoots and hollers. Guests including Stephen and Susan Matloff and Saladin Patterson celebrated by begging the Flexners to make the party an annual tradition. Until we once again hear “And they’re off!”
• •
• Wilshire Boulevard’s Craft Contemporary Museum was jumping on May 10
MUSEUM EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
with its Benefit & Auction to celebrate 60 years of creativity, craft and community.
The event included a sold-out dinner and auction, which was then followed by an enthusiastic after-party in the museum’s outdoor courtyard.
During the dinner, the mu-
seum paid tribute to Edith R. Wyle, the visionary founder of The Egg and The Eye, and her profound legacy. The museum also honored Bari Ziperstein, a Los Angeles-based artist specializing in ceramics and mixed media, both functional and sculp-
tural. Silent auction items included a glass candelabra by Katherine Gray, a ceramic bird by Patti Warashina, and a textile laundry bag by Gere Kavanaugh. Afterparty guests were treated to Descanso bites that included birria empanadas, taquitos de camaron and tres leches de coco. Alex Evans and The Bob Baker Marionettes entertained the excited crowd with some golden marionette classics, while drag queen performer Chantal brought down the house with showstopping numbers by
Cher. Executive Director Rody N. Lopez was thrilled with the turnout, commenting, “I’m deeply grateful to everyone who came out to support our mission. It’s a privilege to follow in the footsteps of so many who have contributed to our legacy—especially our visionary founder, Edith R. Wyle. As we honor the past, celebrate the present with trailblazing artists like Bari Ziperstein and look ahead, we joyfully
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Rody N. Lopez (left) with actor (and Edith Wyle’s grandson) Noah Wyle and his wife, Sara.
ALEX EVANS of The Bob Baker Marionettes entertains the captive onlookers at the Craft Museum after-party. DRAG PERFORMANCE by Chantal as Cher brought down the house.
BULL RIDER Roger Morrison with his wife, Lisa.
NGA GALA PARTYGOERS Tommy and Lacy Drissi with Oona and Donald Kanner.
An explosion of art along L.A.’s newest arts corridor—Western
By Helene Seifer
As recently as 2019, the intersection of Melrose and Western avenues was a sleepy blend of discount furniture stores and hole-in-the-wall restaurants, sprinkled with too many vacancies.
Cut to 2025 and the area around the once moribund intersection has exploded, filled with people enjoying the varied eateries, new retail and commercial businesses and possibly the largest concentration of galleries in Los Angeles, many with stunning wood bow-truss ceilings.
From those with an international presence to homegrown galleries, it’s time to take a walk along L.A.’s newest arts corridor.
Fernberger, 747 N. Western Ave.: Gallerist Emma Fernberger, who established her gallery in January 2024, has found her represented artists in unusual ways. She explains that she signed an artist after she “saw a painting in the background of a Zoom call.” The gallery focuses on intergenerational and overlooked artists, particularly women artists. Showing now through June is “3 a.m.,” Greta Waller’s sensitive paintings of ephemeral subjects, which include melting ice cubes.
Southern Guild, 747 N. Western Ave., which is based in Capetown, South Africa and Los Angeles, presents contemporary art and collectible design from Africa and its diaspora. For Pride Month in June, they have two exhibits: “Faces and Phases 19”—photographer Zanele Muholi’s 19-year journey to document those in the Black LGBTQAI+ commu-
nity; and “In Us is Heaven,” a group show of 17 artists. Hannah Hoffman, 725 N. Western Ave., Suite 105, (in addition to a larger space in MacArthur Park), is tucked into a gated courtyard, along with high-end furniture and clothing stores. Those who buzz to enter will find a tiny gallery whose purpose is to concentrate the viewer’s attention on just a few works of art. The gallery rep-
resents over 25 artists, with an emphasis on the estates of women artists who hadn’t earned the acclaim they deserved.
Rele, 711 N. Western Ave., also has galleries in London, England and Lagos, Nigeria. In Los Angeles, the current exhibits address memory and the emotional connection to home.
James Fuentes, 5015 Melrose Ave., one block west of Western, also has a 17-year-old gallery in New York. Representing 21 artists, the gallery specializes in rediscovering major artists and in diverse, out-of-the-mainstream art. Hannah Lee’s hyperrealist paintings of intimate and dreamlike interior scenes will go on view Sat., June 7.
Moran Moran, 641 N. Western Ave., specializes in emerging and mid-career artists and encourages artists to collaborate on creating work together. Through Sat., July 5, the exhibit “Play” showcases the work of 24 artists.
Wilding Cran Gallery, 607 Western Ave., is the newest art space on the street, having opened March 1. Gallerist Naomi deLuce Wilding chose to locate the gallery on Western because, “It’s great to be on a vibrant street.” She adds, “We’re most interested in L.A.based emerging artists.” Filling the gallery May 31-July 5 will be “Night Lights,” long-exposure photographic images by Austin Irving, which deLuce Wilding explains, “transforms ceilings and walls into luminous records of insomnia, jet lag and circadian disruption.”
David Zwirner, 606 N. Western Ave., is the largest and most well-established of the galleries in the neighborhood, with a 30-year history; galleries here and in New York, Paris, London and Hong Kong; and a roster of over 80 artists including art world heavy-hitters Yayoi Kusama, Ruth Asawa, Richard Serra and Gerhard Richter. On view in the three adjacent gallery buildings through Sat., June 14 is “Sidewalk Chalk,” by Katherine Bernhardt, large canvases depicting
a fun-house version of her childhood toys and obsessions. Through Sat., June 21, is “Cat-
Single-family homes
aclysm: The 1972 Diane Arbus Retrospective Revisited.” The
DINERS, 2023-2025, by Hannah Lee. Courtesy of the artist and James Fuentes LLC
OMBRE ICE by Greta Waller. Courtesy of the artist and Fernberger
TIARA KELLY, Los Angeles, 2024 by Zanele Muholi. Courtesy of the artist and Southern Guild
SOLD: This home at 108 N. Norton Ave. in Windsor Square
Historic Fremont Place
6 bedrooms, 4 baths, 2 half baths
Approximate sizes:
Main House 4,599 sq. ft.
Guest House 1,000 sq. ft.
24-hour in-person security guard
$5,450,000
appraised for $5,700,000 will pay 3% buyer’s agent commission call or text for an appointment: 310 . 956 . 6519
760 . 518 . 9655
PARTY GALS AND NGA MEMBERS Jules Berg, Kiel Fitzgerald and Beverly Brown.
Around the Town
(Continued from Page 6) imagine the next 60 years of creativity, community and the transformative power of craft.”
• • • Did you hear the country western music blaring through the streets of Windsor Square on May 17? Maybe you didn’t hear it, but your eyes surely didn’t lie seeing the stream of revelers, dressed in their Wild
MCS OLIVIA AND STEVE KAZANJIAN invite guests to dip deep into pockets to support local charities.
West best, two-steppin’ down the street to June Bilgore’s home. Behind the ivy-covered walls, her backyard oasis was transformed into an authentic-feeling country Western ranch for the National Giving Alliance (NGA) annual fundraiser, a Western-themed Giddy-Up Gala, which drew 100 NGA members, plus their spouses and friends. Barbecue, dancing and fundraising were top of mind. Cowpokes chowed down on brisket, chicken thighs, pulled pork, street corn, baked beans, coleslaw and of course an open bar, boasting beer out of a glass boot. If you
NGA PRESIDENT DANIELLE REYES (far right) with Chris Drynan and Jason and Beverly Brown.
were in a barn dance frame of mind, you jumped on the dance floor to shuffle your way through a line dance taught by a professional instructor. Not a dancer? No problem. A silent auction, raffle and live auction were there for the bidding and to entertain. Live auction items included a Torrey Pines getaway, a Mammoth vacation package and VIP tickets to a USC Trojans football game (Fight on!). Raffle items included a pair of black pearl earrings, a private horseback riding lesson and an antique jewelry combo. Steve and Olivia Kazanjian emceed the live auction, asking the attendees to open their wallets and open their hearts.
NGA President Danielle Reyes told attendees, “Over the last five years, NGA has donated over 100,000 items to local groups, including bedding, clothing, socks… which transfers to about $250,000 worth of goods…and it’s really needed at this time in our
MEMBER Susan
community, as you know.” Local organizations supported by NGA include Alexandria House, Assistance League of Los Angeles, Aviva, Good
Shepherd, Imagine LA, Los Angeles House of Ruth and Sunnyside 5.
And now you’re in the Larchmont know!
L’Ermitage Hotel partnered with Arhaus at Poza
By H. Hutcheson
The upstairs bar/restaurant at L’Ermitage Hotel, Poza has been redesigned using the outdoor furniture collection from Arhaus. On the eastern edge of Beverly Hills, Poza has a 360-degree view of the Hollywood Hills, Pacific Ocean and Downtown L.A. After accidentally descending to the private entrance of the hotel (elevator door opening on surprised guests and bodyguard), we were brought to the openair roof to enjoy cocktails and small bites amidst intimate seating areas, bars and plenty of Angelenos. I can’t imagine a more quintessential L.A. scene. On a side note, actor James Woods and his wife, photographer Sara Miller, warmly welcomed us as they are residing at the hotel while their Palisades Fire-damaged
house is repaired. Woods, also a songwriter, shared that he is headed back to the nearby Sunset Sound Recording Studio to record music with Shooter Jennings.
WITH HER SON, Evangeline and EJ Alejo.
NGA
Kneafsey (center), with Jamor Townsend (left) and Traek Adra.
BRAVE NGA SPOUSES who give all year.
JAMES WOODS AND SARA MILLER, residents of L’Ermitage in Beverly Hills, enjoy the Arhaus redo of rooftop bar Poza.
NGA LADIES dressed supporting the western theme.
ARHAUS FURNISHINGS revamp Poza at L’Ermitage Hotel.
Enthusiastic crowd attends Petals & Pathways Garden Tour
By Helene Seifer
It was a chilly, drizzly day, but that didn’t stop over 200 garden enthusiasts from visiting the five spectacular home gardens on the 2025 Petals & Pathways Garden Tour May 3, presented by the Windsor Square-Hancock Park Historical Society (WSHPHS) and the Institute of Classical Architecture and Art.
The homeowners whose gardens were on tour were Sarah Shun-lien and Leigh Dana Jackson, Alysoun and Al Higgins, Heather and John Fogarty, Leah and Sam Fischer and Jay Griffith, who generously invited the tour participants to explore the interior of his golf course-adjacent estate.
Joseph Guidera, president of WSHPHS, notes that many factors contributed to
the Garden Tour’s success: devoted Society volunteers, gracious residents who open up their gardens “and our generous friends and neigh-
bors who show up every year to buy tickets and support our organization. It really is what the Windsor Square-Hancock Park community is all about.”
FRONT WALKWAY to landscaper Jay Griffith’s golf course estate. Photos by Alex Elliot for WSHPHS
LUSH LANDSCAPING on Leah and Sam Fischer’s double-lot Colonial Revival home.
HEATHER AND JOHN FOGARTY replaced their driveway with a welcoming garden path.
CHARMING PLANT BEDS grace the backyard of Alysoun and Al Higgins’ Craftsman home.
LANDSCAPER Jay Griffith (second from right) with WSHPHS members (left to right) Jane Gilman, Richard Battaglia and WSHPHS President Joseph Guidera.
DROUGHT-TOLERANT LANDSCAPING greets visitors to Sarah Shun-lien Bynum and Leigh Dana Jackson’s late Mission Style home.
Cherry blossoms bloomed briefly and spectacularly in Japan
By Suzan Filipek
We booked our recent trip to Japan a year in advance to see the cherry blossoms, which only bloom briefly in the spring. Bamboo forests, geishas and fresh seafood are among the country’s many other charms.
We arrived in Tokyo on a cold and rainy night. The next morning, undaunted, with umbrellas in hand, we toured the city—a crowded mix of towering skyscrapers, historic shrines and Ginza, a well-heeled shopping district.
We traveled with an American tour led by a Tokyoite, Yukiko. She carried a sparkly telescopic flagpole to make her easy to spot among the crowds as we followed her to the Imperial Palace East Gardens, now part of the Royal Palace and home to Japan’s Royal family.
We breathed in incense at the spectacular red-and-gold Senso-ji Buddhist temple and enjoyed a delicious lunch of noodles with scallops and shrimp seared on a grill right at our table.
On our third day we had our
TOUR GUIDE Yukiko takes us to Shirakawa-go, a traditional village that is part of a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
first peek of cherry blossoms across from Tokyo National Museum. The tree branches, dark and heavy from the rain, showered a pedestrian walkway in the city’s popular Ueno Park with brilliant blooms. And, hooray! The sun was coming out. The flowers’ falling pink petals would soon carpet much of the
journey ahead.
Leaving Tokyo by motor coach, we had a brief stop to view Mount Fuji (hidden behind a cloud) and spent the night at a mineral hot springs spa and traditional inn decorated with tatami (straw) mats and sliding doors made of paper.
Rested and refreshed the next day we boarded a bullet train and sped toward Takayama, a picturesque town that once provided a safe haven for the shogun, who held its dynasty in this mountain retreat for centuries. Its historic district is lined with wooden merchant houses that date back to the 1600s, preserved teahouses and sake breweries.
More history of the shogun rulers, romanticized as of late in movies and TV, was at our next stop, Kanazawa, where much of the world’s gold leaf is still manufactured.
Next was Kyoto, which lived up to its 1,000-year-old history as the Imperial City (before the capital was moved to Tokyo in 1869).
We walked around a lake at the sparkly Golden Pavilion
and visited Kenrokuen Garden, which dates to 1676; its ponds, waterfalls and flowers sprawl 25 acres.
Geishas are few in number these days but can still be seen in colorful kimono in Kyoto’s Gion District as they make their way in the early evening through a maze of streets and alleyways to waiting customers. Back at our hotel, the modern world came back into view when a robot (that looked very much like R2-D2) rode the elevator and rolled along the floors to make room-service calls.
Back on the train to Hiroshima, we disembarked from a city bus at the “Atomic Bomb” stop, in front of the skeletal Genbaku Dome, a multistory shell of a building and the only structure to survive the atomic bomb that was dropped on the city Aug. 6, 1945.
We visited the nearby Peace Memorial Park and Museum, where photos of bomb victims hang in the galleries and history is told of what led up to the bomb and its aftermath. It was possibly the most crowded, and certainly the most sobering venue on our trip.
A ferry ride to nearby Miyajima Island provided welcome relief, with sea breezes and vistas of the magnificent or-
ange Great Tori Gate and the Itsukushima Shrine. First built in the 12th century, the temple is dedicated to goddesses of seas and storms. Wild deer roam the grounds, and large oysters are the local specialty.
Steeped in tradition, spiritual practices and nature, Japan is a wonderful mix of the old and the new, the sensual and high tech, with a mixture of romance and adventure making for an exotic trip of a lifetime. Especially when the cherry blossoms are in season.
GEISHAS can be seen in the Gion District in Kyoto.
CHERRY BLOSSOMS bloom briefly each spring. Above: the grounds of Nijo Castle in Kyoto.
The Ebell honors Kentucky Derby with mint juleps and ‘Sassy’ stories
Book serves 52 mid-week low-alcohol drinks. Cheers!
By Nona Sue Friedman
A new book came out just in time for summer — “Wednesday Night Wine-Down,” by Jennifer Newens. It offers one seasonal recipe per week for cocktails that feature wine, Port, sherry and vermouth. The hardcover book is compact and easy to read, and each recipe is accompanied by a beautiful color photograph. Try the recipe below for starters.
Champagne Bowler
This classic cocktail dates back to the 1930s and ‘40s. Makes 1 cocktail
3 fresh strawberries
3/4 ounces cognac
1/2 ounces simple syrup
1/2 ounces dry white wine
4 ounces chilled dry white sparkling wine
Strawberry for garnish
In a cocktail shaker, muddle the strawberries. Add the cognac, simple syrup and white wine. Add ice and shake until chilled. Strain into a cocktail glass and top with sparkling wine. Stir gently. Garnish with a fresh strawberry.
CHAMPAGNE BOWLER garnished with a strawberry is refreshing and light.
By Helene Seifer
The Ebell of Los Angeles went full Southern on May 6 in honor of the Kentucky Derby. The Guesthouse Band provided the bluegrass backdrop for a parade of fancy-hatted women quaffing the honorary drink of the Derby, the mint julep. Feather-festooned fascinators and wide-brimmed sun hats topped many heads at the “Sassy Southern Stories” evening of cocktails and storytelling.
Produced by two Ebell members, Wendy Hammers of Tasty Words Salon and Suzanne Weerts of Jam Creative, the social hour was followed by six storytellers, who regaled the sold-out crowd with hilarious personal stories reflecting their sassy Southern pasts. Hammers introduced the evening. Coming of age in
the South, killing a snake in New Orleans and a disastrous crossbow bonding experience with Dad are some of the subjects that filled the tales told by the accomplished storytellers, which included Emmy award-winning actress Sharon Lawrence, Courtney Crane, filmmaker Heather Le Roy,
Jenn Brown, Suzanne Weerts and actress and voiceover artist Janora McDuffie.
Sharing women’s stories is a key part of the mission of the Ebell of Los Angeles, which was founded by women, for women in 1894. For more information, go to tastywords.com and jamcreativestories.com.
Photo by Alyson Brown Studio
SASSY WOMEN, left to right: Sharon Lawrence, Wendy Hammers, Courtney Crane, Heather Le Roy, Jenn Brown, Suzanne Weerts and Janora McDuffie.
AN ENTHUSIASTIC hatted, mint julep-swigging attendee.
CO-PRODUCER of the Sassy evening, Wendy Hammers.
Pawn Shop sports bar to bury time capsule
Something special is happening on the corner of Melrose and Cahuenga at The Pawn Shop, 5901 Melrose Ave., Thurs., June 5, at 9:30 a.m. It’s a Time Capsule Ceremony where The Pawn Shop will bury a box marking the transformation of their building which served our community for over 40 years.
Once home to Brothers Collateral, owned by the Gintel family, this space is being
Galleries
(Continued from Page 8) exhibition recreates the singular artist’s 1972 posthumous photographic retrospective.
Chateau Shatto, 540 N. Western Ave. represents 14 idiosyncratic artists, one
reimagined as a next-generation sports bar. Heather Duffy Boylston, investor and community relations manager for the project, said this space is “one rooted in legacy, built for connection and designed with heart” by Diego Torres-Palma, a Larchmont resident and founder of Ventana Ventures. Doors are set to open spring of 2026.
The team will fill the container with community
memories, meaningful artifacts and a few words for the future, including this issue of the Chronicle Councilmember Hugo Soto-Martínez and other local leaders are expected to attend in celebration of the project. Boylston says, “What began as a casual idea between friends who were frustrated by the lack of meaningful places to watch a game, quickly turned into something bigger.”
PINK PANTHER in “Butter Butter Butter Butter Butter” (2024) by Katherine Bernhardt. Courtesy the artist, David Zwirner and Canada
of whom, Alan Lynch, has the solo show “Surface of this Teardrop World” in
June. Lynch withdrew from the art world in the 1950s. Although he continued to paint in private, he studied Buddhism and became an ordained monk. Gallery cofounder Olivia Barrett is happy to rediscover and present the artist’s oil paintings and watercolors.
C L E A R I N G, 530 N. Western Ave., also has a New York gallery. The Los Angeles gallery is showing “Rome is no longer in rome,” an exhibition of jewel-toned energetic figurative paintings by Henry Curchod, a young California-born artist of Iranian descent.
ACROSS
3. K-1st grade grad requirement
5. “Mrs. _____, you’re trying to seduce me.”
6. Garment expressing affiliations of grad 10. Latin “to say farewell”
12. Marlborough senior tradition
14. Speech by notable student 16. Take _____ school due to an F
17. Formal dance, promenade 19. Formal document of completion
DOWN
1. Loyola H.S. Grad tradition
2. Advisor for the next stage
4. Mobile celebration
7. School for focused programs
8. List for GPA 3.5-3.9
9. Flew the coop
11. Frenchy chose this path
13. Grad cap
15. Latin “with distinction”
17. Graduation song,”_____ and Circumstance”
18. Trains college students for military
ANSWERS: Please turn to page 15. Answers will also be on our online edition in early June.
GATHERING AT THE PAWN SHOP: Rudy Gintel (left) and Ernest Gintel (right) with Diego Torres-Palma (center) holding gift depicting legendary Dodger Sandy Koufax.
EARL’S COURT by Alan Lynch. Courtesy of the artist’s estate and Chateau Shatto
Roll of dice or roelete: Games of chance predate recorded history
When letting the fates decide, some reach for a die—a small plastic cube with six sides, each marked with a successive number of dots (called “pips”) counting from one to six. Tally up the two faces opposite one another (one and six, two and five, and three and four), and you’ll wind up with a total of seven each time.
A simple object, the die’s antecedents are some of the earliest gaming implements used by humans, predating recorded history. Ancient dice have been excavated from southeastern Iran (estimated to date back to between
2800 and 2500 B.C.), Scotland (3100-2400 B.C.) and Mohenjo-Daro in modern-day Pakistan (2500-1900 B.C.).
In ancient Greece, before cubic dice, one’s future was foretold by the throw of the cleaned, dried knucklebones of sheep and goats, their craggy, molar-like forms etched with numbers on each side. Though gambling was considered immoral in ancient Rome, the emperors Augustus, Caligula and Commodus were all enthusiastic about risking their riches. The emperor Claudius wrote the now lost “De arte ale-
Cleaning up Wilshire in Mile’s Operation Sparkle
The Miracle Mile Residential Association spent a very rainy morning cleaning up Wilshire Boulevard for the fourth annual Operation Sparkle event. Over 70 neighborhood volunteers were part of the cleanup on April 26. The community members were joined by Los Angeles Police Department officers as well local Field Deputy, Shannan Callan from Council District 5.
Senior Lead Officer Andrew Jones spoke to the volunteers
about the importance of events like Operation Sparkle. Attendees were treated to tacos and empanadas from El Cartel and donuts from SK Donuts.
ae,” or “On the Art of Dice.” In his dialogue “Phaedrus” (circa 370 B.C.), Plato even proclaimed that dice—like geometry and astronomy— were invented by God.
As times changed, so too did the playing pieces by which fortunes were won or lost. Rectangular tiles numbered with pips first appeared in Italy during the 18th century, having been used in China since the Song Dynasty (960-1279 A.D.). Called “gwāt pái” ( ) in Cantonese (translating to “bone tiles”), the European version was named for the black-and-white colorings’ resemblance to the black, hooded cloaks worn by priests in cold weather. It was from these clerics, called “domini” (Latin for “masters”), that the tokens came to be termed “dominos.”
the Old French “roelete,” meaning “little wheel,” itself derived from the Latin word for wheel, “rota” (also the origin of “rotary” and “rotate”).
And who spins this wheel of fortune? A flick of the “croupier’s” wrist puts things in motion. The title traces back to the French “croupe,” meaning “rump of a horse.” Never intended to offend, the naming is due to the original sense of “croupier”—an associate of the gambler who carried extra
reserves of cash. The croupier stood behind the player at the gambling table, as one might do if sitting behind the rider on the back of a horse.
Lacking any gaming prowess, I myself try my luck at the slots, where bright, animated screens and the jubilant “cha-ching” of even the most paltry wins tickle my pleasure receptors. The primeval knucklebone dice of yore fade from memory; a relic of past destinies now decimated to dust.
Here in the U.S., during the late 18th century, poker was a newly popular game of strategy that used numbered playing cards, yet another derivative of dice. The match began with five cards to each player—adapted from the Persian game of As-Nas—though its name arrived from the French pastime “poque.” Other card games thought to have been forerunners of poker are the German “pochspiel,” arriving from “pochen,” meaning “to brag as a bluff,” and a British card game simply known as “brag.”
If card games aren’t your cuppa, make your way over to the roulette table, where black and red numbered pockets decide your fate. A wheel spins one way, a ball is spun in the opposite direction, and where it falls is anyone’s guess. The name of the game— first played in France in the 18th century—arrives from
POLICE OFFICERS and Miracle Mile Residential Association officers (left to right), Officer Sam Colwart; Kari Garcia, vice president of MMRA; SLO Tyler Shuck; CD5 Field Deputy Officer Shannon Calland; SLO Andrew Jones; and Samantha Friedland, MMRA vice president and chair of Operation Sparkle.
Word Café by Mara Fisher
