Oasis 2016

Ronald H. Bloom Family Olive Grove

BeBe CreditJacobs

OUR MISSION The Skirball Cultural Center is a place of meeting guided by the Jewish tradition of welcoming the stranger and inspired by the American democratic ideals of freedom and equality. We welcome people of all communities and generations to participate in cultural experiences that celebrate discovery and hope, foster human connections, and call upon us to help build a more just society.

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Skirball Cultural Center Board of Trustees Peter M. Weil, c hairman Uri D. Herscher,

founding president and ceo

Arthur H. Bilger, v ice chairman Richard S. Hollander, vice chairman

Lee Ramer, v ice chairman Howard M. Bernstein Martin Blackman Lloyd E. Cotsen Philip de Toledo Evelyn Feintech Howard I. Friedman, founding chairman

Melvin Gagerman Marc H. Gamsin Leslie Gilbert-Lurie Jeffrey L. Glassman Vera Guerin Dennis F. Holt Robert C. Kopple Marlene Louchheim Orin Neiman Kenneth A. Ruby Harold M. Williams Jay S. Wintrob Marvin Zeidler John Ziffren

Skirball Cultural Center 2701 N. Sepulveda Blvd.

Los Angeles, CA 90049 (310) 440-4500 skirball.org

Sunset Concerts, by Timothy Norris

Ken Ziffren

IN THIS ISSUE President’s Message

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Confronting Injustice

8

Actions for a Better World

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Pay It Forward

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Projecting Social Change

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On Human Rights Today

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A Welcome Stage for All

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Leveling the Field

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Skirball Puppet Festival, by BeBe Jacobs

PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE

When describing the Jewish tradition of hospitality, the Hebrew language has no parallel. Guests are welcomed with the greeting Barukh ha-ba—literally “Blessed is the one who has come”—to which the guests reply, Barukh ha-nimtza, or “Blessed is the one who welcomes us.” Both host and guest bless each other. How profound is this concept, to confer dignity and gratitude in the very act of greeting.

Twenty years ago this past April, the Skirball Cultural Center opened its doors to our guests, the visiting public. Since then, more than six million visitors have blessed us with their presence, bringing joy and vitality to our urban oasis. In all that we do at the Skirball, we seek to embrace each person with hospitality and warmth. We thank each of you—guests, members, volunteers, supporters, partners, and friends—for elevating our endeavors.

This past year we have marked the occasion of our twentieth anniversary by revisiting the Skirball mission statement, seeking to crystallize in words our embrace of community and the inspiration we derive from Jewish values and American democratic ideals. We have sought to clarify our core purpose as we have been living it, day in and day out, for two very full and fulfilling decades.

With this issue of Oasis, we introduce our newly re-worded mission statement, featured on page 3. It affirms that our highest priority—indeed, our mandate—is to welcome the stranger.

For this we have the most profound of Jewish precedents: Abraham himself, the first of our ancestors, whose very first act as a Jew was to open his tent to the stranger. Since the day of our founding, this tradition of welcome has been the Skirball’s guiding principle and passion.

Yet welcome is only a beginning. It establishes the warmth of human relationship we seek to build upon. Our new mission statement clarifies our ultimate goal: to help build a society that is just and compassionate. By welcoming the stranger, we connect to one another. By recognizing the precious value of each person, we forge the bonds of a caring community. What better way to achieve justice in the world than to treat everyone we meet with respect and dignity?

What we have offered as our daily work at the Skirball, we have now put into words. Our mission statement invokes our communal responsibility to affirm the worth of every human being and to pursue justice for all. This issue of Oasis is dedicated to the many ways the Skirball pursues this abiding vision.

Barukhim ha-ba’im. May those who visit the Skirball, those who share in its mission, and generations to follow, be a blessing to our community, to the Jewish people, and to all the world.

Uri D. Herscher Founding President and Chief Executive Officer Skirball Cultural Center skirball.org

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CONFRONTING

INJUSTICE

Images of a disquieting period in history call visitors to recommit to America’s highest democratic ideals.

Whose stories and perspectives inform our understanding of the past, and whose are omitted? What responsibilities do we have to others, and how do we ensure freedom and justice for generations to come? These were the questions posed to Skirball school visitors as they gathered in front of a large-scale depiction of the Eastern Sierras in the 1940s.

Against the backdrop of snowy peaks and cloudy skies was a startling foreground: rows upon rows of army barracks where more than 11,000 Japanese American civilians were incarcerated during World War II. Guided by staff educators and docents, the students pondered Adams’s photographs, along with related documents, artifacts, and works of art detailing life at the camp. On one tour, a group of adult English language learners drew comparisons between the political climate in America then and now. Eager to practice their English in a safe and welcoming environment, they expressed hope that communities would come together and stand up to fear and oppression. On another tour, a young Asian American responded tearfully to Adams’s portraits of school-age kids and their parents, the majority of whom had been Los Angeles residents just like him. He remarked, “That could have been me.”

Timothy Norris

Timothy Norris

Affording a dramatic entrance to the Skirball’s major fall 2015 exhibition, Manzanar: The Wartime Photographs of Ansel Adams, this “Manzanar Street Scene” was just one of hundreds that legendary photographer Ansel Adams (1902–1984) took at the incarceration camp in central California in 1943. When he published a selection of these works a year later, at the height of war, Adams protested what he called the “enforced exodus” of a minority of citizens. For the nearly 1,000 students who toured the exhibition at the Skirball—many of them minorities themselves— this gesture of dissent against racial discrimination resonated deeply.

Organized by Photographic Traveling Exhibitions (PTE) and presented at the Skirball in association with the Japanese American National Museum, Manzanar: The Wartime Photographs of Ansel Adams featured fifty little-known works by the celebrated landscape photographer and environmental activist. Facing page: Ansel Adams, Manzanar Street Scene, Spring (detail), 1943. Private collection; courtesy of PTE. Above: On their field trips to the Skirball, students experienced an art exhibition, a history lesson, and an opportunity for empathy building. skirball.org

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Peter Turman

Such empathy only grew as the school groups

moved into the companion exhibition, Citizen 13660: The

Art of Miné Okubo. A California native and trained artist, whose career was just beginning when the war broke

out, Miné Okubo (1912–2001) was given three days’ notice when she and her brother were forcibly relocated—first

to an assembly center outside San Francisco, then to the Topaz Relocation Camp in Utah. During Okubo’s two-year

incarceration, she created nearly 200 pen and ink drawings,

later published as the illustrated memoir Citizen 13660.

These works of art, with accompanying commentary, are now housed in the Center for Social Justice and Civil

Liberties in Riverside, which Okubo founded to promote The companion exhibition, Citizen 13660: The Art of Miné Okubo, included this illustration of the posting of Civilian Exclusion Order/ Evacuation Order No. 19, Berkeley, California, 1942. Drawing courtesy of the Japanese American National Museum; gift of Miné Okubo Estate, 2007.62.

ongoing dialogue about social justice issues and civil liberties experiences across America today.

In the light-filled gallery, the high school students

were instantly drawn to Okubo’s first-person narrative

and the vivid graphic novel–style of her illustrations.

conversations about the causes they wish to take up.

day-to-day struggles in the camp, from putting up with

issues that matter most to them. Marriage equality was

They noted the careful attention she gave to chronicling

vermin to lining up for meals to keeping oneself occu-

pied by knitting or playing sports. One drawing struck a particularly strong chord: it pictured Okubo reading the newspaper, with anti-Japanese sentiments pulled

from the headlines spelled out around her head. Sharing

their own experiences of inflammatory language today, the students explored how prejudice and intolerance

persist in American society. They considered what we could all do to ensure that every person and cultural group is treated with dignity.

Inspired by the courage of artist-advocates like

Adams and Okubo, the students engaged in spirited

They created posters illustrating the contemporary

discussed widely—including by a group of young men in baseball caps who sought to distance themselves

from the homophobia often associated with athletes.

Other students pointed at disparities in income and health care, as well as police brutality and anti-LGBT legislation, as injustices they felt compelled to shine

a light on. In one poster, a group of four drew a tree.

The branches represented various forms of discrimination—race, religion, gender, sexual orientation. “But

at the base of this tree is what all people ultimately want,” emphasized the students to their peers. “And that’s justice and equality.”

Peter Turman

After exploring the exhibitions, school visitors met in small groups to discuss what they consider worthy causes of the day and represented them graphically in large posters. One student poster, pictured above, revealed the students’ embrace of diversity in their community.

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BeBe Jacobs

ACTIONS FOR a

The exhibition’s four “pavilions”—imaginatively designed using repurposed bubble wrap, newspapers, automobile tires, and CDs—addressed the topics of education, health, employment, and empowerment.

A unique gallery experience underscores the potential of community engagement.

“There is nothing I can do that will make a difference.” This is too often the refrain of our times. How often do we say it, or hear it? But a oneof-a-kind exhibition at the Skirball said otherwise. Working in collaboration with some of today’s most influential storytellers and experts, A Path Appears: Actions for a Better World challenged visitors to forge their own paths to making a difference—to learn, share, and take practical, results-driven steps to transform the lives of others.

Courtesy of Chrysalis

Peter Turman

better WORLD Above left: High school groups tried out the “Solar Suitcase” by We Care Solar, which equips off-grid clinics with devices that facilitate emergency care and help reduce maternal and infant mortality in developing nations. Above right: Visitors also learned about the local organization Chrysalis, which helps homeless and low-income individuals find and sustain employment. Darius Coffey, pictured here, bounced from foster homes to the streets to prison until he found Chrysalis and began to forge a better life for himself.

Inspired by the bestselling book of the same name by Nicholas D. Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn, A Path Appears marked the second time the Skirball has worked with the Pulitzer Prize–winning journalists. Their previous bestseller was the basis for the popular 2011–2012 exhibition Women Hold Up Half the Sky. Like that groundbreaking show, A Path Appears explored anything but typical subjects for museum exhibitions. It identified four critical humanitarian issues—education, health, employment, and empowerment—and probed how (or even whether) any one person could effect change.

By identifying noteworthy initiatives that have developed workable solutions to crises around the world, A Path Appears aimed to show that everyone can help create a more just and equal society. To advance the content of the book, the Skirball partnered with pediatrician and Emmy-nominated television writer and producer Neal Baer (ER, Law & Order: SVU), well known for combining his background in medicine and storytelling to promote social action. A Path Appears was also presented in cooperation with media production company Show of Force, and with the WORLD Policy Analysis Center and the Global Media Center for Social Impact at the UCLA Fielding School of Public Health.

Inside the gallery, visitors encountered four themed “pavilions.” Each one brought attention to individuals, organizations, and inventive resources that have improved the plights of those in need, both close to home and afar. Through photomurals, storybooks, maps, listening stations, and documentary films, thousands of students and museumgoers learned of direct, concrete opportunities to champion organizations like Chrysalis, South Central Scholars, and Shining Hope. The gallery culminated in the web-based tool ActionLab, a project of the Global Media Center for Social Impact at the Fielding School, conceived and created by Baer.

Via ActionLab, every story, object, and organization in the exhibition linked to a practice-proven next step that one could take in support of a cause.

At the end of the gallery, each visitor was encouraged to fill out a blue, pebble-shaped sticker. On these stickers, more than five thousand visitors wrote pledges to help make a difference in some way—whether to volunteer for a women’s shelter, talk to elected officials about crucial legislation, or raise one’s children to treat all people with compassion. As the pledges were added to the gallery floor, a path appeared­—symbolizing the actions for a better world, taken individually and communally, that the exhibition sought to inspire. skirball.org

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PAY IT FORWARD

BeBe Jacobs

Inspiring visitors to make a positive difference in the world

is integral to the Skirball mission. Affirming that everyone

has a responsibility to “pay it forward,” the Skirball’s Build a Better World initiative encourages visitors to take concrete action to promote a more just society—especially on

behalf of those who are underserved, isolated, or in acute

need. In Noah’s Ark at the Skirball, Build a Better World comes to life literally under the rainbow! Gallery educators

invite children and families, as they “disembark” from the

Ark, to learn about real-world “storms” (or issues today), take part in civic-minded activities, and connect with local organizations. Recently the volunteer-powered group

Food Forward engaged with Noah’s Ark visitors around the topic of hunger, encouraging everyone to limit food

waste and help feed the community’s most vulnerable among us. Visitors then crafted their own tzedakah boxes

(as pictured here), which in Jewish tradition are used to collect money for the needy. The word tzedakah derives from the Hebrew word for justice, underscoring that giving is much more than an act of charity.

BeBe Jacobs

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Cameron Miller-DeSart

Cameron Miller-DeSart

Projecting SOCIAL CHANGE

Eye-opening films offer new perspectives and urge viewers to take action.

This past year, the Skirball partnered with the Social Impact Media Awards (SIMA) to present a film series that celebrates storytelling from the front lines of today’s global challenges. From April to August, audiences had the opportunity to watch five of SIMA’s 2016 featurelength documentary award winners. While the acclaimed films varied in subject matter—from a Ukrainian vigilante-pastor rehabilitating drug-addicted kids in Almost Holy to Afghan soldiers fighting without NATO support in Tell Spring Not to Come This Year—they represented the best in cinema to advance global awareness, explore humanitarian issues, and inspire activism.

Inside the auditorium, a crowd of more than 200

watched filmmaker Andrew Morgan’s exposé of the global “fast fashion” industry. Through interviews with garment workers, farmers, activists, and scholars, the documentary reveals the true costs of clothing lines that

are manufactured quickly and cheaply in developing

nations—often in violation of workers’ rights and envi-

ronmental standards—then sold widely at low prices.

Andrew Morgan

Fair trade and sustainable companies offer a promising alternative to this “fast fashion” model. As The True Cost

contends, in addition to purchasing ethical brands and pledging to buy clothes designed to last, consumers can effect change by insisting that corporations publicly

reveal, and ultimately improve, the working conditions of their employees.

The film’s crucial message was probed further by

the panel of experts representing the emerging field of sustainable fashion.“Connect with your clothes,” advised Katie Bond of the activist group Fair Trade LA during the

post-screening discussion. “Step back, relate to what you Andrew Morgan

are wearing, and think about the person who made it.”

Fellow panelist Ann Wang, CEO and cofounder of online marketplace Enrou, emphasized everyone’s potential to make a difference: “As an individual person, you can Facing page: During the post-screening panel discussion, audiences heard from and asked questions of social entrepreneurs Ann Wang, Katie Bond, and Travis Heard (pictured at far left, from left to right). Above: Film stills from The True Cost depict a garment worker-turned-activist with her daughter, as well as scenes from a fashion show runway.

underestimate how powerful your own actions are. But when you push yourself to ignite change, you inspire others to do the same.”

To help turn inspiration into action, attendees of

every screening were encouraged to visit the Skirball web-

site to learn how to get involved with the issues at hand,

both locally and around the world. After The True Cost, On the night of the second SIMA Impact Cinema

screening, the Skirball was bustling with the energy of a movie premiere, but with a cause. The pre-screening

reception set the tone: before making their way into the auditorium to view The True Cost—winner of SIMA’s 2016

Lens to Action Jury Prize— attendees were invited to bring

and exchange their own gently used t-shirts for new, ethically produced ones. Facilitated by local organization

Beyond the Label, the t-shirt swap challenged the public to become more conscious consumers. The interactive

experience primed the attendees for a film that aims to transform the world, one clothing purchase at a time.

one attendee remarked, “The film was a very important

reminder of the cost of consumerism on our neighbors and our planet. I left with strong resources and tools to take personal steps towards change.”

In the coming year, the Skirball will continue to

partner with SIMA to highlight documentarians and key

stakeholders who call upon viewers to engage with issues worldwide. “These courageous filmmakers and activists

re-imagine sociopolitical filmmaking,” said Daniela Kon, SIMA Founder and Executive Director. “They set new

standards for transparency, integrity, and creativity, while transforming their cameras, their narratives, and, by extension, their audiences into vehicles for social justice.”

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Sylvia Sukop

ON HUMAN RIGHTS TODAY

Shirin Ebadi (pictured on stage at far left together with her translator and author Reza Aslan) answered questions from audience members, including a young attorney who chose law because of Ebadi’s lifelong work promoting human rights.

In fulfillment of its mission as a place of meeting, the Skirball presented several lectures and dialogues this year that connected audiences with change makers in the field of human rights. On International Women’s Day, human rights lawyer and Nobel Peace Prize winner Shirin Ebadi shared her personal story of courage to a packed auditorium. A fierce advocate for women and children living in the brutal regime of Iran, she drew applause especially from the many hundreds of Persian Angelenos in the audience who have long admired her fight for justice in the Islamic Republic. Turning toward domestic policy, a conversation between Angelica Salas, director of the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles, and actor Diane Guerrero (from the hit television show Orange Is the New Black) addressed the struggles of the eleven million undocumented residents in the United States. Guerrero’s moving, first-person account of her parents’ deportation to Colombia inspired many of the immigrant and first-generation young people in the crowd, who took to social media to express their interest in immigration reform.

Diane Guerrero’s talk prompted many Instagram users to post enthusiastically about the Skirball program. One attendee (@dramaticdandan) wrote of Guerrero: “I really admire her courage to be so honest and open about what’s really going on with so many innocent families just trying to make a better life for themselves in this beautiful country we all share. It hit very close to home and my heart.”

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A WELCOME

STAGE FOR ALL

Actor, writer, and arts activist Jess Thom (shown here on stage, seated in black t-shirt) performed Backstage in Biscuit Land with her co-star, Jess Mabel Jones (standing, in grey t-shirt). Next to them two ASL interpreters used sign language to make the work accessible by an even wider audience.

Touretteshero’s North American tour was made possible in part by the British Council. All photos in this article by Timothy Norris.

A laugh-out-loud performance delivers meaning and message.

Early on in the three-act play Backstage in Biscuit Land, British theater artist Jess Thom joyfully proclaimed from her wheelchair, “This is the only seat in the house I won’t be asked to leave!” As viewers came to learn through two poignant monologues, delivered between many hilarious scenes, Thom has faced heartbreaking exclusion from performing arts venues because of her neurological condition, Tourette’s Syndrome.

She devised her two-woman show to help change that for people of all abilities—and make theatergoing a more just and inclusive experience.

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Top: Jess Thom beams at the Q&A after the first performance.

A playwright sought advice on how to create more inclusive work, while a special education professor commended Touretteshero for raising awareness of and reducing stigma associated with the condition. Above: A fan can’t help but want a photo with Thom!

On the debut US tour of Touretteshero—the

you’re very welcome.” Jokingly she added,“If there’s enough

in Biscuit Land marked the Skirball’s first presentation

At the Skirball’s two-night run of Backstage in Biscuit

multimedia project co-founded by Thom—Backstage

demand, we’ll try and arrange an uptight performance!”

of relaxed performance. This new theater model offers

Land, attendees were quickly oriented to Touretteshero’s

who may find it difficult to follow traditional theater eti-

words, the show is “extra live,” inviting attendees not only

a warm welcome and laid-back environment to people quette. Rather than ostracize those who make involuntary sounds and movements, like Thom, or those with autism

and other disorders, relaxed performance embraces the

neurodiversity of audiences. Silence and stillness are not required; every patron is treated with respect and dignity, with freedom to enjoy oneself in whatever way feels natural and safe.

“All of our shows are relaxed,” explained the char-

acter Chopin, played by Thom’s co-star, Jess Mabel Jones.

“This means if you’d like to make noise or wriggle around,

comedic, high-energy stage presence. In Thom’s own

to vocalize and move as they wish, but also to participate.

During one scene focused on sharing facts and dispelling

myths about Tourette’s, Thom, playing herself as Jess, made an announcement: “I’d like to play a game. Turn to the person next to you and say hello, then stare into their

eyes and try not to blink for as long as possible.” Two by

two, everybody locked gazes. Here was Touretteshero’s clever way to demonstrate how motor tics associated

with Tourette’s actually feel. Trying to suppress one’s tics, Jess noted, is like trying to stop blinking.

“The staring competition took me out of my

comfort zone and it opened my eyes—pun intended!” remarked one attendee after the show. “It wasn’t just

about understanding how tics feel; it also made me realize how rarely I greet and engage people I don’t know … how it’s uneasy but also healthy to really see each other and connect.”

Other interactions followed, including a group

snack break (of biscuits, of course—or cookies, to use the American term) and lively sing-alongs. Long stretches

of humor were punctuated by the play’s “serious bits,” in which Jess and Chopin spoke from the heart about

Thom’s true-life journey as a theater lover with Tourette’s.

Audience members were moved to compassion,

some tearfully, as Jess recounted being segregated in a

sound booth at a London venue and denied equal access to the performance. Touretteshero was founded when she turned her discouragement into hope and resolved

to create her own work. Thus began her campaign for

social justice and greater inclusion in the arts. During her own “serious bit,” Chopin offered an important

perspective: the inherent spontaneity and openheartedness of a relaxed setting benefit both disabled and non-disabled viewers, making possible “the unexpected

things that can come from a performance where everyone is welcome.”

As the relaxed performance model gains mo-

mentum, the Skirball will continue to pilot programs that celebrate diversity both on and off the stage, as

Backstage in Biscuit Land did with candor, wit, and insight. After the Skirball performances, attendees widely

praised Touretteshero’s message and meaning. One attendee commented, “It made me feel more confident

and less alone in having Tourette’s.” Another attendee

appreciated the communal experience of theatergoing that Touretteshero promoted: “It’s a good reminder that we’re all in this together.”

Above: Jess Thom locks eyes with a Skirball visitor during the play’s staring competition, which helped break down the barriers between actors and audience and challenged everyone to relate to the physical impossibility of resisting involuntary movements. skirball.org

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BeBe Jacobs

g n i l e v e L e h t

d l e i F Chasing Dreams explores the role that baseball has played—and sometimes failed to play—in furthering equality and social justice.

Each year on Jackie Robinson Day, April 15—the day the legendary second baseman broke major league baseball’s notorious color line, in 1947—Americans honor his life and legacy. Across the country, fans head to stadiums to celebrate Robinson as both an extraordinary athlete and a prominent civil rights figure. This past baseball season, the Skirball offered Angelenos a special glimpse of his storied career. On view in the exhibition Chasing Dreams: Baseball and Becoming American was a rarely displayed artifact: Robinson’s Rookie of the Year Award, granted to him after his debut season, which ended segregated baseball at last.

Far left: Inside the gallery, father-and-son Dodgers fans viewed the Rookie of the Year Award that Jackie Robinson earned in 1947, on view courtesy of Jackie and Richard Hollander. Left: Also on display was this ticket to Robinson’s debut game, which took place on opening day at Ebbets Field, April 15, 1947. Loan courtesy of Stephen Wong. Above: At the entrance of Chasing Dreams was a large-scale reproduction of this photograph of Game 3 of the World Series between the Brooklyn Dodgers and the New York Yankees, Ebbets Field, October 7, 1949. Photograph donated by Corbis. skirball.org

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Above left: Sons of immigrants and baseball legends Hank Greenberg and Joe DiMaggio figured prominently in the exhibition.

Photograph donated by Corbis. Above right: In a conversation moderated by ESPN reporter and broadcaster Ramona Shelburne (far right), a panel of women with successful careers in baseball dispelled the myth of the sport as a “boys club.” Panelists included (left to right) player and major league coach Justine Siegal and Dodgers executives Ellen Harrigan and Luchy Guerra.

On loan from Skirball trustee Richard Hollander

young army lieutenant stationed at Fort Hood, Texas,

tions to the acclaimed exhibition, which was organized

Robinson in the rearview mirror, the driver shouted,“Move

and his wife, Jackie, the award was one of several addi-

by the National Museum of American Jewish History, Philadelphia. Through more than 130 objects—including

game-worn uniforms, films and historic footage, awards, baseball cards, and signed memorabilia—Chasing Dreams examined America’s national pastime as a pathway for diverse immigrant and minority communities to become American. It showed how baseball’s greatest heroes didn’t just play the game; they changed it.

Among these heroes were superstars Hank

when he boarded a bus with a friend. Catching sight of

to the back of the bus!” Eleven years before Rosa Parks’s heroic stand in Montgomery, Alabama, Jackie Robinson

refused to move. A subsequent court martial and trial tested his love of country. Though eventually cleared of

all charges, Robinson was a changed man. Years later, after retiring from baseball, he marched alongside Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., using his celebrity as a platform to advance civil rights for African Americans.

In the decades to follow, many baseball luminaries

Greenberg, a first-generation American Jew who went

would carry on Robinson’s legacy. Among these barrier-

DiMaggio, whose Italian immigrant parents would be

first Japanese-born player; Mexican American pitcher

by the nickname “The Hebrew Hammer”; and “Joltin’ Joe” classified as enemy aliens during World War II. Having demonstrated their mettle on the field, both Greenberg

and DiMaggio enlisted in the US Army, proving their patriotism even as they faced prejudice by segments of the population.

After the war, baseball remained burdened

by racial discrimination. Then came 1947. Though it

did not level the playing field once and for all, Jackie Robinson’s integration of baseball was historic. Yet

that pivotal moment in his biography is all the more poignant when contrasted with the injustices that

preceded it. In the summer of 1944, Robinson was a

breakers were Ichiro Suzuki, major league baseball’s

and transnational sensation Fernando Valenzuela; and Justine Siegel, the first woman to coach a professional baseball team. Their groundbreaking careers

were highlighted in Chasing Dreams. So, too, was the story of African American pitcher Dock Ellis, a vocal

critic of racial inequality in the sport. In the 1970s Ellis courted so much controversy for his outspokenness

that Robinson was compelled to write to Ellis himself.

On view for the first time ever in Chasing Dreams at

the Skirball, the handwritten letter advised, “Try not

to be left alone, try to get more players to understand your views and you will find great support. You have

made a real contribution.” Ellis was moved to receive

this message from none other than the man who had paved the way for him and fellow players of color to take the field.

Throughout the seven-month run of Chasing

Dreams, Skirball visitors were inspired by the many

immigrants and minorities in baseball who achieved

so much more than batting averages and stolen bases.

Their stories of struggle and opportunity are a reminder

that this nation is made stronger when individuals and communities combat injustice together­—in the

stands, in the dugouts, and throughout American life.

editor

Mia Cariño contributors

Elena Bonomo Erin Clancey Kathryn Girard Robert Kirschner Megan Ro Rachel Stark Cate Thurston Rosalie Tucker design

Picnic Design printing

Colornet Press

BeBe Jacobs

© 2016 Skirball Cultural Center

Top: Baseball fans of all generations viewed the treasured memorabilia in Chasing Dreams. In the background, two visitors engage in “Catching History,” a simulation game in which they “field” balls and learn baseball trivia for every play. Above: “The Dugout” summer lounge offered visitors a relaxing place to spend time together, design their own pennants, trade baseball cards, play games, and share baseball memories. Before the Skirball’s outdoor screening of the Jackie Robinson biopic 42, the Minor Dodgers of Canyon Country Little League enjoyed time off the field together in “The Dugout”!

Front and back covers: Photography by Elon Schoenholz

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