President's Message - Our Centennial Year

Nov./Dec. 2020

Twelve months ago, we launched The Huntington’s Centennial Celebration, the culmination of months of planning and coordination, with a dual commitment: to spend a year focused on the founding of the institution, while at the same time stepping boldly into our second hundred years with a strong desire to broaden our outreach with exciting new programming, exhibitions, and emphases.

And then, of course, the pandemic came roaring into California in March, barely six months into our celebratory year. We paused everything, regrouped, and quickly began focusing on the challenge at hand: what it would take to safely reopen in the face of COVID to our wonderful staff and volunteers, members, and the public. Celebrating the Centennial took a necessary back seat. But as we’ve safely reopened the gardens and are awaiting permission to reopen interior spaces, we’ve been able to assemble a plan for rounding out the Centennial year with three milestone moments.

First, we’ve reinstalled Gainsborough’s Blue Boy following a painstaking two-year conservation project, revealing the painting’s luminous, brilliant colors and details as we’ve never seen them before. Just as soon as we receive permission, we’ll reopen the gallery so that visitors might see for themselves. This feels like a first important step toward normalcy for The Huntington, despite the fact that we haven’t really turned the corner on this pandemic. But to have the iconic portrait back where he belongs is a true joy and a marker of hope.

Earlier this month, we opened the Chinese Garden expansion, adding 11.5 new acres of landscape, pavilions, and other features to a garden already quite beloved. This is the crowning achievement of a project begun 20 years ago, all made possible by a community of some 2,500 supporters. The expansive new acreage includes a penjing court to showcase bonsai-like plants that are meticulously pruned and carefully positioned in front of white walls to provide a view not only of the plants themselves but also, importantly, of the shadows they cast. Also new: a pavilion representing a scholar’s studio for painting and calligraphy, a space for exhibiting art, and eventually, a new, larger restaurant.

Among the gems of this phase of garden construction is a new pavilion at arguably the highest point on the grounds. It is a lavish, gorgeous structure, facing north in conversation with the Mount Wilson Observatory. It is aptly named the Stargazing Tower, in homage to two renowned astronomers: George Ellery Hale, who was the observatory’s founder and among the first of The Huntington’s trustees, and renowned astronomer Edwin Hubble, a staff scientist at the observatory for decades. (The Huntington holds Hubble’s papers in our library.) We were delighted to receive extremely enthusiastic media coverage, including these two pieces in the Los Angeles Times: and on Che Zhao Sheng, the talented artist and caretaker of this important botanical collection.