Watch, Read, Listen

The Los Angeles City/County Native American Indian Commission, established almost 50 years ago, serves the needs of the largest urban Native American population in the United States. The Huntington’s records related to the commission’s founding reflect some of the complex histories of Indigenous people in Southern California.

In conjunction with the “Storm Cloud” exhibition, The Huntington is hosting the research conference “Storm Cloud: Environment, Empire, and the Arts in the Industrial Age.” Scholars from a range of disciplines will examine how 19th-century artists and writers engaged with science and confronted the changes caused by the Industrial Revolution.

The acquisitions include a 12th-century Chinese silk fan, an 18th-century French portrait, a bronze sculpture from the Harlem Renaissance, and a work in resin by a member of California’s Light and Space movement.

Alison Hirsch, associate professor at USC and the Shapiro Center for American History and Culture Fellow, discusses the history and future of Tulare Lake, which reemerged after multiple atmospheric rivers hit California in March 2023.

In 1876, Edward Mitchell Bannister became the first African American artist to win a national award. The Huntington’s Lauren Cross writes about what motivated him, whom he credited for his success, and how he shifted from being a portraitist to a landscape artist.

Charles Elachi, the former director of NASA and Caltech’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, talked with Huntington President Karen Lawrence about the importance of daring to take risks, environmental stewardship, and the mutually enriching interactions among the arts, humanities, and sciences.

In the spring of 2022, Tongva photographer Mercedes Dorame peered down at a tide pool on Santa Cruz Island, roughly 25 miles off the coast of California. Focusing her camera, she captured an image that provides a window into worlds.