SWCAMBORNE

The Changing Boundaries exhibit was up at CSULA for all of February, several hundred people came to see it and many of them signed the guest book.  They also ran a story about  the exhibit in the school newspaper with a photo of Professor Ochoa and me.

That is the good news.  The bad news is that the Arizona exhibition dates seem to be falling apart.  ASU can’t find a venue for their dates in the spring and the Arizona Historical  Society in Tucson has gone silent about having the exhibit this summer.

The Changing Boundaries Exhibit at Cal State LA previewed on Saturday night and we went with our good friends Peter and Denise K.  It looks great.

If you’re in the LA area you should plan to attend.  The opening reception and panel discussion are on Wednesday evening February 9 at 6.15 pm

Details

One of the serendipitous finds of my research for the map exhibit was this map.

I bought it to show that there were Indian nations in North America before the arrival of the Europeans.  When I showed it to Mike Mathes he told me why the Athabascan language is spoken in Alaska and in New Mexico.

Sometime around the year 1000 a volcano many times more violent than Mt St Helens erupted and the ash that spewed forth drove the Athabascan speakers south.  They migrated all the way to New Mexico and Arizona where the Anasazi were pushed out and the people from the north became the Navajo.

These maps tell the story of an early North American migration and are one of the featured maps in the current exhibit at Cal State LA.

The California Map Society met at the William Andrew Clark Memorial Library.  This beautiful and eclectic library is not on the UCLA campus and very few people know about it.    It was built by Clark in the 1920′s with money from a copper mine in Montana.  You can read the whole story of how it came to be on their web site.

Inside the rather plain building is some incredible art including this frieze of many classically posed nude men, lots of portraits and some magnificent books.

The frieze in the main lobby

A statue in front

The library is open to the public and the grounds are beautiful.  There is one magnificent Morton Bay Fig that rivals the big one in Santa Barbara.

The Morton Bay Fig where we had lunch

The library is open to the public and the grounds are beautiful.  There is one magnificent Morton Bay Fig that rivals the big one in Santa Barbara.  Tomorrow a henge discovery.

Last Saturday I spoke at the semi annual meeting of the California Map Society about my collection of maps on the US/Mexico Border. If you love maps and live in California you should think about joining this organization.

I was nervous about how I’d do but it went well.  The stories I told were appropriate and the response was enthusiastic.  The other speakers included one of the worlds leading map dealers, a mission manager from JPL and the map curator from the LA Public Library.  I was very pleased that I could hold my own.

Map dealer Barry Ruderman at the podium

The meeting was held at the Clark Library on Adams Street southwest of downtown LA.  It is part of UCLA and is quite an amazing place.  Come back tomorrow for more about this amazing jewel.

The Clark Library

More Information

The map exhibit at CSULA is shaping up to be a super event.  The speakers on the panel on February 9 should be provocative to say the least.

On January 22 I’m talking about the Changing Boundaries collection at the California Map Society meeting in LA and on February 4 I’m screening Beyond Borders my documentary film about immigration in Alexandria, Virginia at the Mixing Bowl exhibit but on by The Torpedo Factory

Life is Good!

I just got some pictures from the opening of the Changing Boundaries map exhibit in Tecate.  The opening reception was very nicely done the food and the drink were excellent and plentiful.  And the exhibit looks wonderful.

Simon shows where Santa Fe is

Magda, Lupita and Simon

Zella is second from the left.

Zella Ibanez who is married to Hernan, the handsome man in the hat to her left, was the prime mover on the event.  Magda and Lupita did all of the detail work to make it happen.  I was able to bask in the reflected glory.

Life is Good!

After a busy week of preparation the Tecate opening of the Changing Boundaries map exhibit is tonight.  I spent Wednesday in Tecate getting the maps hung and the exhibit looks great.  One of the wonderful things about maps is that they are art, they tell history and they transmit information.  All in an accessible format.

Read more about the exhibit on the Changing Boundaries web site.

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The Changing Boundaries Map Exhibit that I curate is going to be at the CAREM museum in Tecate, BC, Mexico in October.

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Check out the Changing Boundaries web site that Nancy H. built for me.

The site has a slide show, a very cool hovering magnifying glass and a movie.  All put together to persuade a few people that this is a really worthwhile exhibit.  I think this one will work.  The exhibit is put together with the theory that if you want to pet a dog first let it sniff your hand.  If you want to convince people that immigration is okay first show them some perspective.  We shall see.  Poco a Poco.

Please forward this link around:  http://www.changingboundaries.com/   and help me find some good venues for the exhibit.  Thanks