Historic Preservation

Port Traits pays tribute to the work of late AGCC Studio Artists Scott Brown and Slobodan Dimitrov. The exhibition features a selection of paintings by Brown and his alias, Butcher John Henry (a collaboration with artist Logan Fox), in addition to black and white film photographs by Dimitrov. With over 25 years of history at the Center, Scott Brown and Slobodan Dimitrov will be remembered for their impact on the San Pedro community.

Scott Brown was a painter, photographer, and storyteller who grew up in Southern California. Scott was an active member of the South Bay arts community, participating regularly in the First Thursday art walk in Downtown San Pedro and other events around San Pedro and Palos Verdes. Brown’s colorful and uniquely stylized paintings captured the people and places in his life around San Pedro and beyond. Paintings by Scott Brown and his collaborative alias, Butcher John Henry, will be on view in Port Traits.

Slobodan Dimitrov was the unofficial photographer of the labor movement in the LA area for the past thirty years, a crucial period in its history. He was born in former Yugoslavia (present-day Serbia) and spent several years in France as a child before emigrating to Los Angeles. He became an AGCC Studio Artist in 1984, and he has spent much of his career documenting the labor movement in addition to San Pedro’s history and local artists. Port Traits will feature several bodies work by Dimitrov from his black and white film photography practice.

Port Traits will be on view in the AGCC galleries March 9th – April 6th, 2024, with open gallery hours Thursdays – Saturdays from 10am to 4pm. The exhibition will open with a free public reception on Saturday, March 9th from 3-5pm.

Support for the AGCC exhibitions program is provided by City of Los Angeles Department of Recreation and Parks, the Los Angeles County Department of Arts and Culture, The Ahmanson Foundation, Norris Foundation, the Perenchio Foundation, and the Ralph M. Parsons Foundation.

About Angels Gate Cultural Center

Angels Gate Cultural Center (AGCC) emerged from a group of San Pedro artists in the 1970s that created art studios and exhibition space within the WWII era army barracks of Angels Gate Park near the Port of Los Angeles. Today, AGCC hosts over 50 artist studios in addition to a variety of programs to engage the diverse communities of the Los Angeles Harbor region, including arts education in local schools, community classes, cultural events, and exhibitions of contemporary art. More information about AGCC is available at angelsgateart.org

Commissioned on the occasion of Hollyhock House’s centennial, Janna Ireland: Even by Proxy presents twenty-one photographs by the artist that introduce new perspectives on Los Angeles’ only World Heritage site. Ireland’s photographs privilege the quiet, subtle details of Hollyhock House and make visible the care and conservation that sustain the site over time.

The title of the exhibition comes from Frank Lloyd Wright’s autobiography, in which he describes the process of realizing Hollyhock House. For Ireland, Wright’s phrase “even by proxy” points to the fraught relationship between client and architect in building the house as well as the ongoing project of preservation.

Even by Proxy is presented in partnership with Project Restore and the Julius Shulman Institute at Woodbury University.

Janna Ireland lives in Los Angeles, where she is an assistant professor in the Department of Art and Art History at Occidental College. Her photographic work is primarily concerned with the themes of family and domestic life, the built environment, and interactions between humans and the natural world.

Her 2024 mid-career survey, Janna Ireland: True Story Index, was jointly hosted by the Santa Barbara Museum of Art and the Museum of Contemporary Art Santa Barbara. In 2016, she began photographing structures designed by legendary Black architect Paul R. Williams. A collection of 250 of these photographs was published in a monograph entitled Regarding Paul R. Williams: A Photographer’s View, in 2020. In 2021, Ireland was awarded a Peter E. Pool Research Fellowship by the Nevada Museum of Art to photograph Williams’ work in Nevada. The resulting solo exhibition traveled from the Nevada Museum of Art in Reno to the Nevada State Museum in Las Vegas and the AIA Center for Architecture in New York.

Ireland’s photographs are held in the permanent collections of institutions including LACMA, SFMOMA, the Nevada Museum of Art, the California African American Museum, the Santa Barbara Museum of Art, and the Museum of Contemporary Photography at Columbia College Chicago. Janna Ireland is the 2024 recipient of the Julius Shulman Institute Excellence in Photography Award, which is presented to a photographer who honors Shulman’s legacy by challenging the way we look at physical space. She is the recipient of the 2023 Carolyn Glasoe Bailey Foundation Art Prize, a 2023 City of Los Angeles Independent Master Artist Program (COLA-IMAP) grant, and is a 2024 runner-up for the Aperture Portfolio Prize. Her work has been the subject of articles in publications including The New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, the Financial Times, Harvard Design Magazine, and Aperture. She holds an MFA from the UCLA Department of Art and a BFA from the Department of Photography and Imaging at NYU.

Advance reservations recommended. To book a self-guided tour ticket, CLICK HERE.

In 2019, Lawson answered more than 1,000 questions in his Story File so that future generations can continue conversing with him to learn about his legacy. What would you like to ask Lawson?

Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday, 11:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.,
Thursday, 12:00 noon – 8:00 p.m.
Adults – $16, Seniors and Youth – $9, Members and Children under 5 – Free

Experience the interior of Hollyhock House at your own pace with a self-guided tour. Docents are on hand to provide information and answer questions. Guidebooks are also available for visitors to use in the house.

Tickets on sale now through January. Tickets for February will be released in December. If it says NO EVENTS on the purchasing calendar that indicates tours are sold out for that date or Hollyhock House is closed. Questions? Email hollyhockhouse@lacity.org.

The Watts Towers Tour Guide Program offers visitors a unique and in-depth look at one of Los Angeles’ most iconic landmarks. Participants will be guided by knowledgeable tour guides through the towers, learning about the history, cultural significance, and artistic processes involved in their creation. The tour, which is the only way to gain access to the towers, will last approximately 30 minutes and highlight the life of Simon Rodia, the Italian immigrant who built the towers over a

33-year period, and the cultural and social context of the Watts neighborhood in which they stand. The tour also includes a visit to the Watts Towers Arts Center, where visitors can see rotating exhibitions of contemporary art and learn about the ongoing preservation efforts for the Towers. With this program, visitors will gain a greater appreciation for the Watts Towers as a masterpiece of folk art and a symbol of resilience and community spirit.

Port Traits pays tribute to the work of late AGCC Studio Artists Scott Brown and Slobodan Dimitrov. The exhibition features a selection of paintings by Brown and his alias, Butcher John Henry (a collaboration with artist Logan Fox), in addition to black and white film photographs by Dimitrov. With over 25 years of history at the Center, Scott Brown and Slobodan Dimitrov will be remembered for their impact on the San Pedro community.

Scott Brown was a painter, photographer, and storyteller who grew up in Southern California. Scott was an active member of the South Bay arts community, participating regularly in the First Thursday art walk in Downtown San Pedro and other events around San Pedro and Palos Verdes. Brown’s colorful and uniquely stylized paintings captured the people and places in his life around San Pedro and beyond. Paintings by Scott Brown and his collaborative alias, Butcher John Henry, will be on view in Port Traits.

Slobodan Dimitrov was the unofficial photographer of the labor movement in the LA area for the past thirty years, a crucial period in its history. He was born in former Yugoslavia (present-day Serbia) and spent several years in France as a child before emigrating to Los Angeles. He became an AGCC Studio Artist in 1984, and he has spent much of his career documenting the labor movement in addition to San Pedro’s history and local artists. Port Traits will feature several bodies work by Dimitrov from his black and white film photography practice.

Port Traits will be on view in the AGCC galleries March 9th – April 6th, 2024, with open gallery hours Thursdays – Saturdays from 10am to 4pm. The exhibition will open with a free public reception on Saturday, March 9th from 3-5pm.

Support for the AGCC exhibitions program is provided by City of Los Angeles Department of Recreation and Parks, the Los Angeles County Department of Arts and Culture, The Ahmanson Foundation, Norris Foundation, the Perenchio Foundation, and the Ralph M. Parsons Foundation.

About Angels Gate Cultural Center

Angels Gate Cultural Center (AGCC) emerged from a group of San Pedro artists in the 1970s that created art studios and exhibition space within the WWII era army barracks of Angels Gate Park near the Port of Los Angeles. Today, AGCC hosts over 50 artist studios in addition to a variety of programs to engage the diverse communities of the Los Angeles Harbor region, including arts education in local schools, community classes, cultural events, and exhibitions of contemporary art. More information about AGCC is available at angelsgateart.org

Commissioned on the occasion of Hollyhock House’s centennial, Janna Ireland: Even by Proxy presents twenty-one photographs by the artist that introduce new perspectives on Los Angeles’ only World Heritage site. Ireland’s photographs privilege the quiet, subtle details of Hollyhock House and make visible the care and conservation that sustain the site over time.

The title of the exhibition comes from Frank Lloyd Wright’s autobiography, in which he describes the process of realizing Hollyhock House. For Ireland, Wright’s phrase “even by proxy” points to the fraught relationship between client and architect in building the house as well as the ongoing project of preservation.

Even by Proxy is presented in partnership with Project Restore and the Julius Shulman Institute at Woodbury University.

Janna Ireland lives in Los Angeles, where she is an assistant professor in the Department of Art and Art History at Occidental College. Her photographic work is primarily concerned with the themes of family and domestic life, the built environment, and interactions between humans and the natural world.

Her 2024 mid-career survey, Janna Ireland: True Story Index, was jointly hosted by the Santa Barbara Museum of Art and the Museum of Contemporary Art Santa Barbara. In 2016, she began photographing structures designed by legendary Black architect Paul R. Williams. A collection of 250 of these photographs was published in a monograph entitled Regarding Paul R. Williams: A Photographer’s View, in 2020. In 2021, Ireland was awarded a Peter E. Pool Research Fellowship by the Nevada Museum of Art to photograph Williams’ work in Nevada. The resulting solo exhibition traveled from the Nevada Museum of Art in Reno to the Nevada State Museum in Las Vegas and the AIA Center for Architecture in New York.

Ireland’s photographs are held in the permanent collections of institutions including LACMA, SFMOMA, the Nevada Museum of Art, the California African American Museum, the Santa Barbara Museum of Art, and the Museum of Contemporary Photography at Columbia College Chicago. Janna Ireland is the 2024 recipient of the Julius Shulman Institute Excellence in Photography Award, which is presented to a photographer who honors Shulman’s legacy by challenging the way we look at physical space. She is the recipient of the 2023 Carolyn Glasoe Bailey Foundation Art Prize, a 2023 City of Los Angeles Independent Master Artist Program (COLA-IMAP) grant, and is a 2024 runner-up for the Aperture Portfolio Prize. Her work has been the subject of articles in publications including The New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, the Financial Times, Harvard Design Magazine, and Aperture. She holds an MFA from the UCLA Department of Art and a BFA from the Department of Photography and Imaging at NYU.

Advance reservations recommended. To book a self-guided tour ticket, CLICK HERE.