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The following is text of Councilmember Huizar's letter to the Friends of the Southwest Museum Coalition:
JOSE HUIZAR
COUNCILMEMBER OF THE FOURTEENTH DISTRICT
September 27, 2007
Dear Friends of the Southwest Museum Coalition Member:
I am excited to share an update on the future of the Southwest Museum and
Casa de Adobe, two of the cultural cornerstones in our community.
As I wrote to you last month, I am committed to ensuring that the Museum's
historic buildings and priceless collection are protected and restored at the
current Mount Washington site. Further, the Museum must reopen at the Mount
Washington site as a stronger, more vital institution than ever before, with
expanded educational and cultural experiences for all Angelinos. In my previous
letter, I also outlined a list of specific requests concerns I planned to communicate, on behalf of the community, to the Autry National Center.
I am delighted to report that my conversations with the Autry have been very fruitful. The Autry has made a number of written commitments to the community and to me as your elected representative. (Please see attached memorandum.)
Among other commitments, the Autry has agreed to:
• Save the Southwest Collection by cleaning,repairing, and cataloging more than 250,000 artifacts and storing them in museum-standard conditions;
• Preserve, rehabilitate, and maintain the original historic Southwest Museum building and the Casa de Adobe, with more than $5 million already allocated and a commitment to finish the job;
• Create and publicly disseminate a phased plan to systematically maintain and improve the Mt. Washington campus over the next decade;
• Commit to keeping the Southwest Collection on view, on a rotating basis, at the Mt. Washington Campus;
• Commit to reopening four out of five Museum galleries for public display of the collection, rotating art exhibits, and other educational, cultural, community, and museum activities;
• Commit to storing a portion of the Southwest Collection at the Mt. Washington Campus;
• Make available for public review at the Southwest Museum and on-line a photographic inventory of the Southwest collection;
• Continue public activities for weekend programming, beginning now and expanding with the reopening of the Museum;
• Beginning with the reopening of the Mt. Washington campus, establish regular public hours for the Museum's public spaces;
• Reestablish educational programs for elementary school students, including fourth graders;
• Maintain American association of Museums accreditation for the Southwest Museum;
• Include in the Autry's published materials—such as What's Next and Convergence Magazine—all programming at the Mt. Washington campus.
• Keep community members and stakeholders well-informed on plans and programming at the Mt. Washington site by attending community meetings and providing monthly email updates through the SWMFuture.org site. |
I can't thank you enough for your continued dedication to these community treasures. This victory truly is your victory.
With thanks and congratulations,
JOSE HUIZAR
Councilmember, 14th District
cc: City News Service, citynews@pacbell. net
ASNC, asncalert@yahoogrou ps.com
NortheastLA Moderator, northeastla- owner@yahoogroup s.com
Adolfo Guzman-Lopez, aguzman@kpcc. org
Christopher Reynolds, chris.reynolds@ latimes.com |