Earth Day at The Autry: Sustainable Living in the West
On May 1, 2011, the Autry celebrates Earth Day with a museum-wide festival designed to inspire simple changes for a healthier planet.
Drawing on Native cultures and traditions, this family-friendly event includes local environmental groups, community organizations, and hobbyists offering practical tips on how to get started on an Earth-friendly path.
Music, Storytelling & Film
11:00-11:20 a.m.
Opening Blessing by Rudy Ortega, Jr. (Fernandeno Tataviam Band of Mission Indians)
11:30-12:10 p.m.
Xavier Montes, Mexican harp
12:40-1:30 p.m.
Hawaiian Music by Auntie Geri
& Carole with Shawn Ishimoto
2:00-2:50 p.m.
Ciro Hurtado Quartet
3:00-3:30 p.m.
Xavier Montes, Mexican harp
4:00-4:50 p.m.
Quetzal Guerrero
Brazilian Soul
Storytelling With Abel Silvas in Heritage Court
Noon, 2:00 p.m. and 4:00 p.m.
Native American storyteller Abel Silvas (Juaneño, Gabrielino, Kumeyaay) recounts oral histories and stories that encourage us to protect the Earth. An actor, mime and comedian, Silva studied under Marcel Marceau at the University of Michigan to enhance his storytelling abilities. He is also a Fullbright Scholar who has traveled to India and Mexico. The U.S. State Department sent Silva to Chile as part of its U.S. Speaker/Specialist program promoting the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of the American Indian in Washington, D.C.
Qapirangajuq: Inuit Knowledge and Climate Change (Film in the Wells Fargo Theater)
LA Skins Fest presents Qapirangajuq: Inuit Knowledge and Climate Change
11:00 a.m.- Noon
Strip mines and coal-burning power plants have provided royalties and jobs to a number of Native American tribes, but they have brought with them pollution, cancer, and environmental devastation. Power Paths follows a grassroots coalition determined to transform their reservation’s economy to green energy, preserving their land for future generations.
Power Paths (Film in the Wells Fargo Theater)
Sierra Club presents Power Paths
12:15 -1:30 p.m.
In this historic documentary by legendary Isuma Productions, Inuit people speak firsthand about how their landscape is changing, how the sky has turned color, and whether the polar bear is really endangered. Their insight—born of centuries of shared knowledge—reveals a deep intimacy with their environment and convincingly challenges mainstream media accounts of climate change.
Kid’s Planet activities, lectures, and demonstrations
Backyard farmers, gardening experts, green-build architects, and wildlife experts will be on-hand to share their methods for providing balance among the plants, animals, humans, bugs, and bees.
1:00 p.m.
Robert Glenn Ketchum: The Making of a R.A.V.E
HERITAGE COURT
Conservation photographer Robert Glenn Ketchum talks about his work with the International League of Conservation Photographers, who in Rapid Assessment Visual Expeditions (R.A.V.Es) dispatch teams of observers and photographers on lightning missions to areas of the world where environmental degredation is taking place. Ketchum will show a short film about ILCP’s work and answer questions about what it’s like to work to protect the most environmentally delicate areas in the world. Co-sponsored by The G2 Gallery in Venice.
3:00 p.m.
Robert Glenn Ketchum: A Journey to Bristol Bay
HERITAGE COURT
Conservation Photographer Robert Glenn Ketchum talks about his ongoing efforts to help protect Bristol Bay, Alaska, and show slides of his images. Co-sponsored by The G2 Gallery in Venice.
2:00 p.m.
“Creating Sustainable Cities and Communities: City…Again…Beautiful.”
WELLS FARGO THEATER
A panel discussion featuring members of the American Institute of Architects discussing ways to make the urban landscape sustainable and Earth-friendly. Some people claim that we as a society have forgotten to practice urban design as an effort to create beauty around us; instead, we have become traffic engineers, merely managing space between our buildings for automobiles. How can we reclaim urban space as our outdoor recreational areas where we as citizens primarily relate to each other as human beings, rather than as drivers? How can we maintain or improve our city’s economic health while making it easier to travel, create a high quality of life, recapture space for outdoor recreation and lower our carbon footprint towards a sustainable and highly desirable future? (Speakers: Gerhard Mayer, AIA - Principal, Mayer Architects (moderator); John Kaliski, AIA - Principal, Urban Studio; Katie Spitz, AIA, ASLA - Principal, Katherine Spitz Associates, inc.; Neal Payton, AIA - Principal, Torti Gallas and Partners, Inc.)
4:00 p.m.
“Your Community Garden: It’s Organic, It’s Fresh, and It Couldn’t be more Local!”
WELLS FARGO THEATER
A panel discussion with master gardeners from community gardens across Los Angeles that form part of the L.A. Garden Council. They talk about the triumphs, challenges, lessons learned and experiences shared in establishing community gardens in unused areas of their neighborhoods.
Kids’ Planet
Visit the Kids’ Planet area on the Gathering Circle and South Lawn for kid-friendly environmental fun, including:
1:00, 2:00, 3:00 and 4:00 pm
Ladybug Release
Led by environmental science teacher Janine Petersen
11:00 am, 1:00pm, and 3:00 pm
American Indian Games: Hook and Hoop Race
Games led by the Southern California Indian Center’s John Bradley (Cherokee/Comanche)
12:00, 2:00 pm, 4:00 pm
American Indian Drums help us Dance with the Earth
Learn Native dances including the community Round Dance and Snake Dance accompanied by a Native drum group.
All Day
Warren and Lovejoy Ontiveros, local backyard farmers, demonstrate how to make seed balls to maximize your planting. Learn more about the Ontiveroses’ efforts on the Trading Posts blog:
Earth Day for Beginning Backyard Farmers
America’s Teaching Zoo at Moorpark College demonstration: Learn about Los Angeles’s urban wildlife!
Griffith Observatory Onsite at the Autry: Peer into a solar telescope
Artist Nadiya Littlewarrior (Citizen Potowatomi Nation) teaches us how to make American Indian Gourd birdhouses
…and much more!
