Volunteer Information Sessions: June 11 & July 9

The Museum is seeking volunteers to join as Museum Associates for all committees including museum docents, historic walking tour docent, marketing assistants and event organizers. 

Join us from 5:30 pm to 7:30pm on Thursday, June 11, 2015 or Thursday, July 9, 2015 to learn more about the associates program. 

RSVP by emailing info@themuseumsfv.org. 

The Museum of the San Fernando Valley 
18860 Nordhoff St., Suite 204 
Northridge, CA 91324-3885
Phone: (818) 347-9665 
www.themuseumsfv.org

THE WESTMORE COLLECTION - ON VIEW NOW AT THE MUSEUM

The First Family of Movie Makeup: The Westmore Collection

The cosmetic products on display at the Museum were sold at the House of Westmore store on 6638 Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood, and in select stores nationwide. The store opened to the public on April 13, 1935 with great fanfare. Celebrities such as Marlene Dietrich, Carole Lombard, Clara Bow and Charles Laughton were in attendance at this event, rivaling other “red carpet” affairs of the time.

Other Westmore-owned products have followed since the House of Westmore opened in 1935, from the same group of brothers and into the next generation. Including books, cosmetics, multi-media beauty kits, and even dolls, the Westmore family has demonstrated a prolific legacy for several generations, in addition to their respected reputation in film makeup. 

In the late 1970s, Marvin Westmore opened a store in Beverly Hills.  It closed in 1981, and was soon re-opened as a cosmetology school and store in Sherman Oaks, before it moved to a larger location in Burbank.

Makeup kit owned by Frank Westmore (1923-1985)

The youngest among his brothers, Frank grew up behind the glow of his siblings’ fame and learned the family trade as a teen. He worked in the House of Westmore as a young adult and after became a respected makeup artist in his own right. He wrote about his family’s history in The Westmores of Hollywood (1976).

Makeup kit owned by Gustaf Norin (1905-1988)

“Gus” was a contemporary of the second generation of Westmore makeup artists. In a career spanning 60 years, he estimated that he supervised and applied cosmetic and prosthetic makeup for over 700 productions, including The Wizard of Oz, Around the World in 80 Days, and Adventures of Superman.

Enjoy the entire Westmore collection at The Museum of the San Fernando Valley now through June. 
18860 Nordhoff St, Suite 204
Northridge, CA 91324
Open Tuesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays from 1pm to 6pm.
Free Admission. Free Parking. 
Available additional days by appointment, please call (818) 347-9665 to make an appointment. 
Docent lead tours available by appointment. 

CONGRATULATIONS TO ALL 2015 GRADUATING CSUN STUDENTS!

The Museum is appreciative of all of the administrative, faculty, staff and student relationships at California State University, Northridge (CSUN).

On May 17th (and earlier in the week) over 10,000 students graduated in spring 2015.

The Museum family proclaims, "CONGRATULATIONS!"

For those students assisting The Museum now, we appreciate your time and look forward to assisting with real-world projects and experiences.

CONGRATULATIONS TO GRANADA HILLS CHARTER AND EL CAMINO HIGH SCHOOLS ON NATIONAL ACADEMIC DECATHLON VICTORIES

These two local LAUSD and San Fernando Valley High Schools continue to make History...

Granada Hills Charter High School wins 2015 national academic decathlon!

This is the fourth time in the last five years the charter school in the San Fernando Valley claimed the top prize.

The school earned 53,592 points out of 66,000 in the scholastic contest, beating out 46 other high school teams for the title. This year’s event was held in Garden Grove over a three-day period.

Granada's cross town rival, El Camino had a terrific 2015 too -

El Camino High School wins 2015 national U.S. Academic Decathlon Online

Not to be outdone, local rival and past national academic champion El Camino High School won the 2015 national U.S. Academic Decathlon Online competition.

El Camino won the overall national championship in 2014 and in 2012.

What a great rivarly!

It’s the fifth year in a row that LA Unified schools have swept the state, national and online academic decathlon events. 

Congratulations to both schools, administrators, teachers and students. Job well done.

THE MUSEUM APOLOGIZES TO ATTENDEES OF NOHO HISTORIC WALKING TOUR TODAY - 5/9/15

For any of our Friends or Members of The Museum that went to North Hollywood for our Historic Walking tour of NoHo, we sincerely apologize for our docent not being able to make it on time.

Two things occurred which has not happened before. First, our docent had some car trouble and was not able to make it on time and, second, our normal back up docents were not able to attend today.

For anyone that had a RSVP or was at the start of the tour, please contact The Museum at 818-347-9665 or events@TheMuseumSFV.org and we will provide a free coupon for two to any of The Museum tours.

Please provide name, email and phone number so we can contact you for the coupons.

The Museum will do everything it can to ensure that this does not happen again.

We very much appreciate all of the attendees to our tours and events.

Thank you.
The Museum of the San Fernando Valley

Visiting Henry Van Wolf's Fernando Statue in Van Nuys

I noticed in the Daily News that its time for the Fernando Award nominations.  That reminded me of a recent trip to the Van Nuys Civic Center to get a closer look at sculptor Henry Van Woolf's Fernando statue.  My curiosity was piqued by a Van Nuys booster publication in the museum's collection.

Van Nuys Chamber of Commerce publication 1973

Courtesy of Penny Meyer

I was struck at first by the absence of trees and then the positioning of the statue struck me.  

Is the statue still in that same location?

No.  Fernando has definitely moved.

This is actually the same angle as the 1973 photo (minus the fisheye).

 I had never stopped to read Fernando's story before.

In 1959, Casa de Cadillac's Martin Pollard was the first recipient of the Fernando Award.

Who will be added for 2015? 

JIMMY STEINFELDT VISITS MUSEUM (5/16/15)

FUNDRAISER: HELP SUPPORT YOUR MUSEUM!

PURCHASE ORIGINAL ART FROM LOCAL 
SAN FERNANDO VALLEY ARTISTS AT YOUR MUSEUM!  

Help preserve San Fernando Valley history by purchasing original art from local artists at the Museum today. Funds help pay for artifacts, events, programs and office space. 

You can also support the Museum by becoming a member - click here to sign up!

Follow Museum of the San Fernando Valley's board FOR SALE - "Talent in the Valley"- ORIGINAL ART on Pinterest.