TROVE OF WWII ERA VALLEY PORTRAIT PHOTOS FOUND

2010 - The Year of Valley Adventures

Portraits of His Son by John Charles Steele 1936 to 1943 - Images courtesy of James "Mitch" Steele 2010 (click on images to enlarge)
For a decade in the San Fernando Valley, Jack Steele took photographs of his favorite subject, his son John Steele Jr. Upcoming may be some photographs taken at the omni-popular Pop's Willow Lake.
John Charles Steele Sr. and his son - Father_Son Day at the Beach.

MUSEUM FORMS COMMITTEE TO SUPPORT TRADITIONAL CRAFTS IN THE VALLEY

2010 The Year of Valley Adventures
Christian's Art Work - Sun Valley Youth Arts Center- Photo for the Archives of The Museum of the San Fernando Valley by Gerald Fecht 2009 (click on image to enlarge)

The Museum of the San Fernando Valley is forming a committee to study ways in which the Museum Community can support traditional crafts among Valley youth. Interested parties should contact The Museum at 1 (818) 347-9665

Support the Sun Valley Youth Arts Center
8642 Sunland Boulevard
Sun Valley CA 91352
telephone: 1 (818) 252-4619

PIERCE COLLEGE FOUNDATION

2010 - The Year of Valley Adventures
Carosel at Los Angeles Pierce College Farm Center - Photo by Gerald Fecht for the Archives of The Museum of the San Fernando Valley 2010 (click on image to enlarge)

Under the direction of Dennis Washburn, the Pierce College Foundation works tirelessly to benefit that great community college and the entire San Fernando Valley. This merry-go-round on the Pierce College Farm Center has a mysterious past - some say that it may have once graced Lincoln Park in the inner city.

To me, the San Fernando Valley has always been a treasure house of amazing colors and images. I returned to live in the Valley when I was 14 and have enjoyed the richness and diversity of its many cultures since. Why not make 2010 your year to see the San Fernando Valley all over again. From the wonderful Thai Buddhist Temple to the Portal of the Folded Wings, there are wonderful things to do and see here. Join me this year by a visit to the Pierce College Farm Center in the Spring, an exploration of Walt Disney's Barn in Griffith Park, on The Museum's up coming walking tour of Van Nuys or the whole year of celebrations as Northridge marks its 100th anniversary.

TOULOUSE LAUTREC HIDES OUT IN THE NO HO

2010 - The Year of Valley Adventures
Detail of exterior mural - former Iliad Bookstore site in North Hollywood, California - Photo by Gerald Fecht for the Archives of The Museum of the San Fernando Valley. (click on image to enlarge)

A year passes and the Iliad Bookstore has moved to a new location in North Hollywood. For the time being, the murals designed to entice readers into its old location still weather on its stuccoed walls, but soon a dress shop or medical marijuana store will come along and desire a sign of its own. This wonderful little image of an Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec sketch pad will disappear under coats of exterior latex paint - to be forever lost, or hidden away for some future generation. In the meanwhile it hides away in a mural not long for viewing.

Become an agent of Valley history and culture in 2010. Explore our Valley and share you discoveries with the Museum Community. Digital cameras are perfect companions for your own walking tours. Even better - become a member of the Friends of The Museum of the San Fernando Valley. The Friends are forming in February. Call 1 (818) 347-9665 and let us know you are interested in the past with your eyes on the future.
Have a Happy and Healthy New Year
PS - Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec lived from 1864 to 190. If you know the name of the mural painter, your Museum would like to know.

MEMORABILIA OF THE PHI DELTA PSI FRATERNITY

2010 The Year of Valley Adventures
Photograph of a scrapbook of the Phi Delta Psi Fraternity and the Maple Leaf Society. Photo 1278 - November 2009 display at Los Angeles Pierce College. (click on image to enlarge)
Recent Vietnam era graduates of Valley and Pierce Colleges are shown in this picture include: Dan Kumler, Tom Roe, Al Plouff, Grady Talbot and Bill Hiegert. Grady E. Talbot would become a founding Board Member of The Museum. The Phi Delta Psi was founded in October 1956 at Valley and Pierce Colleges.

Among the earliest supporters of the movement to create The Museum of the San Fernando Valley were members of the Maple Leaf Society, an alumni group from Los Angeles Valley, Pierce, and City Colleges. The Society is an outgrowth of the Phi Delta Psi Fraternity that also had chapters at California State University Northridge, Moorpark College and Virginia Technical Institute. The Maple Leaf Society provides scholarships for college students. The Museum of the San Fernando Valley archives the history of the Phi Delta Psi / Maple Leaf Society, along with the records of other social and fraternal organizations of the greater San Fernando Valley.