Boney Island Exudes – and Exhumes – Spooky Charm

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Skeletons tell your fortune…clever video card tricks invite you to play…optical illusions of disappearing blackbirds and mysterious snake-like rope tricks fascinate, while charming, yes charming displays of the recently departed depict fishing trips and pirate lore, cowboy life, and strange gardens.

Such is the world of Boney Island, returning after a 3-year hiatus due to Covid and relocation. Now happily positioned outdoors near the Exposition Park Rose Garden on the Natural History Museum grounds, this enchanting Halloween world is immersive, interactive, and alight with eerie illumination now through October 31.

We walked through the museum’s garden pathways at dusk and into a world that includes skeleton dinosaurs, carnival barkers, and even carnivorous plants. Both witty, amusing, and properly spooky, the attraction was originally created by Rick Polizzi, producer of The Simpsons, for his family. It was designed as a riff on the Coney Island amusement park, and over the course of 20 years, expanded from a front yard exhibit to a large-scale attraction in Griffith Park. And now, it’s found what appears to be its rightful bones – or rather, home at NHM.

The museum’s nature gardens are a great setting, allowing visitors to wind their way through various themed areas. The carnival barker/Coney Island-themed skeletal attractions are the first portion of Boney Island visitors will enjoy, and it would be just about impossible to walk through it without laughing delightedly at the illusions and tricks offered here. In a small clearing, a compact stage offers a lively information from museum staff about fiendish-looking fossils and creatures from the distant past, as well as magic shows.

Attendees will stroll among the skeleton horses and cowboys, pirates and their buried treasures in Deadwood Forest, view a skeleton orchestra in performance and the somewhat carnivorous appearing plants in Hauntington Gardens, and watch skeletal Teradactyls fishing for boney fish among the other prehistoric creatures in Prime Evil pass.

There’s also a Haunted Halloween Light Trail, and at the far end of the attraction, a large stage featuring a Haunted Mansion water and light show with musical amusements ranging from the classical to the Adams Family theme song conducted by a delightfully snarky skeleton host. And don’t forget your camera! Set pieces such as a Dias de la Muertes skull, massive pumpkins, and a tilted quarter moon are also on hand for photo ops that are perfect for the whole family.

In fact, the entire event is not only family-friendly, its adult-friendly, too. Kids will love the tricks and amusements, adults will revel in the old-time flavor, smart artisanry, and lively quips that abound.

Additionally, there are pop-up demonstrations conducted by the Natural History Museum’s Live Animals team, and a rotating selection of local food trucks and food vendors as well as the museum’s café, the Neighborhood Grill from Post & Beam, as well as both Boney Island and NHM-branded merchandise and light up toys for take-home fun.

This unique and super fun Halloween spooktacular is ticketed at $25 per person; $20 for NHM members. The event runs Thursday–Sunday, and on October 30 and 31st. Entry times are at 6 and 8 p.m.; doors open at 6 and guests are invited to stay until closing. Allow two hours to enjoy all the tricks and treats.

  • Genie Davis; photos by Genie Davis

Sessions Retreat and Hotel Offers A Perfectly Curated Mountain Stay

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Like uncovering a longed-for treasure, there’s nothing like discovering a resort destination so special that from the first glance, you want to return to it again and again.

Sessions Retreat and Hotel, a boutique lodging in Big Bear Lake is exactly that place. Unique décor, beautiful, shared guest spaces, a variety of room options, and fire pits that allow perfect star gazing above the pines – what more could you ask for.  Well, possibly, and accommodating, welcoming ownership that is all too rarely encountered. With a focus on art, wellness, and nature, you’ll want to come for one “session” and return for multiple Sessions stays.

Before diving into all this property has to offer, it’s worth noting that I am not usually a fan of Big Bear itself. I normally gravitate toward the desert or the ocean rather than the mountains, and I’ve stayed at the kind of “rustic” cabin-in-the-woods spots that the community has available by the score. But finding Sessions reveals the pure pleasures of the area: watching the sunset over the lake, the moon rising over the trees, listening to the morning birds while strolling the grounds.

The second personal preference worth noting: regular readers and subscribers here know that art is something I pursue and love experiencing. When I originally booked this property back in February – a planned visit delayed by the anomaly of astronomical snowfall in the region – I had no idea that the hotel was art-centric. But it is: from the unique, witty, found and installation art in public and shared spaces to the lovely art in each room and a fun mural with spiritual vibes lining an outdoor corridor that connects the property’s office to other buildings.

Let’s start with a look at the accommodations. Regardless of the room type, amenities are artistic yet comfortable. Bedding and towels are first class, and the complete redo of what was an older property is thoughtfully done. Beautiful hand-laid patterned tiles brighten the bathrooms, original art on the walls has a meditative quality, and an intelligent use of space make up the basis of every room type. Walls have a color block pattern that makes rooms feel and look more spacious. Small touches count: a small bonsai in a white-painted fireplace, a sculpture of a golden heart with branching arteries; a hanging lamp emanating gold light from a shade that could’ve come from Morocco. Two books rest on a wall shelf: The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows, by John Koenig, and the wildly fascinating Remember – Be Here Now with its mandala-like cover. A reed diffuser emanates the mellow scent of a Black Forest. Rooms are pet-friendly and have high-speed WIFI.

These amenities are a part of each room type. We stayed in the two story The Club, a former motel space that holds single kings and two-queen-bed rooms which also hold a mini-fridge, coffee maker, and smart TV.

The budget option – but you’d only know it by measuring the size of the rooms, which are smaller, is The Lodge. The rooms in this building are private with private baths, however the lower floor of the building holds a communal space with billiards, fun and funky wall art, an old-fashioned electric fireplace, dining tables, and a large and modern kitchen. This building would make a great space for group up to 30 including retreats or family/friend gatherings.

More commodious offerings are found at The Chalet, duplex, ample studio-size cabins quipped with queen beds, a full kitchen, and along with that queen bed a pull-out queen couch, as well, making them ideal for families or couples who want a little extra space. The biggest private space of all is Cabin 69, which has two queen bedrooms and a full kitchen.

Then there’s open space available for all hotel guests to enjoy: an outdoor deck, two gas-fed firepits with comfortable Adirondack chairs, a pool, and best of all, the Flatlander, a bar and event space that the owners named as a bit of an inside joke, at the Big Bear-locals somewhat derogatory name for a person who lives or lived at low altitude or at any city. There’s a classic pinball machine and mini-bowling arcade game that likely originated in the 1940s; a glassed-in collection of beer cans; a gilded throne chair – perfect for a birthday queen on a raised platform; a goggle wearing statue of a grinning mobster as the ersatz bouncer; and of course the long, shiny, well-stocked bar.  It’s a cross between the coolest rec room ever and an art installation that’s half steam-punk and half 1970s kitsch.

Beyond it is an outdoor patio, the long, long green lawn and trees, and a tee pee, where at times, yoga and meditation classes are conducted. Mushroom-shaped solar lights dot the paths, and overhead solar lights sparkle between buildings at night.

What more could you ask for? Well, maybe s’mores by those fire pits, and when we mentioned stocking up on some fixings, co-owner and property operator Frank Caruso proved his stated belief in hospitality accommodating every guest’s needs – and left Hershey bars, graham crackers, and marshmallows for us.

Caruso is an exceptional hotelier, one of three friends who saw the potential in the property as an “adult playground…filled with art and centered around strengthening our connection to nature and each other.” And so, what was a rather run-down and typical Big Bear vacation spot became this unique, sophisticated, yet sweet experience that creates what the team calls an integration of “ART-chitecture in Nature.”

Judging by the speed at which the property has been completely redone, the further changes Caruso and his team envision for the resort may already be under way – food and beverage service at The Flatlander even when events are not scheduled at the venue; making a Cinderella-like motorcoach on the property operational; creating a full-on yoga program. Even though it doesn’t seem as if it could get any better, Sessions is and will.

Personally, I can’t wait to go back, and you shouldn’t wait – go.

For more information visit sessionsretreat.com.

  • Genie Davis; photos by Genie Davis

 

Suddenly It’s Not Summer – Recalling Art From Our Warm Months – Sasse Museum of Art and Studio Channel Islands Both Allowed a Look at Beautifully Memorable Landscapes

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Two exceptional exhibitions, both closed earlier this summer, offered revealing looks at personal landscapes.

Lori Markman‘s Magical Landscapes at the Sasse Museum of Art in Pomona, Calif. closed in mid-August, but certainly you’ll see more of her vistas again. Her mixed media collage, inspired by Japanese landscape art created beautifully crafted, unique scenes that defied expectations.  Works such as “Moon, Stars, Mountains, Water in Blue,” shown above, created a vision of deep perspective, a slice of earth and sea. Similarly, her “The Reflection of Fuji” dances on the horizon and against the mysterious surface of the water below.

Some works are purely peaceful, such as “Overlooking the Lake in White;” others convey a vast sense of movement and color, yet anchored in place by her use of minute text.

Drawing viewers into her intricate detail, as she does with “River of Roses at Cherry Blossom Time,” Markman makes each separate image within each work precise and graceful, creating a splendid, peaceful riff on traditional Japanese art, whether inspired by photographs or classic drawings.

The layered composition of her art adds to the sense of calm and rest. Taking so much care and shaping such delicate work evokes a sense of peace that no external chaos or challenges can shatter.

Back in May, the summer began with the radiant works below.

Dis Connection, curated by artist Elana Kundell, offered a similarly beautiful and heart opening exhibition at Studio Channel Islands located in Camarillo. The group show featured eight female artists each exploring the human need for home and connection as well as the wound of forced displacement.  Like Markman, each of these bountifully talented artists offered layered works packed with meaning and rife for reflection and meditation. Many of the works are abstract, leaving room for interpreting what is intimately personal to each artist equally so for each viewer as well.

Exhibiting artists included that of performance artist Maria Adela Diaz, the rich large-scale oil and mixed media painting of Fatameh Burnes, towering sculptural work from Alicia Piller, immersive, world-building clay art from Janet Neuwalder, and lush mixed media works involving varied material, including emotionally deep painted images, from Nurit Avesar.  Marthe Aponte‘s unique, delicate wall sculptures  shape protective shields, while Sigrid Orlet‘s varied media work is powerful, evoking strength and wisdom.  The layered instalaltions of Arezoo Bharthania use gauzy material that floats with color and light.

Neuwalder’s vast expanse of clay shapes (above) blossom with supple, subtle color.

Aponte’s beaded shields feel both entirely of the moment and eternally protective.

Avesar’s use of vivid color and texture evokes a visceral response.

Diaz takes us to the sea and paints her body the color of its foam.

Each artist shapes an immersive and lush world that bears intimate consideration and creates enormous pleasure from seeing these powerful, wild, pristine images. Kundell’s curation is perfect, drawing viewers into an exhibition in which one piece builds upon or converses with the next until the viewer also feels spoken to.

Above, Fatameh Burnes “Fools Paradise”; below “Remberance” from Janet Neuwalder.

If you missed either Kundell’s lovingly curated Dis Connection or Markman’s Magical Landscapes, remember their beauty, and look for each of these artists to share their profoundly wise and heartfelt visions with you again, soon. Their landscapes – internal and external, spiritual and passionate, each map new and resonating territory.

  • Genie Davis; photos provided by the artists and galleries

Punk and Money – A Double Dose of Fascinating Photography Coming to Leica Gallery

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Sometimes it takes two to create disparate yet connected photographic art.  Photographic artists Michael Grecco (first image, above) and Elizabeth Waterman (second image, above) each offer completely different bodies of work, that both reveal and celebrate intimate looks at two very different subcultures. The married photographers will be opening two paired solo exhibitions at Leica Gallery in mid-September.

Grecco’s exhibition, Days of Punk, features punk music performers backstage, on-stage, and just playing around. The punk term is used loosely, as some of the images include other musicians from the same era, in the years 1978-1991.  Along with punk icons like the Ramones and Dead Kennedys, and their predecessor, the iconic Lou Reed, viewers will find powerful images of Joan Jett, The Talking Heads, and more. Many, but not all of the works are taken in a beautifully evocative black and white. Grecco’s approach is at times that of a street photographer or journalist, capturing subjects off-guard or in the middle of a mosh pit, on the fly; others are more perfectly framed stage performances, or a composed image of a group.  Whether a quick capture or a well-realized depiction of a performance, these photos are often bold, and always involving.

Moneygame,  Waterman’s exhibition, is about an entirely different culture indeed, that of strippers in five different American cities and in Bangkok. Some of her work is in a lustrous noir black and white, but the majority of the images are shot in super-saturated color – red and golds and greens that vibrate and pulse like the neon surrounding these women. Some of the Bangkok images, shot earlier this year, have never been exhibited before.  While Waterman frequently shoots subtle, suggestive images of these performers’ daily work, some images are deliberately blurred, almost surreal – and combined with their fierce color, they remind the viewer of the emotional stress – and the physical demands – of this profession.

Both Los Angeles-based photographers immerse themselves in the worlds they’ve chosen to depict. Grecco describes himself as a club kid who became both a chronicler and participant in the Boston club scene. While working as both an Associated Press and Boston Herald photojournalist, he also covered Boston’s punk music scene for Boston Rock magazine and WBCN-FM, capturing that scene’s rhythm and heart, it’s wild energy and as he describes it, “infectious freedom.”

Viewers will enter that era and that world not only through Grecco’s passionate visuals but through related soundscapes that were produced as a collaboration with Mission of Burma band members. These works are also featured in the artist’s recent best-selling book, Punk, Post Punk, New Wave: Onstage, Backstage, In Your Face 1978-1991.

Waterman’s work, too, was first presented in a book, her Moneygame. The trust Waterman needed to establish with the stripper performers to create her photographs is the indelible heart of her images.  She showed her work to the ladies, helped them collect the dollar bills tossed at them, and was generally and genuinely present in their lives, until they became comfortable with posing for her, as well as allowing her to capture views of their daily milleau. While this is a charged and challenging world, Waterman was able to capture not only lush performance photographs, but images of them at rest, having meals, applying their make-up. In the process, she has created a relatable work environment, exploring the way in which her subjects are, just like any other performer in any other sort of job, using their money to pay off debts, start an enterprise, or provide for their families. Her recent Bangkok images have a slightly different sense of both coloration and subject, including stripping performance sub-groups such as trans and plus-size strippers, while exploring use of a shallow depth of field at open aperature.

Based on her photographic experience, Waterman is currently developing a documentary series on this world, including the changing workscape for these women, from unionization to supportive communities looking for greater visibility and acceptance. She relates that she is exploring what the life of the modern stripper looks like.

This compelling paired exhibition offers a profound look into lives lived in very specific worlds – and the innate humanity and power of performance among both today’s strip performers and recently-past-era punk musical artists.

Leica Gallery is located at 8783 Beverly Blvd, West Hollywood, CA 90048. Grecco and Waterman will hold an artists’ reception on Thursday, September 14,  from 6-8 p.m.; the exhibition runs through November 5th.

  • Genie Davis; photos provided by the artists.