I will soon be serving as a professional-level marketing/publicity volunteer for MONA--the Museum Of Neon Art at their new home in downtown Glendale (across from the glitzy Americana shopping center). The museum formerly was at based in downtown L.A. (on the ground level of the Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising building), but outgrew its space and will soon be reopening in a newly constructed building provided by the city of Glendale. I have a friend of mine named Brian M Currie who has been a long time museum supporter and has designed a lot of fantastic neon for film & TV productions. To re-aquaint me with the museum, I was invited on a special holiday, double deck bus neon and holiday light tour this past Saturday night. Aside from freezing our tuchuses off, I had a great time. I was joined by my longtime friend Mike Green (pictured with me). Integrated into the tour was a stop at Olvera Street so we could witness their annual one night only Los Posadas celebration (and buy some hot champurrados!) Shown are a cute family I noticed there visiting Papa Noel. Leading the tour was neon historian and historic preservationist Eric Lynxwiler (and pictured next to Olvera Streets Old Plaza Church) who graciously acknowledged me as one of the original catalytic figures who helped spark the current revival of central downtown through my prior non-profit Friends Of The Orpheum efforts in the 1990s and he attributed his volunteer experiences (such as cranking down the Orpheum Theatres humongous auditorium chandeliers for a relamping project) as part of his inspiration to become so involved with local historic preservation efforts such as his tours for MONA. articles.glendalenewspress/2012-07-25/the818now/tn-818-0725-neon-aficionado-to-showcase-his-expertise-at-glendale-event_1_kim-koga-museum-of-neon-art-earl-c-anthony
Posted on: Mon, 22 Dec 2014 18:58:05 +0000