Fowler Museum at UCLA

The Fowler Museum is located inside the UCLA campus grounds. The museum covers global arts and cultures. The works of art are from Africa, Asia, the Pacific and the Americas-past and present. Here you will find thought-provoking exhibits. Our curiosities lead us into each room. As our visit came to an end, we realized that beauty is in the eye of the beholder. We are sharing a few of our pictures from our visit. 

http://www.fowler.ucla.edu/exhibitions/

The Fowler Museum is part of UCLA’s School of the Arts and Architecture. The museum is open to the public and admission is free, however donations are welcome. 

Hours of operation:
Monday: closed
Tuesday: closed
Wednesday: noon – 8 pm
Thursday: noon – 5 pm
Friday: noon – 5 pm
Saturday: noon – 5 pm
Sunday: noon – 5 pm

HOLIDAY HOURS:
Open on Veteran’s Day
Closed on Thanksgiving
Open on the Friday after Thanksgiving
Closed on Christmas Eve Day
Closed on Christmas Day
Open on New Year’s Eve Day
Closed on New Year’s Day

Phone: (310) 825-4361
Email: fowlerws@arts.ucla.edu

Directions: Enter through the UCLA campus Lot 4 from Sunset Blvd. at Westwood Plaza and turn left into the Pay-By-Plate area of the lot.  Easy, self-service, Pay-By-Plate parking is available.

The address of Lot 4 is 221 Westwood Plaza, Los Angeles, CA 90095

During your visit make sure to see the UCLA sculpture garden, The Botanical gardens and the UCLA Meteorite collection. 
https://www.botgard.ucla.edu/
http://www.meteorites.ucla.edu/

Disclaimer: Not a sponsored post. All thoughts and opinions are all my own. 

Family Field Trip to The Old Mission San Buenaventura

We had another successful family field trip. This time, we headed up to Ventura, California  to "The Old Mission San Buenaventura."  The drive was a few hours from our home and we had to stop for drinks and snacks. All that driving, looking out the window made us thirsty and hungry.  When we arrived, we were amazed at how close the mission was to the beach. The weather was a little cooler than we had expected, so we covered up. We entered the mission through their store and paid our admission.  Then, we went up the stairs to a room filled with artifacts and video of the mission's history.  There, we found a door that led us to the mission grounds.  It was like a small piece of paradise.   Almost immediately, you could feel peace as we walked through the courtyard. We made our way to the Catholic church and there we could see the history on the walls through the paintings, statues and the altar.  The church is small in size but it was clear, that in that tiny place, God resides.  We were witness to a man who while praying, kneeled and walk all the way down the altar on his knees.  This homage to God and his presence made us feel as though he was seeking a miracle. We couldn't help but pray for him.  It was a unique experience for all of us that we won't soon forget. Address: San Buenaventura Mission is located at 211 E. Main St. Ventura CA 93001.

Important facts: Mission San Buenaventura is the 9th Catholic Mission to be constructed under guidance of Father Serra, a Spanish Roman Catholic priest and friar of the Franciscan order. Unfortunately, he only spent three weeks at San Buenaventura before moving on to his next order. Founded in 1782, The Old Mission San Buenaventura has a long history. Throughout its legacy, it survived fire and several earthquakes. Additionally, in 1818, it was evacuated for a month as a result of a pirate attack by the Argentine, Hypolite Bouchard. The pirates spared the mission and it survived to become part of secularization during Mexican ownership. The mission was owned by the Mexican government until 1836 when it became part of the United States. In 1862, a petition requesting the Mission be returned to the Catholic Church was granted by President Abraham Lincoln. The popular mission was also visited by President William McKinley and his wife on May 10th, 1901. These are just a few of the historical events that took place at Mission San Buenaventura.

Other interesting facts about the mission include that it was a place for trade during the 1800's.  Ships would dock only a few feet from the mission to trade for goods and services. This gave the mission the nickname, "Mission by the Sea".  

After the mission was founded, a large wooden cross was placed on top of a hill overlooking the mission Church.  This cross was used as a highly visible road sign for travelers in search of it.  The original cross was damaged and replaced in the 1860's due to the elements.  A second cross, it's replacement, blew down during a storm in November 1875.  The hill above the mission would remain without it's landmark for nearly 40 years.  In 1912, the E.C.O. donated and replaced a new cross in it's current location as a historical landmark.  That cross is still standing today atop the hill in Grant Park and can be seen from far away. Directions to the Grant Park: 

Southbound: From the 101 take the Main Street exit. Turn right at the bottom of the ramp and drive until you reach Palm Street. Turn left onto Poli St, which becomes Cedar St. Turn right onto Ferro Dr and follow it as it twists around the foothills.

Northbound: From the 101 take the California Street exit. Be careful as you reach the top of the ramp, as it empties quite abruptly onto a major, and rather unmarked, intersection. Go straight towards the City Hall. Just as you turn left onto Poli St, which becomes Cedar St. Turn right onto Ferro Dr and follow it as it twists around the foothills.

Source: http://www.serracrosspark.com/history.html
http://www.sanbuenaventuramission.org/

California Missions

1.) Basilica San Diego de Alcala 

2.) Mission San Carlos Borromeo del Carmelo

3.) San Antonio de Padua 

4.) San Gabriel Arcangel 

5.) San Luis Obispo 

6.) San Francisco de Asis 

7.) San Juan Capistrano

8.) Santa Clara de Asis

9.) San Buenaventura

10.) Santa Barbara

11.) La Purisima Concepcion 

12.) Santa Cruz 

13.) Nuestra Senora de la Soledad 

14.) San Jose 

15.) San Juan Bautista

16.)  San Miguel Arcangel 

17.) San Fenando Rey de Espana 

18.) San Luis Rey de Francia

19.) Santa Ines

20.) San Rafael Arcangel 

21.) San Francisco Solano de Sonoma 
Disclosure: Not a sponsored post. 

UCLA Meteorite Collection Family Field Trip

Southern California is home to one of the largest meteorite collections in the West. The UCLA Meteorite Collection is located in room 3697 of the Geology Building.  This collection has been on exhibit and opened to the public since January 2014. The gallery is open weekdays from 9:00 am to 4:00 pm and on Sundays from 1:00 to 4:00 pm.  Admission is always free.  This past weekend, we took the opportunity to visit and learn about meteorites.  Continue reading to find out what happened.....

We arrived Sunday afternoon and parked in the visitor parking section of the garage. Parking is convenient and located directly across from the Geology building. The kids were amazed that we were able to walk into the Geology building on a Sunday afternoon. As we headed to the collection, there were many questions about UCLA. Our kids are still so young that talking about college seems way to early however looking at it, it is right around the corner for us. We offered information and suggested UCLA could be a school they could attend one day. As for today, we were just exploring meteorites even though there were many more curiosities presented.

357-pound iron chunk of an asteroid that crashed into Arizona nearly 50,000 years ago

We walked to the third floor and waited as we arrived a few minutes early. This gave us time to look around and find nearby dinosaur fossils on display. It was a fun surprise to see up close rare fossils. They are part of their teaching and research collection. To see more of  the Earth, Planetary and Space Science collection visit: http://epss.ucla.edu/teaching-research-collections/

UCLA Meteorite Collection

Once the doors to the Meteorite Collection room opened, we met a very informative and engaging volunteer named John.  He explained to us that this was the 5th largest collection of meteorites in the nation. We could tell how proud he felt about the collection and UCLA as a school. After a short visit with John, he handed us over to Jason, the docent working this Sunday afternoon.  Jason was informative and engaging while he explained how these meteorites were over 4.5 Billion years old.  Jason painted us a picture demonstrating how space particulate is lifted into the atmosphere by other asteroid impacts in our solar system, where it then heats, combines with other particles, hardens and repeats the process in its orbit around the sun. This process continues for years until a collision knocks the meteor out of orbit with destination to one of the nearby planets or moon. Jason also showed us a martian meteorite which was amazing to imagine.  We could see the love he has for the study of Geology as he explained the collection to us.  It was a very informative and eye opening experience.

Our short visit left us with a fraction of knowledge about meteorites as there is so much more to learn and study. Such as Meteorites are divided into two main classes: primitive and differentiated.  Each little spot on these meteorites tell a story and data from that story continues to be collected, studied and reported on.  To learn more visit: http://www.meteorites.ucla.edu/faq/

UCLA Meteorite Gallery Geology Building, Room 3697,

595 Charles Young Drive East Los Angeles, CA 90095

Email: meteorites@ucla.eduPhone: 310-825-2015

Disclaimer: Not a sponsored post. All thoughts and opinions are all my own.