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NEWEST NATIONAL MONUMENT HONORS CIVIL RIGHTS LEADERS
> Fifty- seven years ago, civil rights activist Medgar Evers, an NAACP f ield worker, was shot to death by a white supremacist outside his home in Jackson, Miss. The modest ranch- style home he shared with his wife, Myrlie, off icially became a national monument earlier in December and now the National Park Service is working to develop tours. The home isn’t yet open to visitors. The National Park Service says in a statement it will work with the community to develop materials that tell the story of the couple who worked to end racial injustice. In June, the 1956 home was conveyed to the park service by nearby Tougaloo College, which had been deeded the home after Evers’ death. The college offered tours of the interior of the house, which has been restored to the way it looked in 1963 when Evers was assassinated. Myrlie Evers and her three children moved to Claremont, where she earned a college degree, worked for Claremont Colleges and led the board of the NAACP in the 1990s.
PICTURE BRIDGE AND ITS ART GET A REBOOT
> Tired of walking in your neighborhood? Take a detour to the Langham Huntington Pasadena and stroll the hotel’s recently reopened landmark Picture Bridge. Gables on the wooden span portray early California scenes painted in the 1930s. Resident artist Frank M. Moore received $ 10 each ( and food and lodging) for his original depictions of Cathedral Spires in Yosemite, Mt. Wilson’s Observatory, Avalon Bay in Catalina, and other local and notable landscapes. Over time, the elements took their toll on the bridge and the paintings. In 2013, the bridge’s 41 paintings were removed and placed in temperature- controlled storage, where they remain. Copies were installed in their place during the bridge’s recent restoration. Architect Myron Hunt designed the bridge, which also received a makeover. It has the look of the original, restored with a mix of the original Douglas f ir wood plus new redwood, pressure- treated wood and steel, according to a hotel news release. The bridge, softly lighted at night, connects the hotel to tennis courts and cottages on the 23- acre resort. The public is invited to tour the bridge for free, provided they wear masks and socially distance.
EXHIBIT DEPICTS L. A. THROUGH A PLANE WINDOW
> Window seat or aisle? Artist Susan Logoreci likely would pick the window seat, the title of her recently installed exhibit in LAX’s Terminal 1. The airport regularly curates shows and switches up art that travelers see as they make their way through LAX — and that hasn’t changed during the pandemic. Though fewer people are going to the airport these days, four shows organized by the airport and L. A.’ s Department of Cultural Affairs will remain in Terminal 1 into 2021. “Window Seat” offers a row of imagined aerial views — the Hollywood sign, the Santa Monica Pier, a freeway interchange, neighborhood pools — created inside f lat ovals shaped like an airplane window. The gouache- on- paper works will be on view through September. Also in Terminal 1: Alexis Zoto’s large murals with motifs based on brightly colored patterns of kilims and textiles found in Albania and other countries in the onetime Ottoman Empire. “Korçare,” named for an area of southern Albania, will be on display in the postsecurity area of Terminal 1 through October.
FOR FREE ONLINE, LEARN TO TAKE BETTER PHOTOS
> Last chance: Think about brushing up your travel photo skills while you’re staying home. Photo classes at Nikon School Online are free through the end of December. Setting smartphones aside, these classes are for people who use actual cameras. Photographer Taylor Glenn leads the landscape session, which explains understanding light — when it’s good, why it matters — as well as composition, techniques and lens selection. Other classes include how to photograph kids and pets, and there’s even one on taking better holiday photos. Go to nikonevents. com to get started.