GOOD NEWS AND ANNOUNCEMENTS:
President Watson noted that he was happy to have his dad, Ray Watson, Sr. at the meeting today.
Toni Harper Dougherty and Lynette Zelezny were each honored with the Paul Harris Fellowship award. This is Toni’s first and Lynette’s second recognition. Congrats!
Cathy Abernathy announced that her beautiful daughter has won the History day Competition at the State level four years back-to-back . The family will be leaving on Sunday to compete in Washington, D.C. at the National competition. The entire Club wishes them much luck in representing Kern County!
Joe Gregory announced that his brilliant wife Katie has accepted a position in education as the Director of Curriculum, Instruction, and Accountability. Congrats to you both. Please thank her for her dedicated services to our community’s students.
Jim Baldwin talked about he and his wife’s involvement in an original production at the Bakersfield Music Theater (Stars Theater) highlighting a 50 year history in Bakersfield. The show will run three days this week and four days next week. He encouraged everyone to come and enjoy this event. The entire Club is also sending his wife healing thoughts as she approaches opening night with laryngitis. In true theater spirit…the show must go on!
Kristin Beall had two wonderful announcements. The first was that the Kern Community Foundation received its largest donation to date, $2.5 million, from Rob and Judy McCarthy. The McCarthy’s have a heart for children and education, and Kristen will be stewarding it into meaningful projects at their direction. This brings Foundation assets to $25 million. Amazing work Kristen in cultivating such impactful philanthropy in our community!
And…Kristin also announced (although the glow from the rock on her hand and her incredibly big smile were strong indications) that she happily accepted a marriage proposal from her best friend! She will be getting married at the end of the month. Our Esteemed President Mr. Watson was at an unusual loss for words as he congratulated her. From the entire club, we wish Kristin and her Best Friend (wink) a life filled with love, peace, health, and laughter!
Finally, President Watson discussed the disappearance of Garro Ellis from some of the sessions at the International Convention in Hamburg, Germany. Interestingly, President Watson was more disturbed about photos of Mr. Ellis wearing matching outfits with two unknown people, he appears to have gone native.
PROGRAM:
Jon Sampson introduced the Bakersfield Museum of Art’s curator Rachel Magnus. Ms. Magnus has worked for the Museum since 2011, and, after a nationwide search, was selected as the curator in 2015. She has curated over 50 exhibits and events such as Via Arte. She oversees 400 objects in the BMoA’s permanent collection.
BMoA was founded in 1956 as the Cunningham Memorial Art Gallery. The gallery highlighted local artists’ works. In 1986, the Bakersfield Art Foundation was established. In March 1990, the Foundation changed the name of its building to Bakersfield Museum of Art, retaining the Cunningham name for a gallery. In 1991, the Museum was granted accreditation by the American Alliance of Museums and started a capital campaign to expand the original building. In 1997, BMoA was purchased from the City of Bakersfield and construction began in 2000. The Museum opened to the public in 2001.
BMOA’s mission “is to inspire and engage diverse audiences by providing a broad spectrum of creative visual arts experiences through the exhibition and preservation of fine art, educational programs, community outreach and special events.”
The Museum houses four exhibits, most changing three times per year. Current exhibitions in include “The Sublime” which showcases local artists and allows selling their pieces to support to their craft; the “Golden State” which highlights selections from BMOA’s permanent collection; “Platinum” is a selection of photographs printed on platinum, creating interesting and compelling prints; and “Wake Up” which celebrates the work of 15 high school students who participated in the ArtWorks program. These students are extremely committed to the Museum, and are exposed to a number of high level educational activities such as conservation, creation, exhibitions and other aspects of the creative arts that are not traditionally taught in academic settings.
There are 2 upcoming exhibits. The first is “Bakersfield Built: 1960s”, opening in September 2019 in collaboration with the Kern County Museum and others. The exhibit will examine the prosperous time following the earthquake in 1952. Architecture began to incorporate principles of Frank Lloyd Wright, among others. The George and Millie Ablin House, which was commissioned in 1950 and finished in 1960, accentuated these. This lead to the popularity of ranch style homes and experimentation with differing aspects of residential and commercial architecture.
The second upcoming exhibit is “Roll out the Red Carpet: the Bakersfield Sound,” opening in May 2020. Instead of focusing on the music, this exhibition will concentrate on the style and aesthetics of the period. In short, why did the Buckaroo’s dress like glitzy cowboys? We don’t know why, but we know that their style is indeed iconic.
At the end of the meeting, Rotarians had the opportunity to walk the gallery with Rachel as she explained the history and importance of many of the pieces.
GUESTS:
Madeline Abernathy guest of her mother Cathy Abernathy
Kaela Lopez guest of her father Jesse Lopez
Alan Fuchs guest of Lynette Zelezny
Helle Peterson guest of Lynette Zelezny
Tommy Esqueda guest of Lynette Zelezny
Norma Eaton guest of husband Win Eaton
VISITING ROTARIANS:
Amy Smith, President of Twilight Rotary of Bakersfield
Photos by Girish Patel:
Spoke Guest Editor, Toni Dougherty wanted to share a quote in lieu of a profile:
