Southern California Guide

by Valerie Summers Now, more than ever, this beautifully organized exhibition tells the story of one of the most creative artists of our time…the unique Jim Henson.  He took puppetry to a whole new level with his creations which not only made us laugh but sent a strong message about differences and getting along…most appropriate  […]

by Valerie Summers     The San Francisco Museum of Modern Art has always been on my list of must see places each time I visit the city.   When I learned it would be closed for renovation I could not have imagined the scope of its new home which recently reopened.  I returned to the […]

By Valerie Summers More than 20 years ago, I traveled the Silk Road across China.  I was stunned by the many exotic sights but the one that captured my heart was my visit to the Mogao cave temples, Buddhist Art on China’s Silk Road…unforgettable. Situated near the town of Dunhuang at the edge of the […]

Story & Photos by Valerie Summers I hoped that rerouting my trip to Washington DC through Philadelphia to make a single stop was going to be worth the inconvenience.  Having heard and read about the much heralded Barnes Museum and its unique beginnings, I decided to investigate for myself.  Upon my arrival, as I approached […]

by Valerie Summers U.S. Highway Route 66 is both a physical road and a romantic notion much of which is both confirmed and dispelled in the current do not miss exhibition at the Autry National Center of the American West. This is not a “fluff” presentation as portrayed in TV shows of days gone by […]

by Valerie Summers Inspired by the beauty of the Arizona desert, Frank Lloyd Wright, one of the most acclaimed architects in the world, designed his winter camp on a site at the base of McDowell Mountain which commanded a view of the entire Valley of the Sun in Scottsdale.  Arizona’s desert held a special appeal […]

The Skirball Cultural Center’s original exhibition, Women Hold Up Half the Sky opens October 27 and continues through March 11, 2012.  Inspired by the book penned by  Pulitzer Prize winning journalists Nicholas D. Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn, Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide, this unique exhibit presents a call to action. […]

A major coup by San Francisco’s  de Young Museum has resulted in the extraordinary exhibition of Picasso masterpieces directly from the Musee National Picasso in Paris.  The exhibit encompasses many of the most important art movements of the 20th century which Picasso was a part of including Expressionism, Cubism, Classicism and Surrealism. Pablo Picasso’s vastly […]

The Los Angeles County Museum of Art’s (LACMA) new Lynda and Stewart Resnick Exhibition, designed by Renzo Piano, opens the weekend of October 2-3.  On that Saturday and Sunday, the public is invited to a Free Community Weekend.  The stunning 45,000 square foot Pavilion, situated just north of the Broad Contemporary Museum, is the largest […]