Chinese art and culture, at the Huntington

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The Huntington Library, Art Collections and Botanical Gardens in San Marino has been trying to change its image. Once known as a bastion of Anglo-American culture, the 90-year-old institution is making clear that its interests extend to California, the West and beyond -- namely China. Last year, the Huntington opened a classical scholar’s garden, the centerpiece of efforts to reach out to the Chinese community. Less well known is the extensive array of Chinese culture lectures, concerts and exhibitions the Huntington offers in the belief that as a research-and-education center, its garden should be not just a garden but a living art installation and classroom.

‘Treasures Through Six Generations: Chinese Painting and Calligraphy From the Weng Collection’ -- a show featuring one of America’s major private collections of Chinese art- - will open Saturday in the Boone Gallery. (For more on ‘Treasures’ and the Huntington’s Chinese outreach attempts, see Sunday’s Arts & Books section.)

In the next few months, other garden-inspired events will include talks on the evolution of Chinese calligraphy and the traditional gardens of ultra-modern Shanghai, lessons in flower arranging, calligraphy and cooking, and a performance by Marc Yu, a 10-year-old piano prodigy. Kids can learn to create brush paintings and make fortune cookies (which, the Huntington is quick to note, do not come from China).

Speaking of food, the Chinese garden’s tea shop has a new chef, Alain Chan, as part of a collaboration between Sodexo, the Huntington’s food service provider, and Joss Cuisine/Traditional of Beverly Hills. Joss provides dim sum daily to the tea shop, which also offers chow mein-orange chicken plates and more than half a dozen varieties of tea. Business has nearly doubled since the menu changes were unveiled in March.

-- Karen Wada