Native Voices at the Autry announces 10th anniversary season

Two original dramas and a festival of new plays will top-line the 10th anniversary season of Native Voices at the Autry.

The theater company, which was established in 1999, is the resident troupe of the Autry National Center of the American West in Los Angeles. It works exclusively with Native American playwrights and theater artists.

The new season begins in November with the world premiere of "Carbon Black" by Terry Gomez. Billed as a psychological drama, the play tells the story of a mother-son relationship fraught with agoraphobia and media-inspired fear. The play will be directed by Randy Reinholz, the company's artistic director.

"Carbon Black"  will run Nov. 7 to 22.

In March, the company will present "Tales of an Urban Indian," a one-man show by Canadian playwright-actor Darrell Dennis. The play, which had a run at the Old Globe in San Diego, tells the story of a contemporary Indian who must deal with culture shock when he moves from the reservation to the big city.

The show, which is being presented in association with the Public Theater in New York, runs March 13 to 28.

In June, the theater company will hold a festival of new plays during an eight-to-10 day retreat for beginning, emerging and established Native American playwrights. This project will be hosted in conjunction with La Jolla Playhouse and San Diego State University.

-- David Ng

Photo: Autry National Center of the American West. Credit: Lori Shepler / Los Angeles Times

Monster Mash: Autry drops expansion plans; Wall Project coming to L.A.; LACMA to meet with spurned film fans

-- About face: The Autry National Center has dropped plans for a $175-million expansion in Griffith Park.

-- Public art: L.A.'s Wilshire Boulevard will close to traffic for three hours on Nov. 8 for the Wall Project, an artistic commemoration of the fall of the Berlin Wall.

-- Reeling: LACMA's Michael Govan is planning to meet with members of Save Film at LACMA to discuss the fate of the museum's film program.

-- Remember him? Esa-Pekka Salonen is one of four composers commissioned by the New York City Ballet to write new scores for the company's upcoming season.

-- Change of pace: David Mamet is teaming with Disney to adapt and direct a new film version of "The Diary of Anne Frank."

-- Big debut: Martin McDonagh's new play, "A Behanding in Spokane," is set to have its world premiere in March on Broadway.

-- Budgetary cuts: The Cleveland Museum of Art has laid off 14 employees and will leave eight posts vacant in an attempt to balance its budget.

-- An offer you can't refuse: "Come Fly With Me," the upcoming Frank Sinatra musical directed by Twyla Tharp, will tour North America in 2010 after premiering in Atlanta.

-- Casting nightmare: Opera divas Angela Gheorgiu and Anna Netrebko have withdrawn from performances of "Carmen" and "La Traviata," respectively, in the Metropolitan Opera's upcoming season.

-- David Ng

Photo: the Autry National Center. Credit: Lori Shepler / Los Angeles Times

Autry National Center withdraws expansion plan

In a move that concedes a measure of victory to long-term opponents, the Autry National Center has bowed out of a protracted battle for a $175-million expansion of its facility in Griffith Park.

City approval of the plan hinged on a recent demand for the Autry to make a legally binding commitment to support the Southwest Museum located in Mt. Washington, as a fully functioning art institution in perpetuity. In a letter delivered to members of the Los Angeles City Council Tuesday, the Autry stated that such a commitment would be irresponsible and that it is withdrawing its proposal.

“Any further attempt to proceed with the proposed expansion project in Griffith Park would be an ill-advised diversion of our financial resources and an insupportable distraction from our work in serving the community,” Autry President John L. Gray states in the letter. “We come to this decision with reluctance and deep regret — but the constant delays, the past and future costs, the unyielding insistence on financial and programmatic commitments which we cannot responsibly make, and the prospect of future expensive and debilitating litigation all demand that we fulfill the Autry’s vision under different circumstances.”

Councilman José Huizar, whose district includes the Southwest Museum, said the decision caught him by surprise.

Autry drops plans for $175-million expansion at Griffith Park site

The Autry National Center has bowed out of a protracted battle for a $175-million expansion of its facility in Griffith Park.

City approval of the plan hinged on a recent demand for the Autry to make a legally binding commitment to support the Southwest Museum as a fully functioning art institution in perpetuity. In a letter delivered to members of the Los Angeles City Council today, the Autry stated that such a commitment would be irresponsible and that it is withdrawing its proposal.

“Any further attempt to proceed with the proposed expansion project in Griffith Park would be an ill-advised diversion of our financial resources and an insupportable distraction from our work in serving the community,” Autry President John L.Gray stated in the letter. “We come to this decision with reluctance and deep regret — but the constant delays, the past and future costs, the unyielding insistence on financial and programmatic commitments which we cannot responsibly make, and the prospect of future expensive and debilitating litigation all demand that we fulfill the Autry’s vision under different circumstances.”

The Autry proposed a two-phase project that would have increased its Griffith Park building from 142,000 square feet to 271,000 square feet, including exhibition and visible storage space for the Southwest’s collection.  Despite the setback, Autry leaders say they will carry out their vision by continuing to care for the Southwest’s Native American art collection and historic building, and converting Autry storage space into galleries.

Check back with Culture Monster later today for updates on this report.

-- Suzanne Muchnic

Photo: Autry National Center. Credit: Lori Shepler / Los Angeles Times 

Monster Mash: Ring Festival debate resumes; Wikipedia battle heats up; Pina Bausch film to continue; Spiral Jetty in danger

-- Debate over anti-Semitism: L.A. County Supervisor Mike Antonovich today will introduce a measure to celebrate composers beyond Wagner in Los Angeles Opera's 2010 Ring Festival.

-- Major commission: Sir Norman Foster and Rem Koolhaas selected for $2.7-billion master plan for West Kowloon cultural district in Hong Kong.

-- Public service mission?: Wikipedia fires back at Britain's National Portrait Gallery in a dispute over images appearing on the online encyclopedia site.

-- Danger to iconic artwork: Proposed industrial expansion on Great Salt Lake poses threat to artist Robert Smithson's Spiral Jetty.

-- Project continues: Director Wim Wenders moves ahead with his 3-D dance film about Pina Bausch, who died last month.

-- Notable name: "Dancing With the Stars" judge Carrie Ann Inaba joins production team of Broadway-bound "Burn the Floor."

-- Challenges facing institutions: Why the arts don't pay for themselves.

-- Backers needed: Lack of funds force cancellation of Autry's 41st annual Pow Wow.

-- Birthday bash: Ravinia Festival in Chicago plans a big celebration of Stephen Sondheim's birthday next year.

-- Public funds: Nigerian art chiefs charged in theft of more than $6.8 million meant for the National Gallery of Art.

-- Starting young: 16-year-old Ilyich Rivas to conduct 22-year-old violinist Elena Urioste in Atlanta Symphony Orchestra concert.

-- Yuck: A playwright's tomb is one of the 5 germiest tourist attractions, according to TripAdvisor.com

-- Here we go again: Another debate over when to applaud at a classical music performance.

-- Lisa Fung

Top photo: Mike Antonovich. Credit: Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times. Bottom photo: A participant in last year's Autry Pow Wow. Credit: Abel Gutierrez

Lack of funds shuts down annual Pow Wow at Autry (UPDATED)

This year's Pow Wow celebration at the Autry National Center -- an annual event celebrating Native American arts and culture -- has been canceled as a result of diminished financial resources, according to the event's organizer, the Southern California Indian Center.

For 40 years, the Pow Wow has brought Native American heritage to the public with musical performances, dancing, arts exhibitions and family activities. It is the largest Native American cultural event of its kind in Southern California.

Paula Starr, the executive director of SCIC, said there was a "huge decline in sponsorships and donations" this year. The Pow Wow usually draws 100 arts and crafts vendors, she said, but this year only 25 signed up. Vendors are the Pow Wow's largest source of income, with each vendor paying $600 to participate in the event. (UPDATE: An earlier version of this story incorrectly stated the fee for vendors was $60 instead of $600)

Starr said the L.A. Department of Cultural Affairs denied a request for support, and one of its sponsors had pulled out. The SCIC is a nonprofit community-based organization that does not receive annual casino revenue.

The Pow Wow was set to take place July 31 to Aug. 2. The center said it will organize a scaled-down Pow Wow at Garden Grove High School on Aug. 1.

The Autry, a co-presenter of the Pow Wow, will continue to host other Native American-related events this summer: On Aug. 1 and 2, the SCIC will hold a public discussion of the organization's mission and goals. It will also present theater company Native Voices in “Young Native Voices at the Autry: Sharing Our Stories,” with two free performances on Aug. 1.

The SCIC said it hopes to resume its annual Pow Wow at the Autry next summer.

-- David Ng

Photo: A young participant in last year's event. Credit: Abel Gutierrez

Autry Center expansion plans: L.A. says, 'Not so fast, pardner'

The Autry National Center got corralled at least temporarily on Tuesday in its bid for a $96-million expansion of its Museum of the American West in Griffith Park.

A panel of five City Council members — faced with a polite crowd of more than 200 people divided between those with “Yes!” decals urging approval of the Autry’s plans and others with multicolored paper “S.O.S.” buttons, for “Save Our Southwest” — voted unanimously to delay a decision for four weeks. It urged the Autry to provide legal assurances by then that the Southwest Museum of the American Indian in Mount Washington won't become just an afterthought to a larger, more comprehensive Griffith Park facility. 

One of the core objections to the expansion comes from a group of neighbors of the Autry-owned Southwest Museum who deeply distrust the Autry’s motives. They fear that it wants to strip the Southwest of its collection — a trove of Native American artifacts — so the Autry can provide a one-stop  Griffith Park experience involving cowboys, Indians and all the other players in the history of the West. The expansion in Griffith Park would include a new section for exhibiting Native American objects.

The Autry, named for singing cowboy Gene Autry, took charge of the financially tottering Southwest in 2003 in a merger that allayed fears that its collection might be sent elsewhere and thereby be lost to L.A. Except for the museum store, open on weekends, the Southwest has been closed since 2006 as it awaits repairs.