![]() The statues were titled "Nymph Finding Pipes of Pan," "The Blessing" (dedicated to the mothers of the world), "The Start" (awarded first prize by the Danish Academy of Fine Arts), and "Terpsichore" (or "Melody of Life"). In 1936, four large marble statues by Danish sculptor Thyra Boldsen were installed on pedestals at the four corners of the garden. ![]() When the garden was announced, the Los Angeles Times applauded the project: "No more fitting tribute could be paid to the spirit of Southern California than to erect in the center of her largest city the greatest rose garden in the world." During the Great Depression, the lack of funding threatened the closure of the rose garden, then described as "the largest rose garden in the world." Boldsen statues The rose garden area was then used for horse, camel, dog, and later automobile racing it also reportedly housed the city's longest bar and "one of its most stylish brothels." In 1914, the city announced plans to construct a wildflower garden at the park, but the rose garden was not built until 1927 with the planting of 15,000 bushes of more than 100 varieties. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1991.Įstablishment of the rose garden įrom 1871 to 1911, the site of the rose garden was part of the city's Agricultural Park. It has been called "one of the city's best-kept secrets". The Exposition Park Rose Garden is a historic 7-acre (28,000 m 2) sunken garden located in Exposition Park in Los Angeles, California. ![]() With that very optimistic assessment as a starting point, let's dig into the park's history and future by breaking down its individual components.Exposition Park, jct. He went on to call the Lucas Museum the "jewel in the crown" of the park's continuing evolution. Though it features many individually popular attractions, the park itself is rarely treated as a destination unto itself.īut could that be changing? As news came in about the new museum's arrival, Mayor Eric Garcetti told the LA Times that the new institution could help transform Exposition Park into Los Angeles's version of Central Park (though, with an eclectic mix of architectural styles and multiple surface lots, many New Yorkers would probably argue that it already is). Now broken up by narrow roadways and dotted with parking lots, the park is somewhat difficult to navigate and conspicuously lacking in green space. Of course, the park has undergone a lot of changes since then. The result was a public space planned in the City Beautiful tradition: open, neatly organized, and architecturally impressive. The prevalence of alcohol and gambling in the park eventually convinced some of Los Angeles's Victorian-minded officials that a thorough transformation was necessary, and in 1909, the city, state, and county began making plans to overhaul the park. Officially named Exposition Park in 1910, the space was previously known as Agricultural Park and served as a popular fairground and racetrack starting in 1872. ![]() With the news that Exposition Park will soon become the home of George Lucas's huge, flying saucer-y Museum of Narrative Art, now seems like a good time to take stock of what's already in the park-and what's on the way.
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