Fall 2000, #20

“In the field of Interpretation, whether of the National Park System or other institutions, the activity is not instruction so much as what we may call provocation. It is true that the visitors to these preserves frequently desire straight information, which may be called instruction, and a good interpreter will always be able to teach when called upon. But the purpose of Interpretation is to stimulate the reader or hearer toward a desire to widen his horizon of interests and knowledge, and to gain an understanding of the greater truths that lie behind any statements of fact.” -from Interpreting our Heritage: Principles and Practices for Visitor Services, by Freeman Tilden

The chaos of a summer of construction is over, and we are still settling in to the new office space. This Fall saw the opening of the Earthworks exhibit and then, immediately, another construction and renovation project, the Desert Research Station. Now that the DRS is open (see story), we are turning our attention to future exhibits and programs. The On Locations exhibit (about film locations) has been pushed back until later this Winter, and we will be bringing Independent Interpreter Todd Trigstead down from Butte Montana to present a multimedia piece about the Berkeley Pit, in all its glory, in January. Also in January and February are tours of the desert (see DRS story inside). We will be reprinting a few of our publications this Winter, ones where we are nearly or completely out of stock, like Around Wendover. Though stock of it is dwindling, Hinterland will probably not be reprinted, instead we will be merging much of the information in it into our new California Desert Region book. A few other exhibits are scheduled at CLUI Los Angles in 2001, and we have a couple of programs coming up at other venues. In May, we will present a new exhibition about Orange County at the Beall Center in Irvine, and next Summer a big program about the Bay Area for the Yerba Buena Center in San Francisco. In between, we will be working on the Land Use Database, updating all the entries, adding photos, and more web links. In-house, we will be expanding our bookshop in Culver City, adding many titles from the Center on American Places, a remarkable organization based out of Harrisonburg Virginia, as well as enhancing Southern California information with a slough of small press titles from local publishers. Get in touch if you want to help with any or all of the above, and thank you for your continued support of the CLUI!