Conservancy News

Fielden Harper in her art studio.

As we continue our year-end fundraising campaign, we are encouraged how many stories from our community we can include in One City: Many Stories, the Santa Monica Conservancy highlights Fielden Harper, whose art journey began while raising her son.

Fielden Harper’s son was diagnosed with autism, and she was looking for ways to connect with him effectively and doctors at the time had limited understanding of neurodiversity. She started using stick-figure drawings to show her son what happened on the day to day. As he grew up, so did her skill and love for visual arts.

Fielden raised four kids and once her youngest was in kindergarten, well, her eldest son didn’t need her to make drawings for him anymore.

A print of Fielden Harper’s painting depicting Santa Monica High School

As her son grew more independent and her youngest child entered kindergarten, Fielden pursued art school! She earned her B.F.A. from Otis Art Institute in 1982 and went on to complete her M.F.A. from CalState Los Angeles in 1987. For three decades (1988-2018), she shared her love of art as an Art and Art History teacher at St. Matthew’s Parish School in the Pacific Palisades.

Fielden has an affinity for architecture and considers her work an informal documentation of Los Angeles. Her work, prominently featuring Santa Monica’s iconic buildings, has been recognized by the J. Paul Getty Trust, the Milken Institute, the Santa Monica Unified School Board and United Way.

Donate and enter our year-end giveaway.

A print of Fielden Harper’s painting, depicting Main Street in Santa Monica during the 1984 Olympics

We have 5 prints of Fielden Harper’s depiction of Main Street, Santa Monica in 1984. Winners of the Main Street print giveaway are invited to meet Fielden Harper and visit her studio at the Santa Monica Airport site to get a signing of the print.

We have an ambitious goal to raise $20,000 as 2024 comes to a close. We have until December 31 to unlock a challenge grant from generous donors, including Mary Ann Hays, John Neufville, and select board members.

Donate for a chance to win.

Every donation will get you a chance to win the following items:

Incentives include signed Fielden Harper prints, Santa Monica History Museum passes, and a book about Santa Monica’s Pleasure Pier.

Donations above $250 constitute 2 entries. Donations above $1000 constitute 3 entries.

Support the conservancy.

Alec Nedelman (left) and Libby Pachares (right) in matching blue t-shirts.

One City: Many Stories, our 2024 Year-End Review, celebrates the inspiring leadership of Libby Pachares and Alec Nedelman at the Santa Monica Conservancy. Their dedication to preserving our city’s heritage has strengthened the organization and deepened their community engagement.

Alec and Libby were living in the pleasant West Los Angeles neighborhood of Cheviot Hills. With one child and another on the way, it was time to consider a more accommodating environment for their growing family and found it in Santa Monica.

Not only were Alec and Libby drawn to the benefits of living near the beach, with its stunning coastline and eclectic culture, the couple also valued Santa Monica’s strong public education system.

After retiring from a career in entertainment law and a decade of volunteer work at the Los Angeles Music Center, Libby was eager to learn more about Southern California’s cultural history.

Libby (left) and Alec (right) advertising Conservancy tours at the Santa Monica Fourth of July parade.

“I have always been a student of history,” she says, noting her particular fascination with the Hollywood lore at the heart of the Annenberg Community Beach House (ACBH).

Driven by a keen interest in Santa Monica’s colorful past, Libby joined the Conservancy. After serving on its Board, leading tours, and working on the Program Committee, she inspired Alec to get involved. After attending events and participating in strategic planning retreats as a volunteer, Alec became a Conservancy Board member.

Through their engagement with the community, Alec and Libby have forged meaningful connections with others who share their passion for history and preservation.

Libby Pachares at the Annenberg Community Beach House for Marion Davies’ birthday celebration.

As a docent, Libby is thrilled when a visitor has some link to the historic site she is hosting. “I just really love the continuation of learning and [forming] connections,” she says.

Libby treasures the reciprocity of receiving new information from guests, even as she enlightens them with local history. “Being surrounded by people who have so much to offer, know so much about history and preservation, has added [great value] to my life,” she says. “It’s been fun just being an ambassador for the city.”

Alec recognizes how the Conservancy has evolved into a more formalized organization with a strong executive staff. Given his experience in real estate law, he sees the Conservancy’s potential as a local asset, leading in heritage conservation and community engagement.

Alec and Libby have seen firsthand how homeowners seek guidance from the Conservancy on preserving their historic neighborhoods, citing the South Beach District as an example of the organization’s role as a valuable community resource.

One of the Conservancy’s most significant impacts is its focus on preservation education and adaptive reuse – an essential approach for sustainable urban development. As the Conservancy seeks to activate the next generation of preservationists, Alec is curious about how students concerned about climate change might consider adaptive reuse as an opportunity for sustainable solutions to environmental concerns.

Alec on a visit to a historic site, sitting on a rocking chair with a Santa Monica Conservancy hat.

Alec’s message to volunteers and community members is clear: “The Conservancy [invites] continued involvement, where you can learn about the history and the stories [of Santa Monica], like with Philomathean Hall and Kuruvungna Springs. These are [local histories] people should know about. Find something that resonates with you and get involved.”

As we continue our membership drive One City: Many Stories, we invite you to join Libby and Alec in our vital mission.

Like Libby and Alec, we’re looking for members and volunteers who want to invest in leadership and mentoring the next generation of preservationists.

Together, let’s encourage new preservationists to celebrate our shared heritage. Your commitment to preserving our past, through your leadership, helps steward our future.

Contact Alissa: [email protected] for more volunteer details.

Community members entering Ocean Park Library at the start of the listening session.

As part of a community-wide effort to explore the development of a Great Park at the Santa Monica Airport site, the Santa Monica Conservancy hosted a public listening session focusing on the century-old airport’s rich historic and cultural significance.

Funded by a City microgrant, the Oct. 30 session at the Ocean Park Library was attended by over 40 community members – mostly city residents – who heard live presentations in a hybrid format covering key elements of the history and legacy of the airport, which is set to close at the end of 2028. The majority of participants joined in person, with additional attendees contributing via Zoom. The program was divided into two parts:

Session One: Historical and Cultural Narratives

Conservancy Board President Mario Fonda-Bonardi and Executive Director Kaitlin Drisko introduced the session, followed by a land acknowledgement honoring the Gabrielino-Tongva tribe.

Angie Behrns, founder of the Gabrielino-Tongva Springs Foundation and an elder of the Gabrielino Tongva tribe, spoke passionately about the fight to preserve Kuruvungna Springs. She detailed the tribe’s ongoing efforts to protect its cultural heritage, including potential installations at the Great Park.

Learn more about Kuruvungna Springs.

Olivia White, an architectural historian and historic preservation consultant with Chattel Associates, presented a detailed history of the airport’s famed Compass Rose. She explained the artistic navigational aid painted on the airport’s tarmac was designed in 1939 by Wilma Fritschke, a member of the Los Angeles chapter of the legendary women’s flying club, The Ninety-Nines. White shared fascinating historical context about the Compass Rose and its enduring connection to the Ninety-Nines, including evidence of an earlier Compass Rose at the 1929 Women’s Air Derby in Santa Monica. White noted that in 1985, the Ninety-Nines published official guidance on painting Compass Roses at other airports – a standard still used today.

Watch Olivia’s Presentation:

Michael Brodsky, professor emeritus at Loyola Marymount University, provided a detailed historical overview of the airport land’s transformation. He traced the site’s history from the Tongva people through Spanish colonial settlement, subsequent American subdivision and eventual land transfers. In the 1920s, as Santa Monica was expanding, civic leaders saw both economic and recreational opportunities in the site and Clover Field was established. It featured a golf course and tennis courts, as well as an airport that would host one of the world’s largest aviation companies.

Watch Michael’s Presentation: 

Session Two: Site Redevelopment

 Dr. Alison Rose Jefferson provided valuable insights into early aviation history in Los Angeles, with an emphasis on the contributions of people of color and women in Southern California’s aviation industry.

Watch Alison’s Presentation:

The Conservancy then presented the City’s inventory of existing buildings and potential uses for the Great Park, along with examples of interpretive signage. This sparked a lively discussion where participants identified additional ways to present and transmit the site’s historical and cultural narratives.

The meeting concluded with robust input from community members about Great Park development. Suggestions included:

• Ensure transparency throughout the project, especially as it pertains to impact on nearby communities.
• Preserve the site’s current artist community.
• Provide equitable access for all residents.
• Recognize indigenous peoples’ culture and history.
• Utilize abandoned tarmac similar to Tempelhofer Feld in Germany.
• Recognize Clover Field Park and the start of the Santa Monica park system.
• Plan for the continued use and/or adaptive reuse of existing aviation buildings at the site.
• Explore our ecological, cultural and historical relationships to the airport land through rewilding and native plantings. This would include sustainable practices learned from the Gabrielino-Tongva at Kuruvungna Springs.
• Include spaces for farming, agriculture and mycology.
• Seek opportunities for water sustainability on the site.
• Incorporate interpretive panels at transportation hubs and other key areas of the park.
• Incorporate interpretive walks in the park.
• Consider how narrative history might be integrated throughout the Great Park, as opposed to isolating it in a small parcel.
• Illustrate airport history with markers on the ground, including outlines of previous aviation facilities such as the Douglas Aircraft complex.
• Recognize the contributions of Donald Douglas and the DC line of airplanes produced in Santa Monica.
• Expand detail on aviation history at the Museum of Flying.
• Consider how alternative transportation might be used on the site to reduce dependence on cars.

Continuing the Outreach

There was also discussion at the meeting about how the City and Conservancy might continue and expand its airport outreach campaign to collect as broad a base of input as possible about park development. Suggestions included:

• Ask grade schoolers what they’d like to see at the Great Park.
• Incorporate curriculum about park planning in schools.
• Collect comment from original participants like inhabitants, Douglas employees, private pilots, golfers, etc.
• Repeat a listening session when more park study and planning information is available from the City.
• Consider including the City in future listening sessions as a non-participatory observer so they can answer questions.

Summary

In alignment with Phase 2 of the City’s multi-stage airport redevelopment project, our Oct. 30 session focused specifically on preserving historical perspectives. It was one component of a broader community engagement strategy that includes public events and pop-ups, online surveys, virtual education sessions, and updates to the project engagement website. It will build on Phase 1’s analysis and assessments to generate an existing conditions summary and identify project opportunities and constraints, while exploring financial considerations and funding strategies.

The Conservancy submitted the results of our listening session to the City on Nov. 4. These findings, along with other community input, will help shape the draft guiding principles that will steer planning and design decisions throughout the project.

The City will share the comprehensive survey results at a community event on Dec. 7 at Memorial Park Gym, before moving into Phase 3. That stage will involve presenting and utilizing community feedback on preferred scenarios at the airport site.

Bill Edwards (left) and Carolyne Edwards (right) at the historic Mission San Gabriel Arcángel in San Gabriel, California.

The Santa Monica Conservancy’s 2024 Year-End Review, One City: Many Stories, is honored to introduce Carolyne and Bill Edwards, passionate advocates of Santa Monica’s cultural history. As founders of the Quinn Research Center, they’ve dedicated themselves to preserving and sharing the history of the Black community in Santa Monica, whose contributions and presence have been diminished by erasure and displacement.

Portrait of Dr. Alfred T. Quinn | Source: Quinn Research Center

The Edwards’ journey began unexpectedly after the death of Carolyne’s uncle, Dr. Alfred T. Quinn, whose large collection of historical materials would become the foundation for the couple’s mission.

Born and raised in Santa Monica, Carolyne lived the history of the city. Yet she wasn’t a fan of learning history in school. “It was a matter of memorizing dates and names of people I couldn’t relate to,” she said. Instead, her excitement for history came from home; Carolyne’s mother, uncle and grandfather were collectors.

Her mother stored a steamer trunk in the basement that yielded photos, newspaper clippings and other historical information about her family and others in the city. After inheriting her uncle’s apartment and sorting through his documents and photos, Carolyne was struck by the wealth of overlooked history covering not just her family but an entire community.

With the help of a Getty Museum archivist, Carolyne and Bill transformed a garage full of boxes into the Quinn Research Center (QRC), where the forgotten history of Santa Monica’s Black community could be shared with the public and future generations.

But the path to recognition was not easy for the couple. “People were unsure about what we were offering, and why it mattered,” Carolyne recalls. “They wanted to know, ‘What’s in it for them?'” So the Edwards’ funded the QRC themselves, renting spaces and maintaining the project on their own dime. Beyond establishing the QRC, they committed to offering free programming that would make their historical resources accessible.

Through their work, Carolyne and Bill have become powerful advocates for Black history. They partnered with the Santa Monica Conservancy to amplify the voices of the Black community, ensuring that its contributions to the city’s cultural landscape are not lost. The couple’s efforts have helped the community rediscover its overlooked stories of resilience, achievement and rich cultural heritage.

“The stories aren’t going to just appear on their own,” Carolyne insists. “It takes people willing to write them down, to speak them aloud, to make sure they are remembered.” For the Edwards’, their work is a critical responsibility, ensuring that Santa Monica’s African American history is honored, shared and preserved for future generations.

The Santa Monica Conservancy is always looking for new members and volunteers who, like the Edwards’, want to contribute to preserving the vital history of our communities. Whether you’d like to share personal stories or highlight historic places, your voice is an important part of the Conservancy’s future.

If you’re interested in getting involved and adding to Santa Monica’s history, contact Alissa at [email protected]. Together, we can ensure that history is not forgotten.

The Santa Monica Conservancy’s 2024 Year-End Review One City : Many Stories is honored to introduce you to the volunteers whose dedication and passion have profoundly shaped our community. Here we highlight Patty Godon-Tann and Dave Tann, Conservancy volunteers who exemplify the spirit of generosity and resilience that defines our city.

Patty and Dave Tann at the Georgian Hotel, a Santa Monica Landmark

Patty Godon-Tann, a seasoned educator with a 35-year career in the Los Angeles Unified School District, has been a leader since her days as a principal at Castle Heights Elementary. While there, she improved the lives of young people by navigating the complexities of school administration and significant obstacles to ensure her students received the support they deserved.

Patty conducting a tour at the Shotgun House for 2024 Doors Open California.

In Santa Monica, Patty rallied neighborhood support to transform Ozone Park, a once unsafe and unwelcoming space into a thriving community asset. With vision and determination, alongside support from community leaders, she helped to renovate this neighborhood park. This accomplishment stands as a testament to her ability to drive meaningful change.

Upon retiring, Patty shifted her focus to volunteer service, joining local  organizations, such as Planned Parenthood, and serving as treasurer for OPA (Ocean Park Association). And for many years Patty has welcomed visitors to the Annenberg Community Beach House, sharing the remarkable history of the Marion Davies’ Estate through the Santa Monica Conservancy’s docent program.

Dave Tann sitting in front of a soundboard in a recording studio

Dave Tann has been a cherished resident and musician in Ocean Park since the mid-1970s. His deep-rooted commitment to the community is evident through his extensive volunteer work such as his creation of “Team OPA”, a dynamic community project of the Ocean Park Association that focuses on involving students, parents, & board members in community action. Under his leadership, Team OPA has organized a range of successful events, including musical celebrations through Make Music LA and numerous Adopt-a-Beach cleanups in partnership with Heal The Bay.  As a musician, his experiences exploring different places and cultures has deepened his understanding of how music can unite people. You might see Dave playing regularly with his band at local venues.

Patty Godon-Tann and Dave Tann at their home in Ocean Park

Patty and Dave also share a passion for travel that enriches their lives and inspires those around them. Their experiences abroad not only deepen their appreciation for heritage and culture but allow them to bring fresh ideas and perspectives to their community initiatives.

Patty and Dave’s unwavering commitment and proactive approach have made a substantial difference in our community.

As we highlight the remarkable contributions of our dedicated volunteers, we invite you to support the Santa Monica Conservancy.

Learn more about membership.

Your involvement will help build on the legacy of service and community spirit that our volunteers, like Patty and Dave, have so passionately fostered. Your story can be next! 

Contact Alissa: [email protected] for more volunteer details.