Sunday, January 31, 2010

Sundays In My City #22 - UCLA

Do you know Unknown Mami? She's awesome and she's created a fun Sunday theme inviting you to get out and take pictures of your city to share with the rest of us. Click HERE to see Unknown Mami's City today.

The University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) campus is about 15 minutes from our home. It's a gorgeous university and I'm usually in this building 2-3 times per month during the school year....


This is Royce Hall, an architectural landmark on the campus. It's one of the four original buildings and was completed in 1929. Classes are held here but the main attraction is the 1600+ seat auditorium that's hosted everyone from Duke Ellington to Yo-Yo Ma over the years.


I volunteer with Design For Sharing, the educational outreach program for UCLA Performing Arts. We raise funds to bring more than 20,000 public school children to Royce each year to see world renown music, dance and theater programs. It's pretty cool.

When the excited kids arrive on campus, via school bus, they line up in front of Royce, straining to see inside. For many, it's their first time on a university campus and seeing a live performance....


As the doors open, they step up to the building and see this....


When the kids look up and see this, the ohhs and ahhs start.....


And if a student stops to see this...

The entire line of kids behind them bump into each other like a domino effect because they're all looking up to and not watching where they're going.

I did the same thing the first time I entered Royce Hall.

How's your Sunday?
Welcome to The Fifty Factor - Joanna Jenkins
Photo Credit: Joanna Jenkins
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56 comments:

  1. you have taken some lovely shots there...great concept and post...for sundays

    saz x

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  2. Royce hall is gorgeous!! Love the ceiling design! Beautiful photos!
    Hugs
    SueAnn

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  3. Amazing building - theres nothing better than seeing children experience something for the 1st time.

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  4. Gorgeous building and exactly the way I would envision a university in California!

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  5. Gorgeous....I would do the same thing and catch a few flies with my mouth gapping open in awe.Have a wonderful Sunday!

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  6. How absolutely stunning! Thanks for sharing!

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  7. Lovely building for sure. I enjoyed the way you walked us through the front entrance and took our eyes upward in pictures. Thanks for the tour of UCLA. And thanks especially for volunteering and caring about kids who wouldn't be exposed to this if people like you didn't care.

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  8. Amazing building and fabulous photographs :0)

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  9. Gorgeous building! I can just picture the kids bumping into one another like dominoes as they gaze up at the ceiling!

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  10. Wow, it brings back memories of the first time I was in a museum. My first college campus experience was much later.
    What a beautiful building, and how cool is it that you volunteer for the sake of all those kids?
    Kudos.

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  11. Great pictures, I can see why the kids would be in awe. The lettering on the building looks almost slavic.

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  12. You are helping to create a wonderful memory for those kids who get to visit Royce Hall. I love the way you walked us into the building and just as the kids would see it.

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  13. I wonder what buildings like that will be viewed as in 200 years?

    Very nice architecture.

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  14. My middle one went to UCLA..her dad's alma mater... Its a beautiful campus.. She loved it there....In fact she would go see Sara Barielles perform there....(another ucla alumnist)

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  15. I've never been there, but Royce Hall is beautiful. I love the "domino effect" it has on people.

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  16. Lovely. My nephew graduated from UCLA. My Uncle and Grandmother lived not far. Up over Benedict Canyon and down on the Valley side.

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  17. thanks for the tour, I did wonder what UCLA was like, especially as we're in university mode with my daughter. It's gorgeous.

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  18. I love old architecture and this building sure takes the cake for coolness. I can see why the kids would bump into each other!

    What an awesome field trip for the kids. I'm jealous... I remember zoos and such when I was little. Oh yeah, a planetarium too, that was pretty cool. I can remember that awesome feeling whenever the class was going on a field trip, such anticipation!

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  19. What a beautiful building, i can see why the kids are so in awe, i would be too!!

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  20. Okay, and I was bumping into my coffee trying to get closer.
    Love this, thanks Joanna

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  21. Lovely! I think I've been to UCLA once.

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  22. These are wonderful. What a beautiful building. Those perspectives from inside the arches are amazing.

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  23. What a shame that nobody is erecting classically beautiful buildings like that anymore. They tear them down and put up jarring "modern" monstrosities that are an embarrassment to the community.

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  24. Beautiful pictures! Wow!

    Catching up with you today.

    Hugs!!

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  25. wow. wonderful pics. amazing architecture.

    hope you are having a great weekend. buried in snow here!

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  26. Gosh thats beautiful. I would be oohing and aahhing for hours on end I think.

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  27. I used to love going out to Westwood in my younger days. I was such a UCLA fan...basketball, gymnastics, football...you name it, I'm a Bruin.

    I love the intricate architecture! Beautiful!

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  28. beautiful pics. the celing design is gorgeous. thanks for sharing in sundays in my city

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  29. Architecture can literally stop you in your tracks. Gorgeous pictures.

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  30. I grew up 15 mins away from a university. Nothing quite so fancy, though! It was originally a seminary, so all of the original buildings are very beautiful outside, but very somber inside.

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  31. very nice and good to know about. Is it open to the public then?

    I've taken a few ceiling shots. It's hard to capture the big full effect but I do enjoy decorated ceilings.

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  32. It's a gorgeous building. Thanks so much for sharing. :)

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  33. I live in NE but often get to visit my son in CA. When I'm in CA, I am constantly holding up traffic, ooh-ing and ahh-ing all over the place. These pictures are great!

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  34. Joanna, beautiful picture! I was just down in Culver City overnight on Friday...my dear friend, Sony Holland, who is an extraordinary jazz singer was performing at the Jazz Club at the Radisson. She and her husband, Jerry, moved from San Francisco, much to our regrets, this past June so six of us went down to see her at this venue which was amazingly wonderful. We spent the night at the Radisson and they did too so we all hung out till the wee small hours. I think you would love her...and she will be playing at gigs all over.. please check out her website - www.sonyholland.com for her gigs and some sound clips. She is such a sweetheart and, if you should go to see her, tell her Carmen sent you!

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  35. Just can't wait to see it all in person.
    It's like I'm there already!
    Love this idea...Sundays In My City....love it!

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  36. absolutely beautiful. i will have to show mr. ynb these photos, he is sure to appreciate.

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  37. mr. ynb says the type of ceiling is called a "groin vault". he likes!!

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  38. Amazing architecture. I love campus buildings -- a lot of character there. And bricks... :)

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  39. I love interesting and old architecture, especially in California, since our state isn't as old as some others. Thank you for sharing! (Oh! And thank you for your volunteer work)

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  40. Such gorgeous shots.. the arcades and that roof - wow! Breath-taking!

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  41. Great shots! UCLA does have one beautiful campus!
    I bet it's great fun to see the students all look up at once and ohh and ahh!

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  42. That's a great cause to be involved in...what memories...and aspirations you're giving to these children...and that building yes it is just exquisite...

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  43. Gorgeous building. I'd probably be awe-struck too.

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  44. That is GORGEOUS!!


    i loved it. :-)

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  45. Breathtaking, Joanna! I could feel my head tilt upwards as I advanced through your post. I'd stop traffic myself! Gorgeous!

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  46. Its a wonderful building and not one I would have thought would be in LA for some reason. I really love university campuses because they always seem to have interesting architecture. Your work with Design for Sharing sounds fantastic as well. Exposing children to the arts is very inspiring.

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  47. Thanks for the tour! I've never been to UCLA -- visited LA for the first time last year -- so I enjoyed the view from your camera. It's a beauty!

    Like Lilly, I am often awed by the beauty of some college campuses. My son is a Notre Dame alum, and one of the things that made me sad when he graduated in '08 is the fact that we probably won't be visiting that gorgeous campus as often... And my own alma mater, Michigan State U, has the most amazing botanical garden. (You've inspired me to get out there and take some pics this spring!)

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  48. Just amazing, girl. I love going through the older buildings 'cause you just don't see architecture like that anymore. How very cool it is that your volunteer so children can be exposed to how beautiful a structure can be. Just stunning!

    You have a super day filled with beautiful blessings!!!

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  49. I always enjoy exploring university buildings! There is so much interesting architecture and history. I find it all fascinating!

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  50. What a wonderful experience to give to children!

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  51. This was so interesting--I never knew any of that about UCLA. I guess I don't know much at all about western colleges. That's a gorgeous building.

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  52. Thanks for that. My Alma Mater. Graduated with the c/o 1991 and still married a BYU Cougar.

    May

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  53. What a gorgeous building! I love college campuses. That is really neat that you get to go there a couple of times a month.

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  54. Beautiful story and beautiful pictures. You made me want to go back to Cali just to check it out! Love the designs! :)

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Thanks for stopping by and commenting, I really appreciate it.