The Arroyo Seco region has been home and inspiration to artists from Los Angeles' boom years of the 1880s to present day. This region of Northeast Los Angeles that borders the Arroyo Seco and the Los Angeles River encompasses Pasadena, Altadena, Highland Park, Garvanza, Mount Washington, and El Sereno. Historian

Kevin Starr Kevin Owen Starr (September 3, 1940 – January 14, 2017) was an American historian and California's state librarian, best known for his multi-volume series on the history of California, collectively called "Americans and the California Dream." ...

defines Arroyo Culture as "a collective designation now given to a loosely defined, scattered movement, many of whose protagonists lived, like

Charles Fletcher Lummis Charles Fletcher Lummis (March 1, 1859, in Lynn, Massachusetts – November 25, 1928, in Los Angeles, California) was a United States journalist, and an activist for Indian rights and historic preservation. A traveler in the American Southwest, h ...

at El Alisal, along the Arroyo Seco. Book designer, printer and writer

Ward Ritchie Harry "Ward" Ritchie (Los Angeles, California June 15, 1905Laguna Beach, California January 24, 1996) was an American printer, book designer, book collector and writer of around 100 books. He was part of the "Golden Age" of fine printing that took ...

described the early development of the arts and culture along Arroyo Seco as a "Southland Bohemia." Along with writers and book artists, early painters such Elmer Wachtel and William Lees Judson lived along the Arroyo forming "an informal but discernable Arroyo School," states Starr. The

California Art Club The California Art Club (CAC) is one of the oldest and most active arts organizations in California. Founded in December 1909, it celebrated its centennial in 2009 and into the spring of 2010. The California Art Club originally evolved out of The ...

was founded in 1909 when a group of local artists gathered along the banks of the Arroyo Seco at the home and studio of painter

Franz Bischoff Franz Albert Bischoff (January 14, 1864 – February 5, 1929) was an American artist known primarily for his China painting, floral paintings and California landscapes. He was born in Steinschönau, Austria (now known as Kamenický Šenov, Czech R ...

to create a professional organization of painters and sculptors.

Notable artists

Early Arroyoans artists and cultural figures: * Clyde Browne - printer, book designer * Margaret Collier Graham - writer *

Alson S. Clark Alson Skinner Clark (March 25, 1876 – March 23, 1949) was an American Impressionist painter best remembered for his landscapes. He was also a photographer, '' plein aire'' painter, art educator and muralist. Early life and education On ...

- painter * Alice Millard - bookseller, collector, cultural promoter * Elmer Wachtel - painter *

Jean Mannheim Jean Mannheim (November 18, 1863 – September 6, 1945) was a German-born American artist and educator, known for his California Impressionist paintings. He was active in Decatur, Illinois and Pasadena, California. About Jean Mannheim was ...

- painter * William Lees Judson - painter, stained glass maker * Idah Meacham Strobridge - writer, bookbinder, publisher *

- writer, editor, librarian *

George Wharton James George Wharton James (27 September 1858 – 8 November 1923) was an American popular lecturer, photographer, journalist and editor. Born in Lincolnshire, England, he emigrated to the United States as a young man after being ordained as a Methodi ...

- writer, editor *

- painter * Ernest A. Batchelder - artist and educator *

Marion Wachtel Marion Kavanaugh Wachtel (June 10, 1873/77 – May 22, 1954) was an American plein air painter in watercolors and Oil painting, oils. She lived and worked with her artist husband Elmer Wachtel in the Arroyo Seco (Los Angeles County), Arroyo ...

- painter * Fritz Poock - painter

Bibliography

*Cloonan, Michele (2006). "Alice Millard and the Gospel of Beauty and Taste", in ''Women in Print : Essays on the Print Culture of American Women from the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries'', eds. Danky and Weigand. University of Wisconsin Press. *Schenider, Nina (2014). "Under the Sign of the Sagebrush: Idah Meacham Strobridge and the Southland’s Bohemia." California State Library Foundation Bulletin, Vol. 109, pp. 2-11 *Apostal, Jane. "Margaret Collier Graham: First Lady of the Foothills." Southern California Quarterly, Vol. 63, No. 4 (WINTER 1981), pp. 348-373 *Apostol, Jane (2012). ''Collected Works''. Pasadena, CA: TMA Graphics *Robert Winter, “The Arroyo Culture,” in California Design, 1910 (edited by Timothy J. Anderson, Eudorah M. Moore, and Robert W. Winter, 1980)

References

{{reflist Arroyo Seco (Los Angeles County) Art in Greater Los Angeles Culture of Los Angeles History of Los Angeles County, California Northeast Los Angeles