Casa Captivating
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San Clemente, CA – Casa Romantica Cultural Center and Gardens, a nonprofit southern California cultural center, welcomes James Irvine Swinden to speak as part of the institution’s Casa Up Close lecture series on Thursday, January 17, 2019. Irvine Swinden is the Chairman and co-founder of the Irvine Museum Collection at the University of California, Irvine, and is the son of Joan Irvine Smith, who began amassing the artworks in the collection in the early 1990s.
This lecture complements the exhibition currently on view in Casa Romantica’s gallery, The Idle Hour: Irvine Museum Collection at the University of California, Irvine. The exhibition, which is on view from November 3, 2018 through March 9, 2019, is a selection of 23 works from the Irvine Collection that present a variety of interpretations of quietude through California landscapes and figurative works.
Irvine Smith will talk about California Impressionism and the development of the Irvine Collection. He will also share remarkable and often little-known stories about the artists with work in the collection, especially those whose paintings are on view at Casa Romantica Cultural Center and Gardens.
About James Irvine Swinden
James Irvine Swinden is a direct descendent of James Irvine and the Irvine family, who have been instrumental in developing much of Orange County’s residential, commercial, and preservation land since the family first purchased over 100,000 acres in the mid-1860s. As the son of fourth generation Irvine family descendant Joan Irvine Smith, who is a longtime member of the Irvine Company Board of Trustees, Irvine Swinden studied law at the Loyola Law School and the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School before becoming a real estate developer. He also operated a 12-acre botanical garden on the Hawaiian island of Kauai.
He co-founded the Irvine Museum Collection in 1992 with Joan Irvine Smith and his grandmother (Joan’s mother), Athalie Richardson Irvine Clarke, after his mother called on him to help her house the extraordinary display of California regional art that she had collected. The museum opened to the public in 1993 and was dedicated to the preservation and display of California art of the impressionist period (1890-1930). With Irvine Swinden as the Museum’s President, it has played a principal role in the education and furtherance of this important regional variant of American impressionism that has come to be associated with California and its landscape.
The Irvine Museum Collection was donated in late 2016 to the University of California, Irvine, which is planning to build a museum on campus to house the collection. Irvine Swinden remains critically involved as the museum’s Chairman and as the Chairmanof the UCI Institute and Museum for California Art advisory board.
If you go: Casa Up Close: James Irvine Swinden takes place at Casa Romantica Cultural Center and Gardens on Thursday, January 17 at 7:00 PM in the Main Salon. Doors open at 6:30 PM, and a donation bar will serve wine and non-alcoholic refreshments. Tickets are $12 for general admission and $10 for Casa members. Tickets are available online at CasaRomantica.org/Calendar, by telephone at (949) 498-2139, or in person at the administrative offices during public hours.
Casa Romantica Cultural Center and Gardens maintains a robust series of year-round programs in arts, music, history, horticulture, and literature for all ages. Under the leadership of Executive Director Berenika Schmitz, Casa Romantica has commissioned several critically-acclaimed works, including Casa Theater: A Midsummer Night’s Dream (2018; theater), Casa Coastal: Rebecca Louise Law (2017; visual art), Casa Kinetic: Contemporary Dance Collective (2017; contemporary dance), The Beauty of the Butterfly (2017; visual art), Casa Kinetic: Carrie Lee Riggins (2016; contemporary dance), Casa Drama: Slings & Arrows (2015; theater), and Open Casa: The Photographs of Douglas Kirkland (2015; visual art). The 2017-18 Casa Captivating season includes a new jazz series, visual and performing arts commissions, and an enhanced wellness program.
“Casa Romantica strives to be the epicenter for innovative artistic experiences in our southern California community,” says Casa Romantica Executive Director Berenika Schmitz.
Casa Romantica also hosts a variety of free arts education programs for children year-round. The institution’s annual Casa Romantica Music Festival and Academy has received critical praise for its comprehensive two-week music studies program in cello, piano, viola, and violin. Casa Romantica also offers a Summer Dance Workshop, a Spring Break Arts Week, various art, literature, and horticulture events to grades K-12, and welcomes over 2,000 children from the Capistrano Unified School District each year for STEAM-based field trips that examine the history of San Clemente and the coastal environment.
Mission Statement: Casa Romantica Cultural Center and Gardens is a non-profit 501(c)3 organization and is the historic home of the founder of the City of San Clemente. Casa Romantica provides programs for all ages in arts, music, history, and horticulture and is a premier Southern California cultural center.
Casa Romantica Cultural Center and Gardens is located at 415 Avenida Granada, San Clemente, CA 92672. Hours: Tuesday—Thursday 11 am—4 pm; Friday—Sunday 10am—2pm; closed Mondays and holidays. General admission is $5; Casa Members and children under age 13 visit for FREE. For more information, call (949) 498-2139 or visit CasaRomantica.org.
