"The Wizard of Oz" has a few memorable themes -- we seem to recall there's one dealing with home, and there being no place like it -- but a major one is location location location.
Just about anybody can quickly summon the spots so identified with the film. Kansas. Munchkin Land. Emerald City. Which furthers its connection to place.
But there's another place much tied to the story: Southern California. Author L. Frank Baum called Hollywood home for a time, and he famously designed the chandeliers inside the Hotel del Coronado's Crown Room in San Diego.
Oh, and right: Culver City? That's where a certain 1939 movie was filmed.
So a full-on "Wizard" tribute based in Los Angeles, one that rounds up a bunch of modern artists and visionaries, feels like a coming home of sorts for the story. Heritage Square, the historic grouping of Victorian homes just off the 110 near downtown, will be the month-long home for "Visions of Oz: A Celebration of Art from Over the Rainbow."
Over 100 artworks, all "Oz"-themed, will appear in the multimedia exhibit. And the artists paying tribute to Toto and Dorothy and yellow bricks and a certain lion who could use a dose of self-esteem? Rick Baker, Dave Dorman, Drew Struzan, and Alexis Brandow. The list is lengthy, and we're quite sure we'll see the characters and settings rethunk in myriad, magical ways.
Tickets are five bucks, or ten bucks if you want to walk around the museum. The exhibit debuts on Sunday, March 3 and follows a certain road of a brickian nature straight through to March 31.
