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Los Angeles has a rich and diverse history, evolving from the home of indigenous tribes, then claimed by Cabrillo for Spain in 1542. In 1771, Franciscan friar Junípero Serra founded Mission San Gabriel Arcángel, and in 1781 a group of settlers founded the pueblo they called El Pueblo de Nuestra Señora la Reina de los Ángeles (The Town of Our Lady the Queen of the Angels). The 1800s saw the arrival of “overlanders,” California statehood, and the Santa Fe railroad. The city’s strong economic base in farming, oil, tourism, real estate, and movies led to substantial growth, including the rise of the film industry and the development of extensive suburban areas. Today, L.A. has an ethnically and culturally diverse population of nearly 13 million and is often billed as the creative capital of the world—one in every six of its residents works in a creative industry and there are more artists, writers, filmmakers, actors, dancers, and musicians living and working in Los Angeles than any other city at any other time in world history. Major sights in the area include the Getty Museum in Brentwood and the Getty Villa (reopening June 27 following the Pacific Palisades Fire), the Los Angeles Museum of Art, the La Brea Tar Pits, the Ghery-designed Walt Disney Concert Hall, Disneyland, and so many more delights! And it’s only an short flight from the Bay Area!
William H. Fredlund, the Director of the Institute, obtained his B.A. and M.A. from UCLA, where he specialized in European history and art history. He studied in Italy on a Fulbright Fellowship and completed a double Ph.D. in history and humanities at Stanford, specializing in Renaissance Italy. Dr. Fredlund has taught for UCLA, the University of Florence, Stanford, and UCSC Extension.
