The American West as a site of righteous possibility–of a manifest destiny–for the incipient United States in the nineteenth century is often the conventional tale of American continental expansion taught in high school history classrooms. But in the era of expansion, some Americans also considered the West to be a place that inspired abject terror,…

On Saturday, May 31, as the late-spring sun shone brightly on the William Andrews Clark Memorial Library, we welcomed birdwatchers, garden enthusiasts, and those invested in urban greenery to the Clark Library Nature and Garden Festival. As guests of all ages enjoyed refreshing popsicles from Mateo’s Ice Cream and Fruit Bars, they perused nature stations…

In 1915, stalagmites in a cave in Hubei, China, were mistaken for dinosaur and dragon fossils. Soon, news spread throughout the Western world, attracting attention from Western scientists. As the Chinese warlord Yuan Shikai learned of the incident through translations and photographs in journal articles, he saw the timely appearance of the “relic” as an…

In celebration of Undergraduate Research Week, we are delighted to recognize Shihui Lin, the winner of the 2025 UCLA Library Prize for Undergraduate Research in the category of best project using resources from the William Andrews Clark Memorial Library. Sihui’s project focuses on William Andrews Clark Jr.’s Christmas gift books and their representation of facsimile,…

The Henry J. Bruman Summer Chamber Music Festival returns to UCLA this summer, offering a series of free lunchtime concerts that celebrate the rich tradition of chamber music. Under the artistic direction of violinist Ambroise Aubrun, the festival continues its mission to introduce new audiences to chamber music through performances by distinguished instrumentalists. Tuesday, July…

The Center and Clark thank the following for their generous support during 2024–2025: Major Supporters The Ahmanson Foundation Catherine G. Benkaim and Barbara A. Timmer Legacy Fund Frances L. Brody* Garden Endowment at The Clark Memorial Library Henry J. Bruman* Endowments for Chamber Music at the Clark and Summer Chamber Music Festival Dr. Paul L….

During my time as an Ahmanson-Getty Postdoctoral Fellow at the Clark, I embarked on the process of revising my doctoral dissertation into an academic monograph. My work focuses on the Spanish port of Cartagena de Indias, in modern-day Colombia, and studies how sailors, bureaucrats, and free and enslaved laborers adapted to wider changes in the…

Myrna Ortiz, Academic and Staff Personnel Manager, retired on April 25, 2025 after twenty-one years of service to UCLA, fifteen of them at the Center and Clark. Myrna started her career at UCLA in 2004 at Olive View Medical Center as a Case Manager/Community Representative, and then moved to the Center for Network-Embedded Sensing as…

After being postponed due to the 2025 L.A. wildfires, the “Energy Transitions in Long Modernity” conference resumed critical dialogues in energy humanities. Organizers Robert N. Watson (UCLA), Tiffany Jo Werth (UC Davis), and Todd Borlik (Purdue) advocated for multidisciplinary approaches to energy questions, drawing on Olivia Judson’s framework of five energetic epochs—geochemical, sunlight, oxygen, flesh,…

When we consider which ensembles to invite, one thing we look at is what programs they will be offering.  We were intrigued to see that the Miró String Quartet, who had played at the Clark twice before, would be collaborating this year with noted violist Masumi Per Rostad.  And we were excited to learn that…

On Sunday, May 3, the Center & Clark were thrilled to present Art of Duo: A Journey through Europe to the USA from 1700 to 1930, an engaging lecture-concert tracing the evolution of the violin and piano duo across centuries and continents. The program featured works spanning the Baroque to the early twentieth century, each introduced…

On Sunday, May 4 the Center was pleased to present an encore performance of The Selma Moidel Smith Recital at the William Andrews Clark Memorial Library (@clark_library). The recital featured performances by pianist Davide Di Rienzo (@diridavide), pianist and composer Kaitlin Webster-Zuber, and pianist Emily Webster-Zuber (@emilyandkaitlinwebsterzuber). The artists presented “Reflections,” a program featuring works…

On April 27, 2025, the Borromeo String Quartet delivered a compelling all-Beethoven program, commemorating the 30th anniversary season of the Chamber Music at the Clark series. This special concert honored Bruce Whiteman, who served as Head Librarian of the Clark from 1996 to 2010 and contributed insightful program notes to the series for over 25…

The Early Global Caribbean final conference convened on April 11-12, 2025.  Using Puerto Rico as a central node, Reniel Rodríguez Ramos explained the pre-Columbian patterns of circulation of the Circum-Caribbean area. The material evidence of stone tools, species translocation, cultivation practices, and symbolic representations tell a story of a far more integrated maritime Caribbean before…

If you have attended one of our Chamber Music at the Clark concerts, you have had the pleasure of reading the engaging program notes. These brief narratives that give concertgoers historical and artistic context for the music they’re hearing have been crafted by our very own Bruce Whiteman, Clark Librarian Emeritus. Bruce began composing program…

The Center & Clark’s Director, Carla Pestana, UCLA Distinguished Professor and Joyce Appleby Endowed Chair of America in the World, recently presented this year’s Annual William and Lois Mathews Samuel Pepys Lecture, “Striving for Expertise,” hosted by our colleagues at @uclacmrscegs . In her lecture, Pestana emphasized Pepys’s lifelong quest for expertise, focusing on his career…

The Center & Clark were delighted to host a 400th anniversary outdoor performance of Francesca Caccini’s La Liberazione di Ruggiero dall’Isola di Alcina (The Liberation of Ruggiero from the Island of Alcina) on Sunday, March 23, 2025. The performance was held on grounds of the Clark Library’s five acre property as an homage to the location of the…

I’m honored to return to the William Andrews Clark Memorial Library as its new Head Librarian. My focus is clear. I am already working on supporting new programs, improving infrastructure, and expanding research services to help position the Clark not only as a site for premier scholarship and musical performance, but as a space for…