Arriving at the Rotunda: Extended Architectures of the Panorama

A panorama, as classically defined, is a 360-degree landscape painting entered through a dark hallway, up a spiral staircase and seen from a viewing platform. Patented by Irishman Robert Barker in 1787 as a technology intended for art and entertainment, these massive canvases transport visitors to magnificent travel locations (a view of Niagara Falls in the center of London!) and historic battles (go back in time 100-200 years and experience the Battle of Waterloo on the very spot of the conflict!).

Join us for a tour of the Velaslavasay Panorama at the Union Theatre. Our docent will be Sara Velas. Sara began studying and creating panoramas in the late 20th century. In 1999, she toured Europe seeking out heritage era panoramas in out-of-the-way towns in Switzerland, and hidden corners of Austria. Inspired by this inaugural European pilgrimage and ongoing research about the panoramic form, a chance encounter with a vacant round restaurant on Hollywood Boulevard in the year 2000 prompted her to create a specialized museum—The Velaslavasay Panorama.

In 2004, she relocated the project to the historic Union Theater in West Adams—Los Angeles’ first purpose built cinema, completed in 1910. For this tour, Sara will give an illustrated presentation on major projects of the Velaslavasay Panorama, including Shengjing Panorama, with behind-the-scenes information on their creation as well as an overview of the panoramic form and its architectural integrations.

We hope to see you there!

Sara Velas is an artist, curator, graphic designer, gardener, urban humanist and native Angeleno. She is the Founder, Director and Lead Artist of the Velaslavasay Panorama, a nonprofit museum she established in the year 2000 on Hollywood Boulevard to explore tropes of cinema and visual storytelling in collaboration with a wide range of artists, designers, movie makers, cultural practitioners and more.

An Honorary Member of the International Panorama Council, Velas led the creation of the world’s only collaborative USA x China panorama. Sara and her longtime collaborator Ruby Carlson are Founders of Immersive Research Media Associates 360, a consulting project on immersive art and entertainment, and serve as editors for the Visual and Creative Essays section of the Panorama and Immersive Media Studies Yearbook. Born in Panorama City, California, Sara Velas studied Painting in St. Louis, receiving her BFA from Washington University in 1999. Velas is an avid architectural preservationist and co-wrote the nomination which issued the first instance of cultural historic protection to a trailer park.

$25 for current ICAA members.

$40 for Non-Members.

CLICK HERE TO RSVP