The Catalina Museum for Art & History: The gatekeeper of the Island’s Chronicles

Catalina Island has secrets to share, and they can be told at the Catalina Museum for Art & History.

By: KATHERINE M. CLEMENTS

CATALINA ISLAND — When crafting your itinerary for your Catalina Island vacation, include a visit to the Catalina Museum for Art & History. The Museum has been snuggly tucked away on Metropole Avenue in Avalon since 2016 after relocating from its original 1953 location on the ground level of the Casino.

The Museum is the Island’s knight in shining armor, protecting the art and history that will long tell the stories of Catalina. A ticket into the Museum will familiarize visitors with the rich history of t he Island, like the time when the Chicago Cubs had practiced on the Island or its role in World War II when the Island served as a training center for the U.S. Maritime Service. In addition to the historical exhibits that inhabit the Museum’s showrooms, there are also rotating exhibits.

“Our main special exhibition for the summer is Tall Tiki Tales: Catalina as a South Seas Island,” the Museum’s Deputy Director of External Affairs said, Gail Fornasiere, in an email to the Log. “It explores Catalina Island’s contribution (as a film set) in the popularization of tiki culture—tracing the origins from adventure books, their adaptations into Hollywood films, to the subsequent South Seas-themed restaurants and bars that dotted the country beginning in the 1930s. The role that the Isthmus and Avalon played in the development of this aspect of American culture is immeasurable. Plus, the guest cu- rator for the exhibition is Sven Kirsten, who literally wrote the book on the history of tiki.”

S kirting Issues: Hula Moves Stateside is another display that complements the tiki exhibition. The exhibit spotlights hula via original artifacts, music, and related ephemera, including historical photographs exploring the Hawaiian craze of the late 1890s to the present day. Visitors are invited to dance through the gallery and directly into challenging histories of authenticity, American colonialism, appropriation, collaboration, and resistance.

The next exhibit to hit that floor is called Cabinet of Curiosities: 70 Objects for 70 Years. This exhibit will show-