Friday Treat — The SCV Talk Archive

Friday Treat

By Jeff — Jeff Wilson

24700, CalArts’ blog, has posted a wonderful video of CalArts being built, way back in 1969, with a haunting/interesting voice over from Newhall Land’s president at the time. See sweeping vistas of the SCV as our forefathers saw it as Valencia was being born (with a vaguely ominous soundtrack):

An embedded Vimeo video appeared here in the original post. View the original — embeds are preserved as links in this archive.

From the Archives: Groundbreaking from CalArts on Vimeo.

From CalArts’ blog (new to me, looks really good!):

We’ve posted an audio track from the actual groundbreaking ceremony in which Thomas Lowe, then-president of the Newhall Land & Farming Company, addresses the audience on a vision for Valencia and how CalArts fits into that vision. The audio has been superimposed on film footage capturing the grading and construction of the campus and Main Building.

We’ve all seen the old-timey pictures of Newhall, Valencia, and Saugus before they were built, but having a video of the landscape back then is really special. Think of how new this place must have felt to everyone involved. And think of the context of the time: unending and deadly war in Vietnam, anti-war protests, race riots/rebellion in Watts, Newark and other cities, the assassination of Bobby Kennedy and Martin Luther King, desegregation and busing just around the corner, the hippie movement, urban decay and the end of a liberal epoch in American politics (Nixon became president in 1969 and expanded some big government policies but presaged the next 40 years of politics).

Valencia, a community built in the “New Town” school of development, came into being in this environment, just as the golden age of American cars was at hand and just as the interstate highway system was maturing. It was a suburb, but better than the obsolete Levittown-model that preceded it. To those who first toured the homes and home sites and saw COC & CalArts being built, it must have felt like a new world, or at least, a world apart from what they were used to in the SFV or elsewhere. If you think of it in that light, can you really blame the persistent no-growth undercurrent that followed?

Great stuff. I hope more old SCV videos get posted on the internet, there’s probably still a lot of old Super 8 footage out there.

Comments (9)

Timothy Myers SR.July 22, 2011 at 1:44 pm

Is it just me or did Thomas Lowe sound like he had just downed a half gallon of cough syrup? Also, with the tractor I kept waiting for a voice over to say “NEBRASKA-Breadbasket of a Nation!!!!”

Mr PerezJuly 22, 2011 at 5:25 pm

Kudos to Mr Lowe for stating that Arts and Culture are the foundation to a great city. Historical architecture are another key element as well, not cookie cutter houses

LindaJuly 22, 2011 at 6:29 pm

Very nostalgic. I like Thomas Lowe’s voice. They don’t make them like that any more….

spineflower2July 23, 2011 at 10:15 am

Interesting he refers to “the new CITY of Valencia.”

Gang FangJuly 23, 2011 at 3:24 pm

Love this!

Gang FangJuly 23, 2011 at 7:14 pm

I love your thumbs down!

Mr PerezJuly 23, 2011 at 9:21 pm

This needs to be like FB where you can see who “Likes” your comment.

VenturanJuly 23, 2011 at 11:43 pm

Great find. There’s something magical about a new town, and although the finishing touches are essentially being put on Valencia, it very much still carries a sense of place that many dismiss as sterility. This film captures that spirit in a way that surprised me.

KellyJuly 25, 2011 at 8:39 am

Great post, thanks! I love CalArts, (coolest college tshirts ever, free concerts, arty types galore). During my last visit, I found out that a water reservoir is built under their tennis courts to serve as an emergency water supply for the hospital in case of emergency.

Timothy Myers SR.July 22, 2011 at 1:44 pm
Is it just me or did Thomas Lowe sound like he had just downed a half gallon of cough syrup? Also, with the tractor I kept waiting for a voice over to say “NEBRASKA-Breadbasket of a Nation!!!!”
Mr PerezJuly 22, 2011 at 5:25 pm
Kudos to Mr Lowe for stating that Arts and Culture are the foundation to a great city. Historical architecture are another key element as well, not cookie cutter houses
LindaJuly 22, 2011 at 6:29 pm
Very nostalgic. I like Thomas Lowe’s voice. They don’t make them like that any more….
spineflower2July 23, 2011 at 10:15 am
Interesting he refers to “the new CITY of Valencia.”
Gang FangJuly 23, 2011 at 3:24 pm
Love this!
Gang FangJuly 23, 2011 at 7:14 pm
I love your thumbs down!
Mr PerezJuly 23, 2011 at 9:21 pm
This needs to be like FB where you can see who “Likes” your comment.
VenturanJuly 23, 2011 at 11:43 pm
Great find. There’s something magical about a new town, and although the finishing touches are essentially being put on Valencia, it very much still carries a sense of place that many dismiss as sterility. This film captures that spirit in a way that surprised me.
KellyJuly 25, 2011 at 8:39 am
Great post, thanks! I love CalArts, (coolest college tshirts ever, free concerts, arty types galore). During my last visit, I found out that a water reservoir is built under their tennis courts to serve as an emergency water supply for the hospital in case of emergency.