A FIRST AMENDMENT PUBLICATION Woodland Hills, California
@roundupnews on Instagram
@Roundup News on Facebook
Wednesday, May 1, 2024
Free Copy
Volume 140 - Issue 10
Updates on Old Trapper’s Lodge
By Brandon Harrell Online Editor
Owen Meza-Vandermeer / Roundup News
By Brandon Harrell Online Editor
T
here’s a California Historical Landmark on the Pierce College campus—but most students don’t know about it, and many of those who do are not happy about it. Old Trapper’s Lodge is a folk art installation and California Historical Landmark (no. 939). It was completed in 1981 by John Ehn for his family’s motel, the same year in which he died. In 1988, the motel was bought by Burbank Airport to clear space for a longer runway, according to an appraisal commissioned by Pierce in 2021. The motel was demolished, but an organization called SPACES (Saving Preserving Arts Cultural Environments) worked with the Ehn family to find a new home for the installation. In the late 1980s, SPACES asked multiple organizations to house the exhibit, including the L.A. Zoo and Knott’s Berry Farm. Both rejected the offer. In 1988, then-President of Pierce David Wolf signed the agreement to bring the installation to Pierce, which stated, “It is with pleasure that I, on behalf of Los Angeles Pierce College, accept Historical Landmark #939, also known as John Ehn’s Old Trappers Boothill.” The president and board at the time likely did not know how attitudes of what is and is not acceptable as folk art would evolve in the coming decades. “These large figurative
sculptures no longer garner sympathy nor admiration; indeed, they are considered offensive because of their stereotypical racial and misogynist message towards Native Americans, people of color and women,” was written on page 18 of the appraisal. The folk art sculptures depict stereotypes of the Old West, including a Native American person kidnapping a white woman and a knife fight between caricatures of a settler and a Native American man. In recent years, Old Trapper’s Lodge has received backlash over what is seen as a racist representation of Native Americans. Pierce history professor Brian Walsh shares this concern. “It just serves as a reminder of what a racist country this one is because this is from the ’50s,” Walsh said. “This is not from the late 1800s, this was built in the 1950s to commemorate this sort of John Wayne, cowboys and Indians view that you see in T.V. and movies of the savage Indian.” Not everyone shares this view. Esotouric is a company that leads tours of Southern California’s more odd and lesser-known attractions and has been leading the charge to preserve the folk art. Esotouric is owned by husband-and-wife Richard Schave and Kim Cooper, who have documented on their website efforts to keep Old
Trapper’s Lodge open. According to Cooper, some pieces depict violence, but visitors could be informed beforehand of the content via signage if they do not want to continue into the area to see those pieces. “The style of the art is primitive Americana themed folk art, and there’s no reason this type of art should not be on a college campus,” Cooper wrote in an email. “The subject matter of two of the large pieces is violence in the Old West, which can be disturbing to some viewers. Nobody should have to look at any artwork they don’t want to look at. However, this location is notoriously hard to find, and a very small part of an enormous campus.” Cooper believes interpretive signage to explain the context of the sculptures should be added at the entrance to Old Trapper’s Lodge. When the statues were relocated to Pierce in 1988, the college and the Ehn family had agreed to written conditions under which the installation was to be donated. Included was protocol if moving the statues from campus was necessary. “Under no circumstances is the ‘Boothill’ to be destroyed or disposed of unless every effort has been made to contact the donors. If they are unavailable a sincere, diligent effort must be made to find a safe new home for the “Boothill”. As a last resort the artifacts can be separated Story continues on page 4.
Owen Meza-Vandermeer / Roundup News An Old Trapper’s Lodge statue is part of a fenced-off art installation between the Earth Sciences building and the farm at Pierce College in Woodland Hills, Calif., on March 7, 2024.
NEWS
NEWS
PHOTO ESSAY
Student candidate forum
Pierce President Public Forum
Earth Day Bash throughout campus
pg. 4
pg. 6
Icy Smith / Roundup News
Traducción al español en el interior
pg. 7
Raquel G. Frohlich / Roundup News
Karla Delgado / Roundup News