By: Joseph R. Castel
Photos by: Jamie Pham
Pride festivities, like the LGBTQ community, come in all shades of the celebratory rainbow, and The Huntington in San Marino is hosting their own gala spectrum with an Evening Among the Roses to recognize and celebrate LGBTQ+ members of the community for their many contributions to The Huntington.
“This is our 12th year of the garden party to celebrate and say thank you to the many LGBTQ+ artists, authors and scholars reflected in our collections, the curators and researchers who steward our treasures, and the donors, volunteers, and colleagues who help The Huntington thrive,” said Donor Engagement Director Marina Kohler.
The June 12th, evening garden party will feature queer poetry performances, as well as music, specialty cocktails, hors d’oeuvres, and dancing under the stars amidst the fragrant aroma of breathtaking blooms in the historic three-acre Rose Garden. All edibles and drinks are included with the $125 ticket, which is a deal, when considering how much drinks cost at a cash bar these days.
For an additional $75, you can purchase a VIP ticket and have the opportunity to view a photo exhibition, “Laura Aguilar: Body and Landscape,” in one of The Huntington’s art galleries prior to the festivities. As a Chicana lesbian artist, Aguilar explored the intersections of land, identity and community. Her body of work features provocativeand sensual photographs of the LGBTQ and Latinx communities from the 1980s through the early 2000s.
From 6 to 7 p.m., a VIP cocktail reception will be held on the south terrace of the Huntington Art Gallery with raucous entertainment by the Gay Freedom Band of Los Angeles.
“This has really become one of our most celebrated events at The Huntington,” added Kohler. “It’s such a joyful, magical occasion and we encourage people to dress up in their most festive garden attire.”
The garden party is from 7 to 10 p.m., two hours after The Huntington closes, so there will be plenty of room for free parking, with no massive crowds to vie with when smelling the roses.
As someone who is a Supporting Member of the Huntington, I find the Rose Garden an unparalleled botanical sanctuary in LA County. If you’ve ever walked into a large rose garden and felt instantly lighter and relaxed, it’s not just because of the visual beauty and intoxicating fragrance; it’s because the rose, according to mystics, sages and science, holds one of the highest frequencies measured in nature.
Every living thing gives off a distinctive vibrational frequency, but the rose is considered the highest frequency of any flower at 320 MHz. It’s the vibratory frequency of love and creative expression, so what better place to celebrate Pride than in a Rose Garden?
For more information on tickets, visit: https://www.huntington.org/event/evening-among-roses