Upcoming

Book Club: Session 1

Event Details

DATE: September 6, 2025 TIME: 11am - 12pm

LOCATION: Arlington Garden, Pasadena

Registration

TICKET PRICE: Free

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Join us for the inaugural session of Active Cultures’ Book Club, where we’ll be discussing A World of Its Own: Race, Labor and Citrus in the Making of Greater Los Angeles 1900-1970 (2002) by Matt Garcia

In the book, Matt Garcia traces the history of intercultural relations in the citrus belt of Greater Los Angeles. Early 20th-century agricultural expansion led to segregation between white landowners and Mexican and Asian laborers, resulting in a divided community. Unlike other regions, Los Angeles fostered intercultural exchange through arts and community groups, like dance halls, theaters, the Intercultural Council of Claremont, and the Southern California Unity Leagues. These interactions built a foundation for political cooperation to fight labor, residential, and educational discrimination.

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About the Book Club

The Active Cultures Book Club invites our community to engage with texts that delve into the interconnectedness of art, food, and ecologies through collective reading and conversation. The series explores the aesthetics of food, culinary resilience and kinship, alternative foodways, land rights and stewardship, and the intersection of agriculture and technology. 

About Arlington Garden

Arlington Garden is a free garden and 2.5 acre host to climate-appropriate plants, trees, fungi, root systems, animals, birds, bees, bugs, and people that welcomes all.

Credits

Active Cultures is sustained through the generous support of the Los Angeles County Department of Arts and Culture; the City of Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs; the Getty Foundation; the Jerry & Terri Kohl Family Foundation; the Maurice Marciano Family Foundation; the Offield Family Foundation; Teiger Foundation; the Wilhelm Family Foundation; James Cohan Gallery; Who Wants To Be A Millionaire/ABC; William Grant & Sons; Active Cultures’ Board of Directors; the Members Circle Annual Fund; Green Art Lab Alliance (GALA); and the Los Angeles Visual Arts (LAVA) Coalition.