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Bernard and Barbro Osher West Gallery, Kanbar Forum
Included with museum admission.
The Grand Moving Mirror of California is a descendant of the mid-19th century moving panorama storytelling tradition. Its history captures a unique transitional period in popular entertainment culture that anticipated the moving picture before technology led to the development of cellulose nitrate film. This exquisitely rendered painted scroll will unroll complete with live Foley effects and narration, imparting the thrills and dangers undertaken on a seaboard trip around South America to reach Gold Rush–era California.
Drawing on the illustrious history of the great panorama paintings of the 18th and 19th centuries, The Velaslavasay Panorama is an exhibition hall, theater, and garden dedicated to the production and presentation of unusual visual experiences, including those of the 360º variety. The Velaslavasay Panorama also hosts illustrated lectures on a variety of artistic and scientific subjects, film screenings, and presentations that vary from toy theater productions and silent films to crafting meetings and other experimentations.