The Story Behind the Photo: Mission San Buenaventura

Submitted by Fun at Foster on

Hello again my name is David and I am a Library Tech at E.P. Foster Library and amateur photographer.

This is the story behind the photo. 

This is a photo of the Mission San Buenaventura, all wrapped up with no place to go. Sorry, I could not resist. 

At first glance, the mission reminded me of a Christo & Jeanne-Claude sculpture. The artists famous for wrapping large buildings in fabric and other materials. This certainly wasn't a work of Christo & Jeanne-Claude, but let's just say I have a very active imagination and an odd sense of humor. In reality, it looks like a fumigation project. 

The Mission looked so peculiar in stripes I didn't hesitate to take a quick snapshot. Behind the fountain is a great place to photograph the Mission when it is undraped too.  Also, a few steps away are the A.J. Comstock Fire Museum and China Alley Memorial both have potential photographic opportunities. 

Unfortunately, as of this writing, I was sad to discover Christo had passed away. His partner Jeanne-Claude had passed away in 2009. A tremendous loss to the art world. 

On a positive note, we do have a good selection of books about this duo. We have a biography and a number of other books about Christo and Jeanne-Claude and their captivating sculptures. 

I couldn't find any children's books on Christo and Jeanne-Claude, however, we have many books on the Mission system and online resources for research or your child's next Mission report. Here is a link to some great online resources about missions.  

Thank you and keep reading.

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