Wende gets new digs at former armory

A treasure trove relics and culture from one of the most intriguing, secretive and repressive eras of the 20th century   have been tucked away in a corner of Fox Hills in a most unusual museum for 10 years. Created for the purpose of educating the public on historical events of more than half a century ago, the Wende Museum will soon have a new home along one of Culver City’s most visible corridors and close to one of the city’s oldest landmarks.
The museum, which has been at its current home in Fox Hills for 10 years, was granted a lease agreement by the city council on Nov. 12 at the site of the former Culver City National Guard Armory on Culver Boulevard. The building is a short walk from Veterans Auditorium and the building that house the Department of Parks and Recreation.
“We want to be closer to more resources,” Wende Museum Executive Director Dr. Justinian  said in an interview earlier this year. “We want to find a permanent home for our collections and artifacts.”
The lease agreement is for 75 years and the museum is required to provide at least one free admission day to the public and at least three outreach opportunities a year to the Culver City Unified School District.
The Wende, which means “turning point” in German, contains artifacts from the Cold War from the former Soviet Union and Eastern Europe, much of which was insulated behind the Iron Curtain during most of the 20th century until 1991.
They also provide historical and investigative support for journalists as well as internships for students from USC, UCLA and West Los Angeles College.
Councilman Jim Clarke was one of the earliest supporters of the cultural center’s move to the armory. He credits Jampol and his staff for taking the initiative to introduce the museum to those affiliated with the armory as well as the homeowners who reside in the neighborhoods that surround Veterans Park.
“They did a really good job with their outreach before the move was finalized, so that people would know what to expect if they did move in,” Clarke recalled.
“It was a key ingredient for us,” Jampol concurred. “It was important to get input from those who will be living with us.
  “We don’t see the (council) vote as a culmination,” the museum director added. “We’re going to continue with our outreach after we are in the space.”
West Los Angeles College Vice Chair of History Patricia Siever thinks the museum could become a very useful tool in helping students at the college as well as those in the school district supplement their knowledge of international history.
“It depends upon how the information is presented, but (having students visit the museum) could make them think about history in a different way,” said Siever, who is a member of Culver City’s school board.
Jampol said the Wende plans to offers tours to students and the museum has collaborated with the Culver City High School Academy of Visual and Performing Arts, known by its acronym, AVPA.
“We want to approach (the purpose of the museum) in the way that shows that history is about people,” he explained. “It gives us a platform to discuss the decisions of the past and their consequences. It is an opportunity to explore the human condition.”
The Wende’s collection contains historical archives, books and artworks that highlight everything from Russian propaganda campaigns, documents from the Stais, the infamous East German secret police and a variety of Eastern European films of the period.
Siever thinks the cultural center’s exhibits on wars could be especially enlightening for students and for adults as well.
   She referenced the 10 sections of the Berlin Wall that the Wende brought to Los Angeles in 2009, which is the largest stretch of the historical monument outside Berlin, and how it could be used to give students and visitors to the museum a broader perspective on historical events, past and contemporary.
 “There’s a global aspect to eliminating walls,” the professor noted. “We have to educate our children in a global perspective so that they can understand and learn from history about freedom, peace, different points of view and that there is a world outside of the United States.”
The Berlin Wall, built in 1961, was constructed to separate East Germany from pro- Western West Germany as well as to prevent defections from the former to the latter, was demolished in 1989 near the end of the Cold War as the Iron Curtain and the last vestiges of the Eastern Bloc fell.
Jampol agrees with Siever’s point on relating historical artifacts to current times. “Walls are universal. It’s a theme that everyone can identify with,” he said.
As a candidate for city council in the spring, Clarke talked about Culver City establishing a cultural corridor with the incoming Wende, the Mayme E. Clayton Library two blocks away on Overland Avenue and the nearby Culver City Historical Society, housed at the rear of Veterans Auditorium.
“Just think of having them all within a small radius of each other,” the councilman said.
“We’re thrilled to be in such close proximity to other cultural institutions,” Jampol added.
Clarke says like other destination points in Culver City, city officials will need to draw attention to the museum in order to attract visitors the cultural corridor.
“We have to market it, like anything else,” the councilman said.
The museum will bear all of the costs of construction and the interior of the former armory will need to be reconstructed in order to become conducive to the needs of a museum. “It will require certain improvements including features like humidity control, esthetics and electricity capacity,” Jampol explained.
Jampol sees an interesting symmetry in the Wende, which educates the public about the history of the European government and the people who lived during that time in post World War Two, occupying a building that was constructed for National Guard troops during the height of the Cold War.
“There’s a certain poetic essence to it,” he concluded. “It will be East meeting West coming together in a very unique way.”
Construction is slated to begin next year and Jampol says the building could be ready  by mid- 2014.