A Party in the Park

A new park, created with a nifty environmental purpose, is about to be dedicated. So it’s only natural to party, right?

Of course. But since the nonprofit arts organization The Light-Bringer Project is in charge of it, you can bet Saturday’s dedication of the Hahamongna Watershed Park in Pasadena is not going to be your usual wingding.

For one thing, between 15 and 20 artists have already set up an encampment at the site and are creating works to be presented.

“We’re going to have poets down there, environmental artists, musicians. It’s a renaissance group,” said Tom Coston, director of The Light-Bringer Project.

Then on Saturday “a couple of Art Center classes are coming down and doing plein-air painting,” said Coston. “That just means outdoor painting, painting in the natural light.”

Also joining the festivities will be representatives from the Gabrieleno-Shoshone Indians, descendants of the area’s original residents. Saturday is Gabrieleno day. They’ll be blessing the site and performing ceremonial dances.

The word Hahamongna comes from their language, meaning “flowing waters, fruitful valley,” an appropriate name change, said Coston.

The new park will incorporate the old Oak Grove Park, which the Los Angeles County Department of Parks and Recreation turned over to the city of Pasadena in September, as well as the Devil’s Gate dam basin and the mouth of the Arroyo Seco. It will be an urban wilderness park integrating flood control, water resources, recreation and habitat restoration.

The encampment is just beyond the baseball field at what was Oak Grove Park at Foothill Boulevard and Oak Grove Drive. The dedication begins at 9 a.m. with events scheduled throughout the day. All events are free.