NATURAL PERSPECTIVES:From tombstone to gemstone

Vic and I often take students from the Orange County Conservation Corps on educational field trips. The one that generates the most reaction from corps members is a trip to the Bowers Museum of Cultural Art in Santa Ana. It’s also one of my favorite places to go.

I was thrilled to find the Egyptian mummy exhibit had been held over due to popular demand. This fabulous exhibit will be there until December. I’ve seen it four times now, and the awe doesn’t diminish.

The fine quality of the art is truly amazing. One can’t help but be moved by the intense faith these ancient people had in their view of an afterlife, and the amount of their time and effort that went into their preparation of funerary goods for that afterlife. Most of the corps members picked seeing the mummies as their favorite part of the field trip.

One of the most touching things for me in the Egyptian exhibit was the child’s coffin. Death in infancy and childhood was common in those times. Generally, families couldn’t afford to pay for elaborate burials of children, but the child’s coffin on exhibit was a rare exception. The wealthy parents had a beautiful wooden coffin carved for their child’s journey to eternity.

We were fortunate to have a docent give us a tour of the Egyptian exhibit. She had prepared a mock mummy — actually a child-sized rag doll — cut open and stuffed with internal organs that she had sewn herself. Our corps members got to help “mummify” the figure, taking out the internal organs and putting them into jars, and then wrapping the mummy in linen.

I liked the many little shabti figurines that accompanied burials. In the ancient Egyptian belief system, the deceased came to life again as a youthful, perfect, god-like reincarnation of their former self. They were buried with shabti, which are carved wooden or stone images of servants.

After a person was buried, the shabti would spring to life and do all of the work Egyptians thought would be necessary in the afterlife. The shabti tilled the fields, harvested the grain, tended the animals, and prepared food and wine for the deceased. Hey, Vic and I could use some shabtis in our current life.

Corps members generally respond strongly to interpretation of a culture through objects of art, and that’s just what the Bowers Museum does. One of their favorite exhibits is the Mayan pre-Columbian gallery. On this visit, seven out of eight corps members chose the limestone tomb of Lord Pacal as their favorite object in this gallery.

Sandro Higareda picked it because of the extent of the carved drawings. “It’s just so amazing,” he said.

Brittany Terry liked the tomb because “there were lots of different pictures carved on the lid and it was just so big.”

Other reactions ranged from “That’s hooked up!” to “That’s crazy,” both of which are expressions of awe and admiration.

Anthony Perez took a more practical approach to the huge stone.

“I’ll bet four of us could lift it,” he said.

“No way,” the others responded.

Anthony studied the big stone slab for a while and decided that eight people could move it. He pointed to where they should stand if they were to accomplish the task. That’s one of the things I like about our corps members — they’re very task-oriented. They form teams and use their intellect to solve problems.

Jackie Cabrera chose a different object as her favorite. She liked a polychrome bowl with pedestals that featured shamanic figures with outstretched wings.

“The wings are an artistic convention used to indicate shamanic ‘soul flight,’” she wrote eloquently in her report. Being able to fly away from our current problems or bad situations is something that probably appeals to us all.

Another exhibit that really speaks to our students is the plein air art gallery. Each person picked a picture they liked best, and each one picked a different painting. Many of them surprised me by picking urban scenes instead of pastoral scenes. Jose Guiza said he liked Frank Coburn’s 1920 painting of Olvera Street best because it showed “people doing regular stuff.”

Some of the corps members liked the artwork in the early California history gallery best. Antwann Jones said, “I liked the statue of Saint Anthony holding baby Jesus. I thought it was so spiritual.”

Class is officially over at noon, but Shannon Hagans and Jackie Cabrera were having such a good time that they didn’t want to leave. Vic took those students home who needed to leave, while Shannon, Jackie and I toured the gemstones and previewed the Ancient Arts of China exhibits.

The “Gems! Colors of Light and Stone” gallery dazzled our senses. This remarkable private collection was amassed by Michael Scott, the first president of Apple computers, in only 14 years. Over 250 gemstones and pieces showing gems as art are on exhibit.

One of my favorite pieces was a spectacular tiara called “The Queen of Kilamanjaro.” Created in Santa Barbara, this incredible head-topper featured a faceted, deep blue, 242-carat tanzanite gem. Twining, snakelike streamers of white gold encrusted with diamonds and green garnets completed the tiara. I commented it would be really neat to wear it to a dance.

“No,” Shannon said, “you couldn’t wear that. It would get jacked so fast.”

Jackie concurred. They pantomimed one of them mugging the other to steal the tiara to make it clear to me what would happen if they tried to wear it. Once again, I needed to be reminded my corps members live in a different world than the one I grew up in.

The gemstone exhibit featured some spectacular crystals. Upon seeing a large quartz crystal, Shannon said if she had found it, she’d sell it and be set for life. Then she saw an even larger one, a smoky quartz crystal that stood over a foot tall. “Wow,” she said. “If I found that one, I could sell it and support everyone in Southern California.” The willingness of these kids to take care of others is touching. Many of our corps members are helping a single parent take care of younger siblings or are supporting their own families. Their generosity and willingness to help seems to know no bounds.

To celebrate the opening of the new addition to their building, and the opening of the “Gems! Colors of Light and Stone” exhibit, the Bowers is offering a two-for-one coupon special for the month of September. Visit their website at www.bowers.org and print out a coupon. The Bowers is an Orange County treasure that just keeps on getting better and better.