Journal of Alta California

Featuring great stories, in-depth reporting, beautiful photography, smart thinking — Alta is the magazine and website that bring you everything California.

CONTRIBUTORS

JOURNAL OF ALTA CALIFORNIA

The Poet as a Storyteller

We’re All Homeschoolers Now • How the pandemic revealedthe value of lessons learnedoutside the classroom.

SOAKED THROUGH • The creek freaks of Los Angeles seek out the city’s secret water—and fight to set it free.

A Shiver of Sharks • Why have so many juvenile white sharks made the California coast their home?

THE URANIUMAIRE • Written off by government geologists, blackballed by the oil and gas industry, and nearly broke, Charlie Steen had something to prove: that huge deposits of radioactive uranium could be found near Moab, Utah. The mines he drilled would change his life—and the surrounding area—forever.

The Hard-Learned Lessons of History • California’s last boarding school for Indigenous students moves toward embracing—not disgracing—tradition and culture.

THE ‘ORDERLY ANARCHY’ OF ANCIENT CALIFORNIA • Anthropologist Robert Bettinger’s startling discoveries suggest that California-style hunting and gathering spread widely throughout the prehistoric West.

Art • Nine artists. One museum. One wise old critic. They reassure us that in this moment of enormous change, our hunger for creative expression remains as strong as ever.

A Retrospective Long Overdue • The pioneering artist Judy Chicago is celebrated in the city that launched her career.

Judy Chicago in Her Own Words

What Hale Woodruff’s Settlement and Development Means to Me

Taking Tea with Henri Matisse

In Search of an ‘American Geography’ • The Central Valley’s Matt Black spent six years and traveled more than 100,000 miles—often by bus—photographing the ubiquity of poverty across the United States.

Finding Energy in Rufino Tamayo’s Simple Moment

Off the Wall • California’s world-class museums and galleries are an art lover’s dream. But don’t stop there. Surprising displays of creativity are everywhere. From desert plains to small-town alleys, here are six of our favorite places to experience art off the beaten path.

New Times, New Histories • LACMA reimagines itself for the 21st century, challenging accepted notions of what artworks should be displayed and for whom.

Looking at Lorna Simpson’s Collage Makes Time Collapse

Funk Art and the Pursuit of Authenticity • William T. Wiley and his creative philosophy were unapologetically linked to the Bay Area.

How Sulamith Changed My Approach to Found Objects

Seeing My Story Articulated in Finding Balance

Not Everyone Should Be a Critic • Dave Hickey and the problem of great art going unappreciated.

BOUND TOGETHER

NONFICTION

FICTION

POETRY

ART

To Change the World

Fire Season

To Be Tall

The Pastures of the Empty Page

Uncharted Terroir • The L.A. women behind the West Coast rise of natural wine.

A Taste of Austin in Orange County • Heritage Barbecue perfected Central Texas–style brisket, sausage, and ribs. But because this is California, it also serves pastrami, pork adobo, and Jidori chicken.

A Grande Dame of Dance • Anna Halprin left the New York scene in the 1940s to pioneer postmodern performance from a mountain deck in Northern California. Over the next 75 years, she created works with power to heal people and the environment, and to promote peace.

Sleep Nights

Reconnecting to the Outdoors

ALTATUDE

The Force of Habit • Jim Harrison’s last poems as final words.

Dog in the Tomb

Weeping Birds

The...