Claremont Heritage salutes its own with ‘Claremont cool’  

(L-R) City Council member Jennifer Stark and master of ceremonies Charles Phoenix led the audience in a lively Claremont trivia game Sunday at Claremont Heritage’s annual gala. Courier photo/Peter Weinberger

by Lisa Butterworth

“I’m very lucky to live, work, and play in a city like Claremont.” That’s how David Shearer, executive director of Claremont Heritage, kicked off the organization’s June 6 annual awards gala at Padua Hills Theatre. His opening remarks set the tone for an evening of Claremont pride, celebration, and community.

The gala’s 200-plus guests were greeted at the venue by more than spectacular views of the foothills and Pomona Valley. A photographer snapped photos at a step-and-repeat by the entrance, and a band played as attendees mixed and mingled on the Theatre’s terrace. Some perused the silent auction table, while others watched artist Christian Guillenpaint a picture of the event in real time, and nearly everyone had the evening’s specialty cocktail in hand. “The Cool Cat,” a gin-and–orange liqueur concoction, was created by Geniece Dibble, proprietor of Village cocktail supply shop Whiskey Loves Basil, and fit right into the Gala’s theme: Claremont cool.

It was a full house at the Padua Hills Theatre Sunday as 200 guests attended Claremont Heritage’s annual gala. The evening’s theme, “preserving our recent history,” celebrated efforts to protect the city’s architectural and cultural legacy. Courier photo/Peter Weinberger

“Our [organization’s] annual theme this year is preserving the recent past, which has to do with the decades of the ‘50s, ‘60s, and ‘70s,” Shearer said. Heritage board member and gala chair Jennifer Stark suggested it. It’s a motif that captures the decades’ vibe and the draw Claremont had during these pivotal years in its history. It’s also a subtle nod to famed Claremont artist Karl Benjamin, whose hard-edged paintings were featured prominently in the 2007 exhibition “Birth of the Cool: California Art, Design, and Culture at Mid-Century,” and were, in part, inspired by the jazz movement of the era (embodied by Miles Davis’ album of the same name).

“[Benjamin] said that in the ‘50s and ‘60s, Claremont was really the cultural epicenter of the art world in LA,” Shearer recollected. “This is where it was all happening. All these great artists were working out of Claremont. So we took that as inspiration. In the ‘50s, ‘60s, ‘70s, it was the place to be.”

Pop culture historian and humorist Charles Phoenix, the evening’s emcee, confirmed that this is still the case. After living in LA most of his adult life, the Ontario native told the audience that as of this month, he now calls Claremont home. “There’s something interesting around every single corner — some sort of a treasure, or a beautiful, rare plant, or a piece of public art, or just somebody scampering down the street in style,” he said.

Known for his slideshow performances, which lovingly and hilariously extol mid-century life, Phoenix treated the gala crowd to a mini-Claremont presentation, which featured photos and tidbits about iconic Claremont people and places, past (Griswold’s, Tugboat Annie’s, Betsy Ross restaurant) and present, including the Millard Sheets-designed U.S. Bank, Pomona College’s James Turrell Skyspace, and the Folk Music Center.

A Claremont-focused trivia game followed — did you know renowned mid-century modern architect Richard Neutra designed the Claremont United Methodist Church? This reporter did not!

Business executive, developer, and philanthropist Randall Lewis addresses the audience after accepting the Bess Garner Preservation Award on behalf of his family at Sunday’s Claremont Heritage. Courier photo/Peter Weinberger

The 2025 Culture Heritage Award was bestowed on Claudia Lennear. Mick Jagger’s and David Bowie’s onetime muse was an in-demand backup singer in the ‘60s and ‘70s before becoming a longtime educator. Lennear was featured in the Oscar-winning 2013 documentary “20 Feet from Stardom,” which reignited her performing career, and she’s a founding member of the Treasury of Claremont Music, a Claremont Heritage initiative to archive the city’s rich musical history.

Randall Lewis, of Lewis Homes and the Lewis Group of Companies, accepted the Bess Garner Preservation Award on behalf of his family, four generations of Claremonters. “They were responsible for developing a lot of the housing tracts in the ‘50s, ‘60s, and ‘70s in Claremont,” Shearer said. “They’ve been so involved in arts and education, and promoting culture in the region. We thought they’d be good to honor, not only for what they did in the past, but also what they’re doing now.”

In his acceptance speech, Lewis called on the audience to champion the city’s institutions: “Claremont Heritage, Sustainable Claremont, Uncommon Good, art museums … there are so many important organizations,” he said. “Let us all work together to support these organizations that make Claremont the city that it is.”

It was a fitting lead-in to the night’s live auction. Though final numbers were still being calculated at press time, Shearer estimated the gala garnered about $100,000 in donations. Though it’s one of Claremont Heritage’s main fundraisers, Shearer made sure to emphasize the evening’s other driving forces.

“I think doing events like this is important. The awards are important because they recognize people in the community, and it’s part of our way of achieving our mission, of giving back to the community by educating the community, honoring people and places that have made a difference, and make Claremont special,” he said. “It’s not just about the money, it’s more about the community spirit and the way that people can be proud of where they live and work, but also learn something about it too.”

The money does, however, make much of Claremont Heritage’s programming possible, including its speaker and film series, a current barrios project that honors the history of Claremont’s Mexican American community, the organization’s publicly accessible archive, and its local history program for elementary school students. “We’ve been doing it for over 25 years, and it’s great because these third graders then become ambassadors for Claremont,” Shearer said. “We hear from the parents that they’ll be driving around, and the kids will be like, ‘Hey, there’s the Packing House, that was almost torn down, and those are the elephant toe curbs that are made from Claremont potatoes.’ They become these little experts.”

It’s all in service of upholding the nonprofit’s motto: Keeping Claremont’s heritage alive.

“There’s something special about Claremont,” Shearer said, “and I’m just happy that we can have a part in documenting the history and promoting the history and celebrating the history because it’s so rich. And also looking toward the future, too — what might come and helping to inform that.”

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