The Yellow Umbrellas (Christo and Jeanne-Claude) 1991

We were lucky enough to actually see one of Christo's and Jeanne-Claude's environmental works of art when we were living in Southern California in the year of 1991. I was not only able to take my mom to see it when she visited me, but also my brother Robert and our friend, Carol.

The area that the umbrellas were in was near the area that we called the Gorman Pass. We lived about 17 miles down the road in the suburbs of Castaic, CA.

If you don't know much about this monumental work of art (and of Christo and Jeanne-Claude's lifetime achievements), be sure to learn more about it here. 

Spectacular doesn't even begin to describe it. Currently, at The Albuquerque Art Museum, an exhibit is on display-notes, drawings, photos, etc. of the many projects that spanned over 40 years. Anyway, this is what got me to thinking about the fact that I had my own set of images and a fabric sample of the umbrellas that were in CA and Japan.

My mom and I: October, 1991

Carol, myself and my brother, Robert Mondoy: October, 1991

The underview...

Fabric samples-yellow for California and blue for Japan

Oddly enough, what I never realized until I saw the exhibit at the museum is that Christo and Jeanne-Claude FUNDED their own works. No grants, no private donations. And all of the projects tooks years and years of planning, meetings, environmental studies, you name it. Which is really staggering when you think about the fact that the Gates project in Central Park in New York City (Feb. 2005) cost them 21 million dollars. 21.You read that right.

Wow. Thank you, Christo and Jeanne-Claude!