The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts

Velaslavasay Panorama: Florence in Ruin: An Excavation

Institution
The Velaslavasay Panorama
Location
Los Angeles, CA
Grant Cycle
Spring 2025
Amount
$60,000
Type of Grant
Multi-year Program Support
Website
panoramaonview.org/florence-ruin-excavation ↗
Promotional image of Ruby Carlson (left) and Sara Velas (right) of the Velaslavasay Panorama for Florence in Ruin—Or—The Great Escape , a dual projection slide and sound performance on traveling while staying still. This experimental performance, created for the 20th International Convention of The Magic Lantern Society of the US & Canada aboard The Queen Mary in Long Beach (September 20, 2024), uses 35mm film and glass magic lantern slides to wander through imagery of distant yet familiar spaces. Image credit: Velaslavasay Panorama
Event image from Immersive Research Sessions Number 2 , on June 19, 2025, a panel discussion series on the nature and implications of immersive art. On the occasion of the 238th Anniversary of Robert Barker’s Panorama Patent, dated June 19th, 1787, the IRS (Immersive Research Sessions) reconvened with presenters Eric Kurland of LA 3-D Space and LA 3-D Club, and Tonia Ramogida of Terapixel Panorama from École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, led by host Sara Velas of Velaslavasay Panorama. Image credit: Velaslavasay Panorama
Installation shot of The Last Servants, a radio play transmitted on 88.8 FM radio in the Velaslavasay Panorama’s installation The Nova Tuskhut. The Last Servants debuted at the Velaslavasay Panorama in participation with LOOKOUT.FM on November 15th, 2024 with creator Nicolás Carcavilla in attendance, leading a 35mm slide presentation that accompanied the FM simulcast. From November 15th 2024 thru January 2025, The Last Servants was broadcast on The Nova Tuskhut's radio, with a printed libretto to read and complimentary QSL postcard visitors could send from The Nova Tuskhut’s mailbox. Image credit: Velaslavasay Panorama
Event image from Wheary Peepers Trunk Show (March 15, 2024), a live performance by Ursula Brookbank of light, shadow and projection on a deconstructed, modern invention for an automated moving panorama, created in collaboration with artists of the Velaslavasay Panorama. This performance was part of The Future Is A Well-Traveled Track, a group show featuring paintings by Guan Rong and an “illuminated talking picture” by Pa,Sacio Davinci, visible in the background of the image. Image credit: Forest Casey
Installation shot of Tell Me Your Dream, a tableau and exhibit of collective dreams to accompany screenings (November thru December 2022) of the Czech film “Who Wants To Kill Jesse” (1965), directed by Václav Vorlíček. The TV plays an excerpt from the film of a cow’s dream sequence and visitors were asked to lay on the couch and recount their dreams in the dream ledger. Found objects representing dreams submitted by the public were added to the exhibit over time. Image credit: Velaslavasay Panorama
Exterior façade and neon marquee of the Velaslavasay Panorama announcing The Man in the Tuskhut. Image credit: Forest Casey.

Drawing on the illustrious history of the grand panoramas of the 18th and 19th centuries, The Velaslavasay Panorama is a museum comprised of exhibition spaces, a theatre and garden dedicated to the production and presentation of unusual visual experiences and performances, including those of the 360-degree variety, linear moving panoramas, immersive media art and experimental performance. The museum presents a panoramic exhibition, encircling the spectator within a fully enveloping atmosphere; a vast painting of a continuous surrounding landscape, accompanied by sound stimulation and three-dimensional elements, affords the viewer an opportunity to experience a complete sensory phenomenon.

In addition to serving as a showcase for panoramic works and living garden wonders, The Velaslavasay Panorama also hosts live events, such as illustrated lectures on a variety of artistic and scientific subjects; projection-based performances (magic lantern, overhead projection, shadow art, film screenings, etc); and presentations that vary from toy theatre to crafting meetings and other experimentations.

Devoted to the continued production of things reminiscent of this landmark era in media history, The Velaslavasay Panorama is proud to participate in the cultural and artistic identity of the great city of Los Angeles, known the world over as an entertainment capital and the center of magnetic showmanship and spectacle.

See Also

“I’m very proud to be affiliated with the Warhol Foundation which has done so much to ensure the continuity of visual art in the fabric of our society. I have no doubt Andy is smiling from somewhere up above.”

Jon Lee, Former Board Member, Founder and Former Principal, Lee Capital Holdings