Julia Morgan, Architect of Hearst Castle, to Visit Menlo Park Library

Julia Morgan was the first woman to be admitted to the architecture program at l’École nationale supérieure des Beaux-Arts in Paris. She was the first female architect licensed in California. She designed, among many other notable buildings in our state, Hearst Castle, and also Palo Alto’s YWCA Hostess House, now the site of MacArthur Park Restaurant.  She was the most prolific architect of the 20th century. And on July 30, she will be visiting the Menlo Park Library.

Actress Jill Jackson will be playing the part of Morgan during a special evening performance at the Menlo Park Library, 800 Alma Street, set to take place at 7:00 p.m. on Thursday the 30th. Jackson’s performance will be accompanied by a slide presentation, as well as a talk and Q&A period with Roxann Jacobus, a retired Asilomar State Park Ranger & Julia Morgan expert. The event is free, thanks to funding from the Friends of the Menlo Park Library. No preregistration is necessary to attend. The performance is recommended for adults and teens.

Jill Jackson is a performer, producer, and director based on the Monterey Peninsula. Her stage credits include The Search for Signs of Intelligent Life in the Universe, Always Patsy Cline, Woody Guthrie’s American Song, Nickeled & Dimed, and Sylvia.

In 1995, Jackson was approached to portray Architect Julia Morgan for a California State Parks function. “Who’s Julia Morgan?” she asked, and the answer to that question led to her writing four Julia Morgan shows that continue to delight audiences as she performs them on the Monterey Peninsula, San Simeon and San Francisco, and areas in between.

The performance is part of the Menlo Park Library’s Adult Summer Reading program, which runs through August 9 and offers special programs and prizes to adult readers. Adults who complete the summer reading program will win a scoop of ice cream donated by Café Zoe & a free book, and will be entered into a drawing for prizes donated by the Friends of the Menlo Park Library. Separate summer reading incentive programs are being offered for children and teens. Details of this and other events are available at the Menlo Park Library website, http://menlopark.org/library.