Laura Friedman ,Vice Chair
A member of ModCom since 2003, Laura Friedman is the owner and operator of PlanetGlass.net, a website dedicated to mid 20th Century art glass from Italy, Scandinavia and North America. She is a member of the Society of Architectural Historians, as well as a member of the Design Review Board in the city of Glendale. Laura is also an independent producer and literary manager with over ten years experience in motion picture and television production and development. Her feature film producing credits include “Foxfire,” “House Arrest,” “Zeus and Roxanne” and “It Takes Two.”
Daniel Paul, Commercial Chair
A member of the Modern Committee since 1996, Daniel wrote the National Register of Historic Places
Nomination for Grandma Prisbrey's Bottle Village, where he has been active
since 1994. He also formulated the nighttime driving tour of the Terminal
Island Industrial Corridor. His current interests include Late Modern
architecture and finishing his post graduate work.
Michael Palumbo,
Outreach Chair
Michael has been active on the Modern Committee since 1985 and has lent
his artistic expertise to both preservation efforts and designing
exhibitions such as "A Place in the Sun - The Architecture of
Wayne McAllister." Michael works as an exhibit designer.
Marcello Vavala, Residential Chair
Nola Talmage, Membership Chair
Lynn Zook, Secretary
Los Angeles
Conservancy Staff
Ken Bernstein, Director of Preservation
Ken Bernstein is Director of Preservation Issues for the Los Angeles Conservancy, providing valuable guidance and information for the Modern Committee's advocacy efforts. He directs the Conservancy's public policy and preservation issues work throughout Los Angeles.
Trudi Sandmeier, Director
of Education
As the Conservancy's Director of Education, Trudi plays an integral role in the Modern Committee's education and outreach efforts.
Jay
Platt, Preservation Advocate
Executive Council Emeritus
Alan
Leib, Chair Emeritus
Originally from Chicago, Alan is the son of an architect who was a student of the great Mies
van der Rohe at IIT. After arriving in LA in 1998, he became involved with the
Modern Committee, becoming Commercial Architecture Chair in 2000
and Chai in 2001. Alan has led efforts to preserve modern
structures and roadside architecture including the Glendale Federal
Savings Building, the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium, Johnie's
Broiler in Downey, and a home in Santa Monica designed by the legendary
Oscar Niemeyer.
Michael Palumbo,
Chair Emeritus
Michael has been active on the Modern Committee since 1985 and has lent
his artistic expertise to both preservation efforts and designing
exhibitions such as "A Place in the Sun - The Architecture of
Wayne McAllister." Michael works as an exhibit designer.
Peter Moruzzi, Chair
Emeritus
As Modcom Chair from 1992 - 1997, Pete coordinated the designation of Bob's Big Boy Toluca Lake, helped save the Downey McDonald's, and produced tours including Cruising Postwar LA and Cruising Industrial Los Angeles. He's currently Chair of the Palm Springs Modern Committee. Pete has worked in the high tech industry for nearly 20 years and is now an architectural
historian for an environmental consulting company.
Amanda
Seward, Residential Council Chair Emeritus
Amanda Seward has been an active member of the Residential Council for the past five years. Most recently she wrote the application nominating Lincoln Place Garden Apartments to the National Register of Historic Places and has been the Council's representative in efforts to create the City's first Modern Historic Preservation and Overlay Zone (HPOZ) to include the Gregory Ain Mar Vista Tract Community. She and her husband are the proud owners of a house in the Mar Vista Tract, which they have painstakingly restored. Professionally, Amanda is in the entertainment industry, most recently a business executive at Warner Bros. Feature Animation and now with Film Bridge International, a film sales agency in Santa Monica. She is a lawyer by training and graduate of Georgetown Law Center.
Meri Pritchett , Outreach Chair Emeritus
Meri Pritchett is a documentary producer and has been a member of the Modern Committee
for over four years. Her nomination (in collaboration
with Sara Velas) of the Monterey Trailer Park to the city's Cultural
Heritage Commission met with great success. The City Council approved
it unanimously as a Cultural-Historic Monument.
Adriene Biondo,Commercial Chair Emeritus, Residential Chair Emeritus
As Residential Council Chair in 2002, Adriene helped pave the
way for the Modcom program now under way to nominate the remaining Case Study Houses for listing in the National Register of Historic Places. As Commercial Chair, she leads a wide range of preservation efforts, including the preservation
to date of the 1958 Johnie's Broiler in Downey, which has
officially been declared eligible for the California Register. Adriene is also working to establish an
Historic Preservation Overlay Zone (historic district) for the
Granada Hills Eichler tract where she resides, and participated
in writing National Register nominations that were unanimously approved for two Bay Area
Eichler tracts.
In addition to her Modcom work, Adriene served on an editorial advisory group for the Getty
Conservation Institute. Adriene's interests extend to singing 1940s big band jazz standards
and photographing roadside architecture and signage.
John English, Commercial Council Chair Emeritus
A seasoned veteran of the Modern Committee, John is on the Board of our parent group, the LA Conservancy, and has spearheaded efforts to save such landmarks as the Holiday Bowl.
Cindy
Olnick, Membership Chair Emeritus
Cindy helped with research, writing, and site management for the Eichler tract portion of the
Valley Tour. She worked on the Schindler tours in Silver Lake and also managed docents and logistics for a tour of Neutra homes in Silver Lake. Cindy and her husband Tom moved to LA from Boston, largely to be with Modern buildings and the people who love them. She currently works part-time as the Los Angeles Conservancy's Communications Coordinator.
Chris Nichols, Past President
Chris served as both Modern Committee Chair and Commercial Council Chair
and has been involved with many commercial issues over the past 15
years, including the World's Oldest McDonald's in Downey and Burbank's
1949 Bob's Big Boy. He is an active collector with an archive on
postwar L.A. architecture with an emphasis on gas, food and lodging.
Chris is working on a book about architect Wayne McAllister and is an
assistant editor at Los AngelesMagazine
Active Members at Large
Katharine Rudnyk,
Secretary Emeritus
Katharine served for two years as Modcom secretary and is an active
member of the Residential Council. She has worked tirelessly on
efforts to save many local civic buildings, most notably Monrovia
Public Library. She travels often for a wholesale plant nursery in San
Gabriel Valley and was recently appointed to the City of Glendora
Historic Preservation Committee.
Gretchen Spence, Membership Chair Emeritus
Gretchen is also a volunteer at the Ennis-Brown House and is a
regular docent for the Conservancy's downtown tours.
Charlene Gould
Charlene is unofficially our snack chair - she makes great food!
Tony Merchell, Palm Springs Advocate
Tony arranged an outstanding tour of Palm Springs Modernism for the Modern Committee and is integral to the preservation of Palm Springs Modernism.
Charles Phoenix
Creator of the popular slide show God Bless Americana, Charles wrote the tour guide book Cruising the Horn of Plenty: Modern and Roadside Architecture in the Pomona Valley, 1930 Thru 1970, and co-wrote Fabulous Las Vegas in the Fifties: Glitz, Glamour, and Games and Leis, Luaus, and Alohas: The Lure of Hawaii in the Fifties.
Jeff Stork
Jeff was the Associate Producer of the "How Modern Was My Valley" Tour in 2000. He also co-hosted the "On The Town" radio show with Mary-Margaret Stratton. He works in the automobile industry, and has a special interest in California Car Culture and roadside architecture.
Mary-Margaret Stratton
Mary-Margaret produced the 2000 tour "How Modern Was My Valley"
(touring Post War San Fernando Valley). She also designed booklets
for the SCA Suburban Metropolis Tour, The Wayne McAllister show,
and How Modern Was My Valley. She created the weekly Modern
Committee Radio Show "On the Town" on 88.5 FM KCSN. Mary-Margaret
works as a Senior Creative Director and Communications Consultant.
