California: Culture And Leisure

High- and low-brow art enjoy comparable support here. For most people, the state's contributions to culture are the many blockbusters made by Hollywood movie studios or televised sitcoms shot on LA sound stages. This is art in unashamed pursuit of the almighty dollar, complete with tabloid scandals and giant movie billboards blotting out the Los Angeles sun.

But another creativity reveals itself through the state's history of landscape painting, portraiture, and 20th-century avant-garde art. Modern artists John McLaughlin and Elmer Bischoff, and ceramists Peter Voulkos and Robert Arneson have all made international reputations.

So have a few pioneers of photographic art, such as Imogen Cunningham and Ansel Adams. British artist David Hockney lived here for many years, capturing the state's sun-soaked image on canvas. California is also home to some of the world's finest art museums, including LACMA, the Oakland Museum, the San Francisco MOMA, and the two J Paul Getty Museums.

Victorian architecture in the Bay Area has always been a major tourist attraction, as have the many historic buildings across the state designed by Californians such as Willis Polk and Bernard Maybeck.

Visiting designers Frank Lloyd Wright and Daniel Burnham have left their mark here, too. Recent influential architects include residents Frank Gehry and Joe Esherick.

The state has seen many writers over the years, including Nobel prize-winner John Steinbeck and Beat authors Jack Kerouac and Allen Ginsburg. The tradition continues with Armistead Maupin (Tales of the City), detective novelist Sue Grafton, and Amy Tan (The Joy Luck Club), among others.

Music also plays a major role, whether the work of the cities' orchestras or rock musicians. This is where the Beach Boys, Janis Joplin, the Grateful Dead, and Red Hot Chili Peppers launched their careers.

Californians love to eat out, and chefs Wolfgang Puck and Alice Waters have made their name promoting "California cuisine"- a blend of local ingredients and Asian techniques.

This, combined with a selection of local world class wines, is proof that Californians take care of their palates. Yet residents are also body-conscious, aware that they live among the "beautiful people" who come here with dreams of film stardom.

So they become slaves to the gym or take up a sport. On any weekend, in various parts of the state, you will see cyclists, surfers, in-line skaters, even white-water rafters. Californians are eager supporters of professional baseball and football, but they like to be active themselves. Luckily, surrounded by some of the nation's most beautiful countryside and the gentlest climate, they don't have to go far to enjoy a satisfying outdoor experience.  Kristie Haller