COOL GLOBES AT AN L.A. HOT SPOT

Exhibit opens on Earth Day at Exposition Park's Rose Garden

Los Angeles - The Department of Recreation and Parks celebrated Earth Day by opening the Cool Globes: Hot Ideas for a Cooler Planet exhibit at Exposition Park's Rose Garden on April 22, 2009. The 50 super-sized globes depict everyday solutions to global warming. Governer Arnold Schwarzenegger, Mayor Antonio R. Villaraigosa, Councilwoman Wendy Greuel and General Manager Jon Kirk Mukri were all in attendance, along with 350 school children, to help spread the message of conservation and climate protection.

The five-foot diameter, seven-foot-tall Cool Globes, designed by local and national artists each convey different messages about what ordinary citizens can do to combat global warming. Cool Globes was inspired by Chicago-area environmental activist Wendy Abrams. Abrams created Cool Globes to show that, "there are solutions and simple actions we all can take in our daily lives to help reduce climate change. Cool Globes is a way to help people see that the situation is not hopeless. We all have the power to do something and together we can have an impact".

In addition to the large globes displayed inside the Rose Garden, there are dozens of mini-Cool Globes will be on display at the California Science Center, Natural History Museum and California African-American Museum. The mini-globes are designed and/or autographed by celebrities such as Oprah Winfrey, Tom Hanks and Robert Redford; athletes such as Kobe Bryant, Phil Mickelson and Tiger Woods; as well as President Barack Obama, former President Bill Clinton, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., and more.

Los Angeles is the final stop on a three-city California tour, which included displays in San Francisco and San Diego. The Cool Globes exhibit will be on display at the Exposition Park Rose Garden until July 23, 2009. The Rose Garden is open everyday from 8:30 am to dusk. For more information, please call the Rose Garden directly at (213) 748-4772 or the Department's general information line at (213) 202-2700. For more information on the Cool Globes project, visit their website at http://www.coolglobes.org/.

MEDIA CONTACT:
Jane Kolb: (213) 202-2694