California Culture

Traditionally Californian people are a fusion of cultures happily mixing together. Tolerance is a stronghold of the Californian way of life attracting people everyday who chose to make it their home resulting in a vibrant multicultural society that is reflected in the arts, the food, the music and film.
Franciscan friars entered California in the San Diego area in 1769 to establish the Spanish claim to the region and to convert the Native Americans to Roman Catholicism. By 1823 they had established a chain of 21 missions along the coast, stretching from San Diego north to Sonoma. Protestantism was introduced in California by the early American settlers in the 1830s. Members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, or Mormons, came to the state over the Mormon Trail from Utah during the 19th century, and laborers from China and Japan introduced Eastern religions. The first Buddhist temple in the United States was constructed in San Francisco in 1905. In the 20th century many religious cults and sects became established in California.
The Roman Catholic church now has the largest membership of any denomination, with more than one-quarter of all church members. The largest Protestant sects are the Baptists, Methodists, Lutherans, and Presbyterians. Jewish congregations have many members. In San Francisco is the headquarters of the Buddhist Churches of America. There are mosques in many California cities.
The private Henry E. Huntington Library and Art Gallery, in San Marino, contains an outstanding collection relating to English and American literature and history, as well as noted collections of European art, tapestries, furniture, porcelain, and miniatures. Famous works of art are also found in the Crocker Art Museum, in Sacramento, the Santa Barbara Museum of Art, the Oakland Museum of California, and the J. Paul Getty Museum, in Malibu. In San Francisco are the M. H. De Young Memorial Museum and the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. The Los Angeles County Museum of Art is the largest in the western United States. The Norton Simon Museum in Pasadena exhibits paintings by European masters, as well as sculptures from Southeast Asia.
The famed California Historical Society in San Francisco and many local and regional groups maintain collections of California memorabilia. Other museums include the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, the Griffith Observatory and Planetarium, and the California Museum of Science and Industry in Los Angeles, and the San Joaquin Pioneer Museum and Haggin Art Galleries in Stockton.
Since the mid-19th century, when travelling theatrical companies visited the California mining camps, the theatre has been an important part of Californian cultural life. In addition, the growth of the motion-picture and television industries in the 20th century attracted many actors to the state and stimulated the growth of legitimate theatre. There are theatres in many Californian cities, and the state is the home of a number of active professional theatre groups. Among the groups are the Buffalo Nights Theater Company, in Los Angeles. An annual summer Shakespeare festival is held in the Old Globe Theatre in San Diego, and classical Greek plays are staged in the Hearst Greek Theater, on the campus of the University of California at Berkeley.

There are fine symphony orchestras in many Californian cities. The most prominent are the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra, founded in 1909, and the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra, founded in 1919. The Hollywood Bowl, in Los Angeles, is famous for the evening concerts held there during the summer months. The San Francisco Opera Association has won national acclaim. Also in the city is a noted music conservatory.
California also has a long tradition of classic jazz, blues and swing with many festivals across the country such as the Dixieland Jazz Festival in Monterey and in Sacramento amongst the most predominant.
California is the home of many professional sports teams. The baseball teams are the San Francisco Giants, the California (Anaheim) Angels, the Los Angeles Dodgers, the San Diego Padres, and the Oakland Athletics. The football teams are the San Francisco 49ers, the Oakland Raiders, and the San Diego Chargers. The basketball teams are the Golden State (Oakland) Warriors, the Los Angeles Lakers, the Los Angeles Clippers, and the Sacramento Kings. The hockey teams are the Los Angeles Kings, the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim, and the San Jose Sharks.