William Saroyan’s house museum will open in Fresno on the writer’s 110th birth anniversary on August 31. To celebrate this occasion, a grand opening celebration will be held at the Satellite Student Union of the Fresno State campus.
The solemn opening ceremony will kick off with an exhibition dedicated to Saroyan’s life, which will be followed by screening of a documentary telling about William Saroyan and the “Saroyan House” project.
In 2016, Arthur Janibekyan, founder of the Renaissance Cultural and Intellectual Foundation, purchased William Saroyan’s house, saving it from foreclosure. The foundation transformed the house — where Sayoran spent the last 17 years of his life — into a museum that reproduces the atmosphere that existed when Saroyan inhabited the space.
The museum will feature a large digital archive of Saroyan’s works as well as collected books, photos, videos, paintings, souvenirs that describe Saroyan’s character. Additionally, the space will include video and digital effects that depict a hologram of William Saroyan sitting and talking with his guests. In accordance with William Saroyan’s will, a research area will be created within the house, which will serve as a center for Saroyan studies. Students, scholars and other interested individuals will thus be able to benefit from the vast heritage which the writer left behind.
