2017 past exhibitions
The Museum's 2017 exhibitions featured Arts & Crafts tiles, mid-century ceramics, chalk art, and railroad-inspired art.
March 29 through August 13, 2017
This year's event commemorated the silver anniversary of the Pasadena Chalk Festival. The annual festival is one of the area's most popular arts attractions. The creation and installation of chalk murals, some of which were site specific, and chalk drawing demonstrations were featured in this retrospective exhibition.
March 29 through August 13, 2017
This exhibit celebrated the history and beauty of railroads. Artists, photographers, and countless others have tried their hands at making their own rendition of railroad culture. Traditional art such as paintings and photographs, advertising art, sculpture, and carvings were on view.
September 21, 2016 through March 12, 2017
Ernest A. Batchelder was an author, designer, educator, artist, and tilemaker who settled in Pasadena in the early 20th century. Batchelder: Tilemaker celebrated the 2015 donation to the Museum of a collection of Batchelder tiles and archives by leading Batchelder authority, Robert Winter, PhD, who also served as exhibition curator.
Thank you to our generous Signature Sponsor: Susan Stevens & Family
View the short film that was produced for this exhibit.
Cast & Fired:
Pasadena’s Mid-Century Ceramics Industry
September 21, 2016 through March 12, 2017
Southern California, with its rich clay deposits, emerged as a world leader in pottery and ceramics production for household use in the mid-twentieth century. Cast & Fired: Pasadena's Mid-Century Ceramics Industry explored this boom, which was ushered in by Ernest Batchelder's luminously-glazed Asian-inspired forms.
Thank you to our generous Signature Sponsor: John F. Merrell Charitable Foundation
Images: Batchelder bird tile, design #510, circa 1923 (Gift of Robert Winter, 2015.008.077); Base of a coffee pot warmer by Walter Starnes (Gift of Dr. Elizabeth A. Smalley, 2014.005.013)