Did you know that your PMH membership card can be used twice a year to receive reciprocal free admission and a twenty percent discount in the stores of other Southern California institutions?  View a list of the twenty participating institutions for May’s Membership Appreciation Days (MADness) here.

Be sure to stop by PMH and take advantage of our wide selection of jewelry, accessories, home decor, and books -- perfect for Mother's Day gifts.  Use your member discount in the Museum Store, and while you're here enjoy the fabulous art exhibition now on view in our History Center Galleries, Contemporary Masters, Artistic Eden III.

Image: Rhea Vittal handpainted silk scarf now available in the Museum Store.

Not yet a PMH member?  Join today!  For membership details, please click here.

Unbound Productions, in collaboration with Pasadena Museum of History, will present a new theatrical experience this Spring: original stage adaptations of literature that reflect history in creative ways.  History Lit features works by some of the greatest women writers of the 19th and 20th centuries – Harriet Beecher Stowe, Charlotte Perkins Gilman, and Katherine Mansfield. These short plays will be staged throughout the Museum complex, including the Estate Gardens, Curtin House and inside historic Fenyes Mansion, which is opening briefly to the public for the first time since beginning a series of extensive repairs and upgrades in 2010.

Image: Actors in a performance of The Garden Party.

The three plays featured include:

     The Garden Party, by Jonathan Josephson, directed by Jeff G. Rack (adapted from the short story of the same name by Katherine Mansfield);

     Two Pictures in One, by Paul Millet, directed by Jonathan Josephson (adapted from “The Two Altars: Or Two Pictures in One” by Harriet Beecher Stowe); and

     The Yellow Wallpaper, by Jeff G. Rack, directed by Paul Millet (adapted from the short story of the same name by Charlotte Perkins Gilman).

History Lit is created, written and produced by Unbound Productions' Co-Artistic Directors Jonathan Josephson, Paul Millet, and Jeff G. Rack, based on their highly successful Wicked Lit productions of classic horror stories presented each October. PMH Executive Director Jeannette O’Malley says, “History Lit shines a spotlight on Pasadena Museum of History’s historic Mansion and grounds in a fresh and exciting approach that shares our cultural heritage through great literature, mesmerizing theatre and superb settings.”

The twenty-third Museums of the Arroyo (MOTA) Day offers a free day of local history and fun for all ages, as the five museums located along the celebrated Arroyo Seco in Los Angeles and Pasadena open their doors for a free open house!  Join us for tours, exhibitions, and special activities throughout the day.  At PMH, visitors will enjoy the invitational, juried exhibition Contemporary Masters: Artistic Eden III, which features works depicting life and scenes of the San Gabriel Valley by nationally-recognized artists.  Special MOTA Day-only activities include a live “Paint-Out” by exhibition artists in the Gardens, "Make My Own Masterpiece" family printmaking workshop with artist Katrina Alexy , plus hear classical music by string quartet Music-To-Go and visit the Finnish Folk Art Museum.

MOTA Day participants also include Gamble House, Heritage Square Museum, the Lummis Home and Garden, and the Los Angeles Police Museum.  For details about the exhibits and special activities at these sites, please visit http://www.museumsofthearroyo.com/about.htm 

A special cocktail event to support Happy Birthday Pasadena! Join us from 5:00 to 7:00 pm for cocktails and appetizers in Arcade Lane, hosted by El Portal Restaurant. Photographs from the popular 2011 Pasadena History Timeline (which was on view at the 2011 Happy Birthday Pasadena celebration) will be available for viewing and purchase.

In addition, El Portal will generously donate 15% of your lunch and dinner (dine-in and take out) food/beverage purchases on May 30 to Happy Birthday Pasadena! Important! You must present the downloadable/printable flier to you waiter for your purchases to qualify.

For more information about Happy Birthday Pasadena - Celebrating Now and Then on Saturday, June 23, please click here.

Join us for a screening of the film California Women Win the Vote.  Using historical materials and re-enactments to present the exciting and significant 1911 CA suffrage campaign, this story of courage, ingenuity, and triumph shows us the role women have played in the expansion of American democracy; the spirit of these women is an inspiration for citizens today, especially in this election year!   

Filmmakers Martha Wheelock and Jane Guthrie will be present to discuss the film and answer questions. 

Join us for a special Sunday Supper (menu details coming soon!) and Vertical Wine Bistro will generously 15% of your food purchases to support Happy Birthday Pasadena! Dinner: $29 | Added Wine Tasting: $22.  Vertical Wine Bistro is located in Old Pasadena at 70 N. Raymond Ave.  Make your reservations today! To download a flier, click here.

Special Opportunity: All patrons participating in this special dining event will
automatically be entered in a raffle for a fabulous gift basket!
Winner will be announced at the end of the evening; winner need not be present.

Join local authors Julianna Delgado and John G. Ripley as they share the history of Bungalow Heaven, Pasadena’s first and largest landmark district as described and illustrated in Pasadena’s Bungalow Heaven.  Bungalow Heaven contains the nation’s finest collection of middle-class homes of the American Arts and Crafts period. It became a model for civic engagement and a lovingly restored reminder of a simpler, healthier way of life.  This volume features over 200 historical images of bungalows from the Pasadena Museum of History’s Flag Photo Collection.

Image:Home in Bungalow Heaven; photo by Jim Staub.

Pasadena Museum of History is pleased to continue our annual celebration of the City's richly diverse population, organizations and talent with a look at Pasadena Now and Then on Saturday, June 23, 2012. Once again, PMH will partner with the City of Pasadena and numerous local individuals, businesses, and community organizations to present this special day devoted to all things Pasadena!

Call for Centenarians: Please help us identify and contact the area's "Senior" Seniors -- individuals who are 100 years old or older by December 31, 2012.  The Centenarian Project was a highlight of the 125th Birthday celebration last year, and has been expanded to allow us to record first hand the stories of individuals who have witnessed a century of history. If you know of a centenarian living in Pasadena or neighboring cities, please contact the Museum at pasadenahistory@sbcglobal.net or call 626-798-6272.

$30 Members, $35 Non-Members in advance, $40 at the door.  Purchase your tickets online through www.pasadenahistory.org  or call 626.577.1660, ext. 10. All proceeds from this event support the installation and exhibition of What a Long Strange Trip It’s Been: 35 Years of the Pasadena Doo Dah Parade.

Join us for a fun-filled afternoon with a variety of activities for all ages.  Tour Contemporary Masters: Artistic Eden III.  Don’t miss the special Trunk Show with local merchants offering unique gift ideas (details coming soon).   We are also setting up our “old time” games in the Mansion gardens, so you can show off your skills playing horseshoes, croquet & badminton. Plus, create a masterpiece of wearable art in our Summer Sun Hat Making Workshop.

Image: The Mansion by Paulette Lee, on view in the exhibition Contemporary Masters: Artistic Eden III 

Jeff Moran, Senior Vice President of John Moran Auctioneers, weaves a tale of discard and discovery as he shares stories of artwork and objects that fell through the cracks.  Some of these recounts, incorporating the lives and work of some of Pasadena’s most talented artists including Guy Rose, Alson Skinner Clark and Clemens Friedell, will make you laugh, others cry; but the underlying message is that when custodians or owners fail to recognize value in an object, often the object ends up in the most unlikely location. 

This talk focuses on a handful of objects that Moran’s has handled at auction: an oil painting left in the garage for the gardener to take, a half-burnt masterwork left behind in a storage unit, a brilliant landscape found at a yard sale for $10 and of course, the remarkable silver bowl that was overlooked and placed in a donation pile.  Jeff will share helpful tips and access to sources that will aid members in identifying valuable art, books and antiques.  Doors open at 6:30 for viewing the Museum's exhibition galleries and for a wine and cheese reception.

Members $10; Non-Members $15.  Reservations suggested; please call 626.577. 1660, ext. 10.