Event Calendar
December 8, 2022 | 7PM
South Orange Grove Boulevard: History of a Pasadena Institution
Admission: General: $15 | PMH Members: $10
Join PMH Archivist and historian, Kirk Myers for this illustrated presentation on the history of South Orange Grove Boulevard. Originally laid out in 1874 as the main avenue of Pasadena, South Orange Grove has had a storied existence. After the original frame homes were replaced by mansions, the Los Angeles Times praised it in 1916 as “the most beautiful residence street in the world lined with the homes of some of the country’s wealthiest men and women.” However, by the 1940s, the area was in decline, and a zoning change in 1948 allowed a transition to apartments and condominiums. Come and explore the storied history of this Pasadena Institution.
Presentation will begin at 7:00 pm; PMH Galleries will be open for viewing at 6:00 pm.
Space is limited; advance reservations required.
Please Note: Masks are required for this program.
December 9, 2022 | 11AM
Curator's Tour: Starting Anew: Transforming Pasadena, 1890-1930.
Admission: General: $15 | PMH Members: $10
January 6, 2022 | 11AM
Curator's Tour: Starting Anew: Transforming Pasadena, 1890-1930.
Admission: General: $15 | PMH Members: $10
January 8, 2023
11AM-12:30PM
Exclusive Spotlight Tours: The Fenyes Legacy
Admission: General: $25 | PMH Members: $20
Tuesday, January 24, 2023 | 7:00 pm
Artists and Craftsmen Lecture Series Part 1 of 2: Artists, Bohemians & Craftsmen of the Arroyo
Admission: General: $15 | PMH Members: $10
Around the turn of the 20th century, Pasadena attracted many artists and craftsmen. Eventually, the Crown City became synonymous with arts and crafts movements and artistic organizations. Join exhibition curator and art historian Julia Long for this illustrated two-part lecture series and learn about these amazing artists and their crafts.
The Arroyo Seco and the winding streets overlooking it were a hotbed of creative activity in the early 20th century, enticing many artists, bohemians, and craftspeople. Due to the talents of people like tilemaker Ernest Batchelder, printmaker Frances Gearhart, and architects Charles and Henry Greene, Pasadena became one of the centers of the American Arts & Crafts movement (one of only three in the country!) Learn about Pasadena’s role in cultivating this movement and the people whose skills - as well as their varied interests in history and multicultural sources of inspiration - made it successful.
February 3, 2023 | 11AM
Curator's Tour: Starting Anew: Transforming Pasadena, 1890-1930.
Admission: General: $15 | PMH Members: $10
Tuesday, February 7, 2023 | 7PM
Artists and Craftsmen Lecture Series Part 2 of 2: Art & Artists of Pasadena
Admission: General: $15 | PMH Members: $10
Around the turn of the 20th century, Pasadena attracted many artists and craftsmen. Eventually, the Crown City became synonymous with arts and crafts movements and artistic organizations. Join exhibition curator and art historian Julia Long for this illustrated two-part lecture series and learn about these amazing artists and their crafts.
From its early days, many artists moved to Pasadena, motivated by its quality of light and the picturesque scenery of the San Gabriel mountains and the Arroyo Seco. By the late 19th century, Pasadena’s citizens had already started to establish artists’ collectives, salons, and training centers, and talented painters and sculptors quickly found patrons and eager buyers for their art. Learn about Pasadena’s artists - both homegrown and transplants from all over the world, working in every type of media from watercolor to block prints, plein air painting to sculpture - as well as the organizations and schools that helped to cultivate and expand their roles in a growing society.
February 12, 2023
11AM-12:30PM
Exclusive Spotlight Tours: The Fenyes Legacy
Admission: General: $25 | PMH Members: $20
Sunday, March 5, 2023 | 2PM
Location: Shakespeare Club of Pasadena, 171 South Grand Avenue, Pasadena, CA 91105. Free parking in the Shakespeare Club lot and on the street.
Tea with Louisa May Alcott
Admission: General: $25 | PMH & Shakespeare Club Members: $20
Beloved American author Louisa May Alcott (1832-1888) will return to life in a special Living History presentation. Performance artist, author, and educator Valerie Weich will portray Alcott, whose novels Little Women and its sequels continue to win new generations of fans. As the famed author, Weich will speak on Alcott’s views about her fame, as well as discuss women’s inequality and the struggle for women's rights, her experience as a Civil War nurse, her father's progressive ideas on education and transcendental philosophy.
This program is presented by Pasadena Museum of History. Funding is generously provided by the Living History Centre Fund.
About the Performer
Valerie Weich made her debut as Louisa May Alcott for Pasadena Museum of History in April 2003, in an original, one-woman presentation, The Late Louisa May. She subsequently developed the performance into an educational outreach program (Literary Lives) and has since performed for more than 8,000 students in the Glendale, Pasadena, Burbank, Alhambra, and Los Angeles Unified School Districts. She has also made numerous appearances in a variety of venues for audiences of all ages.
Weich has also portrayed Pasadena arts patron Eva Scott Fenyes (1849-1930) for PMH and is developing a one-woman presentation, Frankenstein’s Mother: An Evening with Mary Shelley. She curated her first art exhibition at the South Pasadena Public Library in October 2018, Frankenstein Meets Little Women: A Monster Mash that included eleven artists celebrating the 200th anniversary of Frankenstein and the 150th anniversary of Little Women.
A member of the Horror Writers Association (HWA), Weich was a Bram Stoker Award® nominee in the Short Non-Fiction category in 2020. Her article titled “Lord Byron’s Whipping Boy: Dr. John William Polidori and the 200th Anniversary of The Vampyre” was published in Famous Monsters of Filmland, No. 291 (October 2019). She was also a nominee for a Rondo Hatton Classic Horror Award.
