Arts &
ENTERTAINMENT
C
reative and artistic spirits have long been attracted to Pasadena. Leading architects and designers synonymous with the American Arts & Crafts movement called Pasadena home in the late 1800s and early 1900s, and their lasting influence is showcased every fall during Craftsman Weekend.
Business magnates and industrialists like Norton Simon and Henry Huntington were among the prominent art collectors and benefactors whose legacies remain evident today in the community’s rich arts and cultural landscape. In 1922, the Pasadena Art Institute was founded by a group of local residents with a mission to create a museum and encourage fine art education. Today, their efforts live on in what is now the Norton Simon Museum, a gem of an art museum housed in a Frank Gehry designed building. This summer, the museum features a special exhibition, The Sweetness of Life: Three 18th-Century French Paintings from The Frick Collection, on display June 14-September 9. The Huntington Library, Art Collections and Botanical Gardens will kick off its centennial celebrations this September, just as the fascinating Project Blue Boy restoration comes to a close September 30. Since 1976, the ArtCenter College of Design has attracted contemporary artists and designers to Pasadena. Many have gone on to become globally recognized innovators, filmmakers, car designers, product designers and illustrators. Another leading educational institution—California Institute of Technology—has also made a distinctive mark on the Pasadena landscape through the lens of science and engineering. Part of Caltech, NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory leads the nation’s robotic exploration of the solar system—tours of their facilities are fascinating. The performing arts have an equally deep-rooted and prominent presence in Pasadena, between the Pasadena Playhouse established in 1917, the Pasadena Symphony founded in 1928 and the hundreds of feature films produced on location here. Today, countless actors and major Hollywood talents still call Pasadena home—and can even be spotted gracing local stages. Pasadena’s contemporary entertainment landscape is rounded out with year-round concerts featuring some of the biggest names in music as well as an action-packed spectator sports roster.
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PASADENA VISITORS GUIDE
