A Short History of ACE & PSA

The Pasadena Society of Artists began the Artist’s Choice Exhibitions in 2009, with an inaugural show which featured 110 artworks presented by 48 members. Each member was assigned ten linear feet of wall space and allowed to install as many pieces as they desired within that space. Three-dimensional artists were assigned a location in the gallery space or a certain number of pedestals. The exhibition was presented at Citibank Art Space in Silver Lake.

How does an “Artist’s Choice” exhibition work, you ask? Simply put, an “Artist’s Choice” exhibition allows the artist to self-jury their artwork and select the best pieces created within a certain time period. This type of exhibition opportunity has proven to be very popular with the membership since all entered artwork is accepted.

Over the years, PSA’s Artist’s Choice Exhibitions have been presented in a variety of other venues including The Women’s City Club of Pasadena, Whites Fine Art Gallery in Montrose, the Betsy Lueke Creative Arts Center in Burbank, Keystone Gallery in Los Angeles, and the Pasadena Central Library in Pasadena.

The 2022 Artist’s Choice Exhibition carries on this tradition. It is the ninth in the series and will be presented online for a worldwide audience and in gallery. Forty-two members are presenting 73 artworks, many never seen in public until now. This is truly a diverse exhibition in subject matter, media and approach. Enjoy your journey through the artwork.

A Short History of the Pasadena Society of Artists

The Pasadena Society of Artists came into being in early 1925. Benjamin C. Brown, the “dean of Pasadena painters,” sent out a notice to local painters to discuss the formation of a society for local artists. In addition to Mr. Brown, attending this meeting were Edward B. Butler, Maud Daggett, Antoinette De Forest Merwin, Louis Hovey Sharp, F. Carl Smith, Orrin A. White, Wallace LeRoy De Wolff, and Frederick A. Zimmerman. The consensus was that the Pasadena Society of Artists should be formed. Seven more artists then joined PSA to form the founding charter members. They were Herbert V. B. Acker, F. Tolles Chamberlin, Alson S. Clark, John “Jack” Frost, Jean Mannheim, Katherine B. Stetson and Marion Wachtel.

It has been suggested that PSA was formed out of the desire of the founders to exhibit their contemporary work, which was not acceptable in exhibitions of the California Art Club. The first Annual Juried Exhibition was presented in April 1925 at the Pasadena Art Institute located in Carmelita Park, now the site of the Norton Simon Art Museum. The PSA founders stated that “the standard will be high and only work of real merit will be accepted.” Every year since 1925 PSA has presented an Annual Juried Exhibition as part of arobust exhibition schedule.

PSA continues to adhere to the guiding statement of the founders by accepting new members by juried submission.

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