Message from cschumacher

[Anonymous]

Pacific Asia Museum
46 North Los Robles Avenue
Pasadena
pacificasiamuseum.org

For over four decades I have been intrigued by a house. Growing up, I was fascinated by a Pasadena house on the corner of Los Robles and Union. My museum assignment gave me a perfect opportunity to explore this gem as it became the Asia Pacific Museum in 1971, the only museum in Southern California devoted solely to Asia and the Pacific. The building has beautiful, traditional Chinese architecture with four walls surrounding a serene courtyard with a koi pond, rock sculpture and symbolic plants, such as the pine, bamboo and the plum tree. The two primary exhibits now showing are Himalayan Art in Practice (open until the end of May); and Jade, Silk and Porcelain (open until late 2007). Comprising part of the Tibetan exhibit is a room offering at least fifty different Buddhas. However, this exhibit not only covers the art used daily by monks but also includes everyday items used by the scholar and laypeople. I particularly liked a cotton worker’s apron painted with a very wrathful face. The Materials of Asian Art exhibit was devoted to explaining the Chinese artistic techniques used with these beautiful materials. Having always loved European tapestries, I was delighted with the Chinese version crafted with beautiful, brilliant hued silk. This museum is a very manageable size, easily covered in two hours. Being adjacent to Pasadena’s Old Town, there are good restaurants and shopping to make it a full and fun day outing.