Pasadena Museum of California Art

Pasadena is soooo SoCal, so it makes sense that this city would be the home to a museum focused solely on California art. And with Southern California being so shaped and influenced by cars, what could be more natural than to have a garage with artwork designed by California-grown street artist Kenny Scharf!

Opened in 2002 and founded by long-time Pasadena residents and art collectors Robert and Arlene Oltman, the Pasadena Museum of California Art is one of the most vital and important museums in the U.S., with world class exhibitions staged in an intimate setting. By focusing entirely on California artists, the PMCA explores and clarifies the contributions of the state’s artists, architects, and designers in a national and international context from 1850 to the present.

California’s geography and climate are a potent lure and influence as is our mix of cultures, and the PMCA’s exhibitions delve into the cultural dynamics and influences unique to California that have shaped and defined art in all media. From landscapes to Abstract Expressionism and Cool School; from graffiti art and graphic text design to the Los Angeles River and the  NASA’s Juno Mission to Jupiter; from the Clayton Brothers and Mark Ryden’s Creatrix to a five decade retrospective of Sam Francis (the current exhibition on view through January 5, 2014), as well as presenting juried exhibitions from Pasadena City College art students and the California Art Club, the Pasadena Museum of California Art embraces and enhances California’s artistic impulses and achievements.

Clayton Brothers, Joy Jelly Jump Junk (from the series Jumbo Fruit)