Looking for Something to Do? Free Events April 29 to May 5

Here are events scheduled Saturday, April 29, to Friday, May 5.

All events are free, so take a look -- and don't you dare say there's nothing to do in Pasadena!

The 17th annual Caltech Jazz Festival Saturday, April 29, from 1 to 6 p.m. outdoors at the Gates Annex (#26 on this map) will feature the Caltech Jazz Band, Night Blooming Jazzmen, Adam Hersh Project and the San Gabriel 7 with special guest Dawn Bishop.

A special program titled Echoes of a Past Time: The History of Mexican American Baseball in East L.A. Saturday, April 29, at 2 p.m. at Allendale Branch Library will feature Dr. Richard Santillan, professor emeritus of ethnic studies at Cal Poly Pomona and co-author of the book "Mexican American Baseball in East Los Angeles"; and Tomas Benitez, advisor to the Latino Baseball History Project.

Tuesday Musicale of Pasadena presents Ignaz Lachner's Trio for Violin, Viola and Piano, Darius Milaud's Sonata for Flute, Oboe and Piano, Franz Schubert's Impromptus for Piano Solo and more Tuesday, May 2, at 12:30 p.m. in the Donald R. Wright Auditorium at Central Library.

The first Tuesday of every month is Free Family Night at Kidspace Children's Museum. On Tuesday, May 2, from 4 to 8 p.m. make your own leis to celebrate Lei Day in the Hawaiian Islands and learn about the distinct and fascinating culture of each island through the leis that represent them. Don't miss the hula dance performance at 6 p.m. in the Stone Hollow Amphitheater.

Agnes Székely Schwartz on violin, accompanied by Sonia Lee on piano, will perform Wednesday, May 3, from 12:10 to 12:40 p.m. for the popular Music at Noon recital series at Pasadena Presbyterian Church.

"The Unsinkable Molly Brown" (1964, NR) starring Debbie Reynolds and Harve Presnell will be shown Wednesday, May 3, at 1 p.m. in the Donald R. Wright Auditorium at Central Library. Born and raised in poverty, Molly Brown maneuvers her way into Denver high society after she marries an overnight millionaire, then travels to Europe to become cultured and returns on the Titanic. The beloved musical is based on true events. 

"Arrival" (2016, PG-13) starring Amy Adams and Jeremy Renner will be shown Friday, May 5, at 1 p.m. in the Scott Pavilion at the Pasadena Senior Center. When 12 mysterious spacecraft appear around the world, an elite team led by a linguistics professor is tasked with interpreting the language of the alien visitors and racing against time to prevent the possible end of humanity, You do not have to be a member of the Pasadena Senior Center to attend.

The first Friday (and third Thursday) of every month is Free Admission Day at the Pasadena Museum of California Art. On Friday, May 5, from noon to 5 p.m. enjoy the current exhibitions and everything else the museum has to offer. 

The first Friday of every month is Free Admission Night at the Norton Simon Museum. On Friday, May 5, from 5 to 8 p.m. enjoy the current exhibitions Maven of Modernism: Galka Scheyer in California, Serial Flirtations: Rotari's Muses and everything else the museum has to offer.

The findings of NASA's 20-year Cassini Mission have revolutionized our understanding of Saturn, its complex rings, the amazing assortment of moons and the planet's dynamic magnetic environment. A special program titled Going Out in a Blaze of Glory: Cassini Science Highlights and Grand Finale Friday, May 5, at 7 p.m. in the Vosloh Forum (Building UU on this map) at Pasadena City College will feature Dr. Earl H. Maize, manager of the Cassini Project, and Dr. Linda Spilker, the Cassini Project scientist. Using plenty of visuals, they will highlight recent science discoveries and the upcoming excitement during Cassini's final orbits. 

Photo credits: Caltech, Baseball Reliquary, Emilie Hensel,  Bibliothèque Nationale de France, Historisches Museum der Stadt Wien, Lei Orders, Agnes Székely Schwartz, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM), Paramount Pictures, Pasadena Museum of California Art, Norton Simon Museum, NASA.

Looking for Something to Do? Free Events April 22 to 28

Here are events scheduled Saturday, April 22, to Friday, April 28.

All events are free, so take a look -- and don't you dare say there's nothing to do in Pasadena!

Enjoy free food, interactive games, class demonstrations and much more at the Jump Into Summer fair Saturday, April 22, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Victory Park where you'll learn about fun, free and low-cost activities and programs planned this summer by the City of Pasadena for children, teens and families. 

Pasadena Walking Tours and Thirty Days for the Earth present a botanical exploration of our city during two guided walks this weekend to explore many of the flowers, plants and trees that help define our city as well as stories about the people who helped shape our landscape and lived their lives within it. On Saturday, April 22, from 2 to 4 p.m. the first tour will begin and end at Throop Unitarian Universalist Church; on Sunday, April 23, from 4 to 6 p.m. the second tour will begin and end at Arlington Garden.

See more than 140 of the finest vintage and modern Ferraris spanning three blocks on Colorado Boulevard between Raymond and Pasadena avenues in Old Pasadena during Concorso Ferrari Sunday, April 23, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. 

The Caltech Symphony will perform works by Mozart, Shostakovich, Rachmaninoff, Beethoven and Strauss Sunday, April 23, at 3:30 p.m. in Ramo Auditorium at Caltech's Baxter Hall (#77 on this map). 

Children ages 2 to 5, accompanied by caregivers, will trace their face silhouettes into portraits and use colorful crayons and markers to depict thoughts and feelings, then have the books "All About Faces" and "Dragons Love Tacos' read to them Wednesday, April 26, from 10:30 to 11:30 p.m. at the Pasadena Museum of California Art.

The Esslinger-Wass Duo will perform classical works for flute and piano Wednesday, April 26, from 12:10 to 12:40 p.m. for the popular Music at Noon recital series at Pasadena Presbyterian Church.

"Sense and Sensibility" (1995, PG) starring Emma Thompson and Kate Winslet will be shown Wednesday, April 26, at 1 p.m. in the Donald R. Wright Auditorium at Central Library. Mrs. Dashwood and her daughters move into a cottage after being left destitute after Mr. Dashwood's death, while the sensible eldest daughter tries to keep things running smoothly in spite of her free-spirited sister's efforts to the contrary. Based on the novel by Jane Austen.

The award-winning Fuoco String Quartet will perform works by Beethoven, Mendelssohn and Shostakovich Wednesday, April 26, at 7:30 p.m. in Barrett Hall at the Pasadena Conservatory of Music. While the concert is free, tickets are required.

In celebration of National Poetry Month, Pasadena Rose Poets Marcia Arrieta, Teresa Mei Chuc, Mel Donalson, Hazel Harrison and Gerda Govine will read poems from local pioneers of poetry Thursday, April 27, at 7 p.m. in Studio on 4th at Central Library.

Photo credits: City of Pasadena, Karen Winters, Ferrari Beverly Hills, Caltech, This Lovely Home, Esslinger-Wass Duo, Columbia Pictures Corporation, Pasadena Conservatory of Music, Free Library of Philadelphia.

This Anniversary Gets Me All Chalked Up

How can it be that the very first Pasadena Chalk Festival, produced by the Light Bringer Project, will soon have its 25th anniversary?

The anniversary is commemorated with an exhibition at the Pasadena Museum of History that will run through Aug. 13. More about that in a minute.

In the beginning, the two-day annual event was called Chalk It Up and was in Centennial Square in front of Pasadena City Hall.

The name changed over time:

Chalk It Up
Chalk on the Walk
Absolut Chalk
Pasadena Chalk Festival.

The Pasadena Chalk Festival even made it to the Guinness Book of World Records in 2010 when it broke the record -- with a Guinness official keeping track onsite -- for the world's "Largest Display of Chalk Pavement Art," a record that holds to this day.

You'll find a more in-depth history here.

Since 2004 it has been staged at Paseo Colorado, where it meanders along the upper and lower levels every Fathers Day weekend. There typically are 600 muralists who use more than 25,000 pieces of chalk and attract more than 100,000 visitors over the course of two days.

I went to a community reception Sunday, April 9, for the Pasadena Museum of History exhibition "Art in the Street: 25 Years of the Pasadena Chalk Festival."

It features photos of chalk art through the years, TV and print news coverage, a typical chalk muralist's space at the festival, all kinds of memorabilia and much more, including a couple of interactive opportunities.

Here are Light Bringer Project brass Tom Coston and Paddy Hurley (and yours truly) at the entrance to the exhibition. That's all chalk art you see in the entry archway (thanks to Laura Verlaque for the photo):

:

Kavita Sharma and Tom watching KTLA-TV coverage of the Pasadena Chalk Festival over the years.

A full house of visitors:

If you stand in the just the right spot and place your hands just so, ask someone to take your photo holding the rose that actually is on the floor and was created by a chalk artist especially for this exhibition.

Photographer extraordinaire Brian Biery shot most (if not all) of the photos that grace the walls of the gallery. He can always be found at the Pasadena Chalk Festival, often standing on a ladder to get the perfect overhead shots of the giant chalk murals. Some of whimsical. some are likenesses of celebrities, some are copies of masterpieces. I'll just show you three:

There are several display cases filled with memorabilia. Here is one:

My granddaughter Kimberly, who lives in San Diego County, volunteered two years in a row at the chalk festival when it was Absolut Chalk in front of City Hall. Her name is included on a special list of thank-yous for people who went above and beyond over the years. (That's Tom's finger pointing at her name.)

Come see the exhibition for yourself! What I've shown you here is just a very small sampling of what you'll find. 

The 2017 Pasadena Chalk Festival is scheduled Saturday and Sunday, June 17 and 18 (Fathers Day weekend) from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.

Looking for Something to Do? Free Events April 15 to 21

Here are events scheduled Saturday, April 15, to Friday, April 21.

All events are free, so take a look -- and don't you dare say there's nothing to do in Pasadena!

The British are coming! The British are coming! The Pasadena Croquet Club will host England's national croquet team Saturday, April 15, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. at Central Park where the Brits will play a series of exhibition games. Come watch them display their world-class skills! After Pasadena, they will compete against national teams from the U.S., Australia and New Zealand in the MacRobertson International Shield in Rancho Mirage. (What the Ryder Cup is to golf and the Davis Cup is to tennis, the MacRobertson International Shield is to croquet.)

Children 12 and younger will have an egg-cellent time when they hippity-hop to the third annual Pasadena Egg Bowl at the Rose Bowl Stadium Saturday, April 15, from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. featuring Pasadena's largest Easter egg hunt plus bunny ear contests, arts and crafts, face painting, puppet shows, live entertainment and much more. Don't forget to bring your basket! (A special Bunny Brunch is fee-based.)

The Caltech Chamber Singers will perform Saturday, April 15, at 7:30 p.m. in Dabney Lounge at Caltech's Dabney Hall (#40 on this map). Works will include English madrigals by Morley, Farmer and Bennet, selections from "Byrd Moss for Five Voices," quartets by Rossini, German part songs by Mendelssohn, Schumann and Brahms, and folk song arrangements and solos. 

An LA Opera community educator will take participants through Giacomo Puccini's dramatic and melodic opera "Tosca" Monday, April 17, at 1 p.m. in the Scott Pavilion at the Pasadena Senior Center. The beloved opera, a tale of love, lust, loyalty and political intrigue, is based on historic figures in 1800 when control of Rome was threatened by Napoleon's invading armies. You do not have to be a member of the Pasadena Senior Center to attend.

"Pride and Prejudice" (1940, NR) starring Greer Garson and Laurence Olivier will be shown Wednesday, April 19, at 1 p.m. in the Donald R. Wright Auditorium at Central Library.  It's the timeless, classic story of Lizzie Bennett, Mr. Darcy and early 19th century English manners and expectations. Mr. and Mrs. Bennett begin seeking out suitably wealthy husbands for their five daughters, including Lizzie, but pride, prejudice and misunderstandings lead to complications. The film is based on Jane Austen's beloved novel. 

Children, teens and families are invited to celebrate Earth Day Thursday, April 20, at 3:30 p.m. at Hill Avenue Branch Library with stories about the beauty of plants and animals, then create your vision of how Earth looks from space. Take home seeds to plant in your garden. All materials will be provided. 

The third Thursday (and first Friday) of every month is Free Admission Day at the Pasadena Museum of California Art. On Thursday, April 20, from 5 to 8 p.m., enjoy the current exhibitions and everything else the museum has to offer, including all-levels yoga in the midst of all that beautiful art! 

"Arsenic and Old Lace" (1944, NR) starring Cary Grant and Raymond Massey will be shown Friday, April 21, at 1 p.m. in the Scott Pavilion at the Pasadena Senior Center. In this quirky comedy, a man learns on his wedding day that his beloved maiden aunts are homicidal maniacs and that insanity runs in the family. You do not have to be a member of the Pasadena Senior Center to attend.

Photo credits: CBS, City of Pasadena, Caltech, Robert & Pearl Seymore Center, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM), Round the Rock, Pasadena Museum of California Art, Warner Bros.

Looking for Something to Do? Free Events April 8 to 14

Here are events scheduled Saturday, April 8, to Friday, April 14.

All events are free, so take a look -- and don't you dare say there's nothing to do in Pasadena!

Take a walking tour to see great examples of drought-tolerant gardens and landscaping Saturday, April 8, from 9 to 11 a.m. Meet in the parking lot at Washington Park. The tour will include homes in the park neighborhood as well as Bungalow Heaven and more.

The opening reception for two new exhibitions at the Pasadena Museum of History -- "Art in the Street: 25 Years of the Pasadena Chalk Festival" and "Getting There: Railroad Inspired Artistry" -- is open to the community Sunday, April 9, from 1 to 4 p.m. See the exhibitions for free and don't miss a discussion with the curators (from Light Bringer Project and Mount Lowe Preservation Society) at 2:30 p.m. 

Children and families will love Arty Loon's variety show with magic, juggling and silly fun Monday, April 10, at 1:30 p.m. at San Rafael Branch Library.

"Becoming Jane" (2007, PG) starring Anne Hathaway and James McAvoy will be shown Wednesday, April 12, at 1 p.m. in the Donald R. Wright Auditorium at Central Library. Years before her books made her famous, a young Jane Austen has a romance with a charming Irish rogue. 

Teens 14+ are invited to a screening of "The Perks of Being a Wallflower" (2012, PG-13) starring Logan Lerman and Emma Watson Wednesday, April 12, from 5 to 8 p.m. in Studio on 4th at Central Library. Two high school seniors take an introverted freshman under their wings and introduce him to the real world. Popcorn and pizza will be provided.

The Victorian age haunted post-war Britain in the physical remains of homelessness and poverty, the popularity of 19th century bric-a-brac and the aesthetics of British film noir. On Thursday, April 13, at 7 p.m. in Caltech's Dabney Lounge at Dabney Hall (#40 on this map), Dr. Linda Nead, professor of art history at the University of London, will draw on a wide range of art and culture during a discussion titled Dickens Noir: The Persistence of Victorianism in Post-War British Art and Culture.

"Jackie" (2016, R) starring Natalie Portman and Peter Sarsgaard will be shown Friday, April 14, at 1 p.m. in the Scott Pavilion at the Pasadena Senior Center. First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy fights through grief and trauma to regain her faith, console her children and define the legacy of President John F. Kennedy after his assassination. You do not have to be a member of the Pasadena Senior Center to attend.

Photo credits: Gloria Ing & Team, Brian Biery, Yoko Mazza, Arty Loon Show, HanWay Films, Summit Entertainment, Cineguild, Fox Searchlight Pictures.