Member Events
At Home Series
Our popular At Home Series, reserved for Members only, combines presentations by outstanding speakers with a visit to architecturally unique homes. Enjoy one or more evenings of history, culture, food, and fun with fellow PMH Members. The programs begin at 6:30 pm and the cost per person is $30.
The 2012 At Home topics and locations will be announced in the spring. Below are descriptions of past At Home programs.
Grace Nicholson: Pasadena's Merchant Princess
Grace Nicholson (1877-1948) (Main Photo Collection, People-N)
We began our 2011 season with independent scholar Kathleen Peck, who described the life and entrepreneurial career of Grace Nicholson. Following her arrival in California early in the twentieth century, Nicholson began what proved to be a decades-long, successful enterprise as a dealer in Native American, Asian, and other works of art. Ms. Peck commented on Nicholson's longstanding business partnership with Carroll S. Hartman and discussed the construction of the unique Chinese temple building that would become her legacy to Pasadena, the city where she played a vitally important role for almost half a century. The program took place at an elegant 1922 Spanish style home in Altadena.
All That Jazz: Conversations with William Kraft
Altadena's William Kraft is an internationally renowned composer, conductor, timpanist/percussionist, and teacher. Given that Kraft is considered a Los Angeles classical musician thanks to his long association with the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra, it may come as something of a surprise that jazz, not classical, was Kraft's first musical focus. Members joined us for an evening of reminiscences with this extraordinary musician about Los Angeles' early jazz scene, the sweeping changes that took place in post-WWII jazz, and how Kraft has assimilated this intrinsically American musical genre into his own compositions. The program was held at a stunning English Tudor Revival home in Altadena.
The Eucalyptus in California: Changing the Landscape, Creating the Garden
As part of the research for her book, Images of the Pacific Rim: Australia and California, 1850-1935, art historian Erika Esau tracked the fascinating story of the arrival of the eucalyptus-an Australian native-in California. The tree became the center of an investment boom in the early 1900s as a source of wood, only to crash when gum-tree wood was deemed unsuitable for building. But its ornamental possibilities were taken up in the 1920s, as Spanish Style houses included gardens that emphasized the tree's sinuousness; its ubiquity along the state's highways led people to believe it was a native tree. Soon the silhouette of the eucalyptus-along with the palm tree-became emblematic of modern California. The program took place in a picturesque garden in Arcadia.
Craftsmanship: An Evening with Ann and Andre Chaves
Join us for an elegant evening as we follow the Chaves' to their new home. Ann will take us to her needlework studio on the second floor, where she collects antique arts and crafts textiles and designs contemporary embroidery pieces under the name Inglenook Textiles. Ann's historic collection was the subject of the Museum's 2008 exhibition
The Art and Craft of Textile Design, 1860-1920. Andre will guide us through his private studio where he is the lone designer and producer of limited edition letterpress books, booklets, ephemera, and posters under the name Clinker Press. The program took place at a breathtaking 1908 Tudor style mansion.
Photos from our reception for
Family Stories: Sharing a Community's Legacy
