Art Night

Topiaries, by Christie Beniston, is part of Pasadena's Rotating Art Exhibition program. 

I took this photo in February of 2012. 

Bellis reports that the art is still there at the corner of Walnut and Catalina.

Do your Friday night plans include Art Night Pasadena? If not, you must cancel whatever you've got going on and get yourself some free art!

Have you ever wondered what they're doing up in them thar hills at the Art Center College of Design? Maybe you'd like to catch a dance performance, or a nostalgic video about the Robinson brothers, Jackie and Mack. How often do you get to go to the Norton Simon for free, or see beneath the foundations of Room 13? Or maybe you'd like to check out a newer gallery like the Off-Ramp.

Music, theater, dance, art, more and more. You can't possibly see it all but you can try, with the help of free shuttles between venues.

One stop I hope you'll make is at the Pasadena Central Library, where I'll be meeting and greeting visitors along with other authors, artists and well-known storybook characters as we celebrate 130 years of reading in Pasadena. There are so many great Art Night activities for kids and the library is one of them, with family fun activities; musical performances, craft making, comics creators and more.

If you're not too worn out, don't forget the Art Walk on Saturday, when you can stop by Vroman's and see Debbi Swanson Patrick's Telling Images in Art on the Stairwell, with a reception from 1-3 pm.

While you're at it, Altadena has an important vote coming up on November 4th. Please vote yes on Measure A and keep the Altadena Libraries going!

Check Out

I mentioned in March that I'd ventured past the Pasadena border to check out a book from the Glendale Central Library. Yesterday I checked out Glendale's Pacific Park Branch at 501 S. Pacific Avenue. It's part of a community center, next door to a school. A lot goes on there.

I chose this branch because they had a copy of the book I wanted. I knew they had it because I checked the website before I went over there. You don't have to guess, then find out when you get there that they don't have it or someone checked it out. I love that. Plus the librarians were extremely friendly and helpful. It was a convenient, snappy visit.

There's a lot to love about any library. (I like inconvenient, dusty, slow-poke libraries as much as I do snappy ones.) The Pasadena and Glendale systems enhance each other by being one big system, at least in effect. I can use my Pasadena library card to check books out of the Glendale library. I can return a book I checked out in Glendale by taking it to a Pasadena branch, and vice versa. And if I can't get to Glendale to pick up a book they have, they'll deliver it to the Pasadena branch of my choice.

All of that's paid for with my tax money. It's a pretty good deal.

Arch History

The City of Pasadena was incorporated in 1886 and a library was built ASAP. The only fragment that remains of the original building is this arch that still stands at the corner of Raymond and Walnut. According to the plaque inside the arch, Pasadena's "first free public library" was erected in the 1880's. From 1890 to 1927, the library looked like this post card; the arch above is the one facing you at the center of the card in the link. The palm trees to the left in the post card must be the ones that rise above Raymond Avenue today, to the left of where I stood while taking the picture.

Soon the city's needs grew greater than the old building could accommodate, and the Central Library we use today was built in 1927 to replace this one. But it was the 1933 Long Beach Earthquake that rendered the original unsafe. Renovations were deemed too expensive, and the old library was finally razed in 1954. Imagine what it must have looked like after twenty years of waiting for its fate.

The dedication inside the archway says: "This entrance arch, restored in 1955 by the City of Pasadena, at (sic) request of the Pasadena Historical Society, is dedicated to the memory of Pasadena pioneers who in early and difficult days established here a public library as an expression of reverence for literature and art. Their spirit, symbolized in this remaining archway, lives on."

The city's Landmarks page explains why the monument is closed to the public. "Severely damaged in the 1994 Northridge Earthquake and subsequently fenced in."

However, that doesn't explain why this piece of Pasadena's heritage has been allowed to fall apart, brick by brick, in the 15 years since the Northridge quake. I asked our illustrious Public Information Officer, Ann Erdman, if any preservation efforts were underway. She told me it's "listed in our capital projects budget, but listed as unfunded at this time. It would require grant funding and/or private funding to do the restoration."

I understand that. The world is in a financial crisis, and despite Pasadena's reputation as a wealthy city, we're not exempt. Programs for jobs, kids, families--in other words, people--take precedence now.

In the meantime, our little arch falls apart. If my spirit were symbolized in a crumbling ruin I'd be an angry spirit indeed. How do you feel about this old arch? Is it worth preserving, even in these times?