| Museums
The Norton Simon Museum is home to a superb art collection spanning the centuries and the world. Inside you will find works by Impressionists including Degas and Manet along with Indian and Southeast Asian Art. Most of the art exhibited is from the private collection of Norton Simon. Parking is free.
Our personal favorite is the Pasadena Museum of California Art on Union St. Art starts inside the garage on the street level where you will see graffiti art commissioned by the museum. (Free parking.) Upstairs in the gallery spaces are changing shows of California art from 1850 to the present. The shows are always very interesting and can be enjoyed even by the non-art lover. This museum, founded in 2002, is small and a visit to it can easily be combined with a visit to the Pacific Asia Museum in one afternoon.
The Huntington Library, Art Collections and Botanical Gardens is, technically, in San Marino. From Colorado Street in Pasadena, go south on Allen until it ends at the entrance to the Huntington. This former home and estate of Henry and Arabella Huntington is internationally famous -- with good reason. There is something for everyone here -- from old manuscripts to Blue Boy and Pinkie to a desert plant collection to the newest addition: a traditional Chinese garden built by craftsmen brought from China. It will take more than one afternoon to see it all. Theaters The Pasadena Playhouse opened in 1917 and plays are performed there to this day. The famed Pasadena Academy of Dramatic Arts, part of the playhouse, was attended by actors such as Dustin Hoffman, Mare Winningham, Gene Hackman and Diahann Carroll.
Classical Music From the earliest days of Pasadena in the 1870s, music was a part of the city's life. Today, Pasadena is home to the Pasadena Symphony which performs at the Pasadena Civic Auditorium. The Symphony and the California Philharmonic Orchestra have merged because of the current economy. Books
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