A Saturday in Pasadena ~ PMCA and Corita Kent

Maybe we are less than our dreams,

but that less would make us

more than some gods would dream of.

~Corita Kent

Pasadena Museum of California Art

A few weeks ago, I was hanging out with my friend Karen in Pasadena and chatting. All of the sudden she said, "I have free passes to the Pasadena Museum of California Art." Neither of us had been before and we looked at the clock and figured if we raced over there, we'd have a little more than an hour. So, out the door we went!

Love the moment,

and the energy of that moment

will spread beyond all boundaries.

~Corita Kent

Turns out the main exhibition was of Los Angeles artist, Corita Kent (1918-1986), who was also known as Sister Mary Corita. She was a sister of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, and rose to fame during the 60s and 70s, for her serigraphs. Her art is a reflections of her spirituality and her conviction as an activist, often making statements about social justice and what was happening in the world, at that time.

admirable exchange

1951

Someday is Now

The Art of Corita Kent

June 14, 2015-Novemeber 1, 2015

the lord is with thee

1952

This quick video explains a bit about her work.

christ suffering over jerusalem

1951

then feathers all

1958

All the alphabet, done in 1968

(from above piece)

YOUR

NAME

is 

A

golden 

bell

hung in

my HEART

I would

bReAK

my body 

to pieces

to CALL

you

ONCe By

youR

NAME.-

f is for food

1964

(from above piece)

is 

FOR

FOOD

FULL

FINE

FAVORITE

FLOWERS

FUN

FLAVOR

FREEDOM

FRANK

FOUNDATION

FOUNTAIN

FAITH

FRIENDS

help the big bird
1966

only you and i (2parts)
1969

The moment in which light comes

is God

Only you and I can help the sun 

rise each morning.

If we don't it may drench itself out in sorrow.

~Camus

 tiger
1965

if
1965

... Someday when we're dreaming

Deep in love, not a lot to say Then we will remember

Things we said today

Me, I'm just the lucky kind

Love to hear you say that love is luck

And though we may be blind

Love is here to sty and that's enough

~McCartney and Lennon

This is a great little documentary about her, with interviews with people who knew her. In this video I think you get a really good sense of her as an artist and educator. Go ahead and skip to 2:05, if you'd like. That's when it gets going!

new hope

1966

 (from above)

i love you much 

(most beautiful darling)

more than anyone on earth and I like you better

than everything in the sky

-sunlight and singing welcome your coming

although winter may be everywhere

with such a silence and such a darkness

no one can quite begin to guess

(except my life) the true time of year-

and if what calls itself a world 

should have the luck to hear singing

(or glimpse such sunlight as will leap higher than high

through gayer than gayer someone's heart at your each nearness)

everyone certainly would 

(my most beautiful darling

believe in

nothing but love

~e.e. cummings

be, of love, (a little) more careful,

than of everything

1967

 I think this one, above, was my favorite.

After the museum we went to El Cholo in Pasadena for margaritas and appetizers, then walked around a bit and wondered into Pasadena Antique Mall which had various vendors. One of the vendors had these amazing pieces of stone!

Amazing malachite, right? They were 450.00 and 500.00. The Labradorite below was breathtaking and was 240.00.

Heading back to the car, she wanted me to see the beautiful Pasadena City Hall building, with its Spanish Colonial/Mediterranean Revival architecture, which was completed in 1927. It was designed by Arthur Brown, Jr. and John Bakewell, Jr.

Life is a succession of moments.

To live each one is to succeed.

~Corita Kent

video footage of Sister Corita ...

To visit the PMCA (Pasadena Museum of California Art) website, click here.

For more about Corita Kent, you can visit the Corita Kent Art Center website here.

(It located in Los Angeles at the Immaculate Heart High School.)

Creativity belongs to the artist in each of us.

To create means to relate.

The root meaning of the word art 

is to fit together

and we all do this everyday.

Not all of us are painters but we are all artists.

Each time we fit things together

we are creating-whether it is a loaf of bread,

a child, or a day.

~Corita Kent

Blessings and light!