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Armory Center For the Arts
Rating Details »
Categories: Museums, Art Galleries, Art Schools [Edit]
Neighborhood: Pasadena145 N Raymond Ave
Pasadena, CA 91103
(626) 792-5101
- Price Range:
-
$$
- Accepts Credit Cards:
- Yes
- Parking:
- Garage
- Good for Kids:
- Yes
- Wheelchair Accessible:
- Yes
7 reviews for Armory Center For the Arts
Excellent place for kids to dive into art! My son takes art classes here and absolutely love it! The teachers are amazing...and the work space is large, clean, and has a wonderful creative vibe.
He starts ceramics class for the fall this Tuesday...and can hardly wait:)
***Also, I had his last birthday party here and the kids all had so much fun making volcanoes and then making them erupt! It was totally awesome and memorable.
This arts center pretents to offer art classes for young children but in fact it is more a fundraiser then that they are really aware of the needs of preschoolers and school-age kids. Their strenght is more in the offering of 1,5 h babysitting service -which is tempting to a lot of parents- then a real in-depth program. In 1,5 h you can build up a line of impression to expression with stories, acting, singing, dancing and experimenting with materials etc. But very often children just leave the shiny room with only 1 piece of art. Have you ever seen a child being able to concentrate for an hour on 1 art piece? How are these people filling up the time then? Well, just try to attend one class and you will be annoyed after a few minutes: teachers are really taking their time to sort out pencils and crayons, dividing stuff etc. just to fill up that looooong 1,5 hour. They should hire a skilled child development specialist just to teach teachers building up a real developmental line from impresion to expression to help children really experience art and work on their own project. Sad this institute can get away with it. Of course, there are some good teachers! But parents, in Pasadena you can find better!
I go way back with these guys. I think I was still in high school or just out of high school when I took my first class here.
It was a Letterpress class. They have these gigantic old school presses that are about 100 years old. They teach you how to set up type, the old school type. They're these gigantic fonts that have to be set backwards in order for the roller to print them right side up--yes, it's a bit technical, tedious, etc...
After I finished up with Letterpress, I dove into Life Drawing. Again, you learn to draw from real naked models--male/female. This was also a very cool class with a great instructor. I remember lunch was always on her from Il Fornaio.-very cool.
It looks like I will be re-visiting these guys within the next few weeks, because they have a very cheap beginners/intermediate Photoshop class.
I'll report back if it's any good.
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Short Version: Great place for art with the kids.
Long Version: I went on a trip with a bunch of elementary-aged kids and this place was the best. They take the kids on a tour of the current exhibit, carefully covering up works that might be too much for their young sensibilities, and then they have a workspace where the museum employees actually lead them in creating an art project. It was a great experience all around! The staff is all very relaxed yet professional and friendly, the exhibit itself was really interesting and engaging, and the kids were all happy to be there. If you have some little ones, you might want to consider bringing them here for a little art and culture. Plus, there's a park across the street where you can have a picnic afterward. Check it out.
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I dropped by for last Saturday's gallery opening on the invitation of a friend who works here. There were two separate shows opening - one in the main gallery space (Beyond Image: Photography in Contemporary Art), and one up on the mezzanine level (Medical/Arts: A NewTown Presentation).
The curator set the pieces up sensibly, and the rooms were well-utilized for what they were displaying. I had a chance to speak with a couple of the creators about their pieces, and apparently the Armory selected unusually down-to-earth artists for these shows.
Also offered are a number of art classes for all ages. This seems like it would be a fun place to spend some time in the studio, and the costs seem to be reasonable.
Addendum: I like to tell myself that I don't care about celebrities, but I have to admit that I got a little bit excited when John C. Reilly and his wife walked into Saturday's opening. "He looks like he's probably about 6'2" if you take away his hair. Hey, he's drinking the same wine I am! Should I say hi? No, I should leave him alone. I'm such a goober."
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I think this is next to a wine shop. I thought the classroom spaces were charming. I was here for the Calarts MFA show. Their satellite location looks like a warehouse. There was a darkroom that artists can pay to use.
Yay!
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