[photo credit: California Art Club Instagram]
The Old Mill — the 1816 adobe gristmill tucked behind a stand of oak trees on Old Mill Road in San Marino — opens its galleries Thursday evening to “A Rite of Passage: The American Road Trip,” the latest exhibition in the California Art Club’s series marking California’s 175th anniversary and the United States’ 250th. The opening reception runs from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m.
The exhibition gathers paintings from CAC artists that capture the textures, colors, and moods encountered along a cross-country drive — from desert highways to small-town main streets, from forgotten gas stations to roadside diners. It is the third installment in the club’s Celebrating California’s 175th series, which has already featured “Echoes of Yosemite” at Saint Mary’s College Museum of Art and “The Golden State” at the Old Mill itself.
“With the California Art Club’s founding in 1909, we share a profound connection to the Golden State’s artistic identity,” Eire Hoke, exhibitions manager for the century-old organization, said in a January statement. “Our artists have been documenting California’s story for most of its history.”
The California Art Club, founded in 1909, is one of the nation’s oldest plein air organizations, with roots in the California Impressionist movement. The Old Mill — known formally as El Molino Viejo — is a designated California Historical Landmark and was the first commercial gristmill in Southern California. The exhibition runs through October 4.
Opening reception for “A Rite of Passage: The American Road Trip” will run on Thursday, May 14 from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. The Old Mill, 1120 Old Mill Road, San Marino. For more information, call (626) 583-9009 or visit californiaartclub.org. Admission is free.