USC Pacific Asia Museum

The USC Pacific Asia Museum is an art museum in Pasadena focused on the arts and material cultures of Asia and the Pacific Islands. The museum is housed in a Mediterranean/Mission Revival style building that dates to the 1920s.

Gallery spaces presenting ceramics, textiles, sculpture, and decorative arts from across Asia and the Pacific, along with rotating exhibitions and public programs. The site includes an interior courtyard and garden used for events and smaller outdoor displays.

The building was created in the 1920s by collector and dealer Grace Nicholson to display her collection and operate as a gallery; it later became the Pacific Asia Museum. The institution entered into an affiliation with the University of Southern California and operates as a university museum focused on scholarship and public programming.

Sited on Los Robles Avenue in Pasadena, the museum sits near Old Pasadena and is easy to reach from central Pasadena by car or local transit.

• Location: Located on Los Robles Avenue in Pasadena, adjacent to Old Pasadena and accessible from local transit and street parking.
• Scope and affiliation: Operates as an art museum focusing on the cultures of Asia and the Pacific and is affiliated with the University of Southern California.

What to See #

• Grace Nicholson building: The museum occupies a Mediterranean/Mission Revival style building constructed in the 1920s by collector Grace Nicholson to house her Asian and Native American art and antiquities.
• Galleries and collection: -gallery spaces used for rotating exhibitions, permanent collection displays of ceramics, textiles, sculpture and decorative arts from Asia and the Pacific, and educational program rooms.
• Courtyard and gardens: An interior courtyard and garden area that is used for events and outdoor displays, reflecting the building's original Mediterranean-influenced design.