January 2026

Art From The Ashes: Second Reception

By Karen Bagnard
Posted: 08/26/2025

The summer heat did not deter the turnout for the second reception for the current exhibit of art at the Pasadena Village, “Art From The Ashes.” It was as well attended as the first, perhaps a bit more so. The first reception was primarily for Villagers; the second was primarily for the community at large. The emotional statements from the participating artists were deeply moving and captured the attention of everyone.

Joe McGowan, retired pastor of Altadena Community Church, which also burned in the fire, said, “This is an amazing exhibit!” Burned along with that church was an 8’x12’ mural, “Tree of Life,” by one of the participating artists.

This event featured more pieces of art on display, including a beautiful piece by Bridget Brewster. Bridget is not a member of the Village Artists Group and does not consider herself an artist; however, her emotional creation is lovely and underscores my belief that we are all artists… even when we don’t know it.

There were lots of new faces and new connections being made at our reception, including a wonderful interest in the Village itself. Joe McGowan and his partner, Rob Rosanio, plan to join when they are able to return to Altadena. They, too, lost their home along with their church.

“Art From The Ashes” will be on display through the month of September. The exhibits change quarterly, and the exhibit beginning in October will feature the work of Karla Field, Maureen Kellen-Taylor and Gary Smith.

An announcement was made that another exhibit in January 2026 will feature beautiful and whimsical sketches of the debris-removal dump trucks, created by Village artist Jane Brackman. Several people asked to be on our mailing list just to be sure to hear of that opening reception. We will be hosting two receptions for that exhibit as we want to invite the men and women who drove those dump trucks  Stay tuned.