ArtNight Pasadena Oct. 8

Would you like to sample cool comic strips or old masterpieces? Sound art or classical music? Modern Chinese design or graffiti art?

ArtNight Pasadena on Friday, Oct. 8, from 6 to 10 p.m. will have something for every taste when 14 of the community’s most prominent arts and culture institutions open their doors for free.

Visitors also have a choice in transportation: Metro Gold Line, walking, bicycling tour or free shuttle buses available at each of the venues.

For more information call the ArtNight Pasadena Hotline at (626) 744-7887 or visit www.artnightpasadena.org. For accessibility information or written materials in alternative formats, call (626) 744-7249. To join ArtNight bicycle tours visit www.cicle.org.

ArtNight Pasadena kicks off Pasadena ArtWeekend, a three-day, six-event, citywide arts festival. Saturday’s offerings include Art of Food from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on South Lake Avenue, ArtHeritage parade from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. beginning at Los Robles Avenue and Howard Street and ending at La Pintoresca Park, ArtWalk from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. in the Playhouse District and ArtRhythm from 5 to 9 p.m. at Paseo Colorado. On Sunday, ArtPerformance will take place at the Levitt Pavilion in Old Pasadena. For more information visit www.PasadenaArtWeekend.com or call (626) 795-9311.

ArtNight Pasadena’s featured exhibitions and performances include:

Alliance Française de Pasadena
34 E. Union, Kendall Alley
“Paris,” an art exhibit by the recognized Los Angeles-based painter Roberto Gutierrez whose black-and-white canvases and gray watercolors give a nostalgic feel to the City of Lights.

Armory Center for the Arts
145 N. Raymond Ave.
“Steve Roden: In Between, A 20 Year Survey,” the first survey of the artist’s work in all its divergent forms, including sound. Plus, NewTown’s “Convergences” presents 11 artists who integrate digital media, sculpture and installation.

Art Center College of Design
1700 Lida St.
“ENERGY,” an exhibition where left brain and right brain intersect and natural forces can be seen through the prisms of science, art and history. Also, recent work in the student gallery.

Kidspace Children’s Museum
480 N. Arroyo Blvd.
Lineage Dance, exploring the famous Kidspace Ant Climber with a playful look from a bug’s point of view in a site-specific dance. Also, art projects exploring the elements of the earth, and family dance time.

Lineage Performing Arts Center
89 S. Fair Oaks Ave.
Nonstop live music and contemporary dance performances, including Lineage Dance’s latest piece, “Defining Moments.”

Norton Simon Museum of Art
411 W. Colorado Blvd.
Two exhibitions, “Hiroshige: Visions of Japan” and “Not Wanting to Say Anything About Marcel: An Artwork by John Cage,” plus centuries of masterpieces on permanent view.

One Colorado
North side of Colorado Boulevard between Union, Fair Oaks and DeLacey.
“Three Founts,” a site-specific, fanciful fountain in the courtyard, drawn from Pasadena history by artist Lynn Aldrich. Also, new Artist in Residence, Carly Steward, in “The Artist Studio.”

Pacific Asia Museum
46 N. Los Robles Ave.
“China Modern: Designing Popular Culture 1910-1970,” an exhibition that demonstrates how different political and social ideas are transmitted via everyday products, advertising and graphic design.

Pasadena City College
1570 E. Colorado Blvd.
Pasadena’s hidden treasure of contemporary art at PCC’s Shatford Library: 24 original works from the Artist in Residence program, 1987-2010. Plus, in the College Art Gallery, an exhibition of work by influential graphic artist Edward Fella.

Pasadena Museum of California Art
490 E. Union St.
Three exhibitions: “CDB 2010: Action/Reaction,” showcasing design from California; “Desire: Six Los Angeles Artists,” featuring contemporary art about desire; and an installation by artist Megan Geckler in the Project Room.

Pasadena Museum of History
470 W. Walnut St.
“Pasadena Patron: The Life & Legacy of Eva Scott Fenyes,” the world of art, live music and dance from Pasadena’s Gilded Age, and one of early Pasadena’s most influential women.

Pasadena Central Library
285 E. Walnut St.
“Art of the Book” as seen through graphic novels, paintings, photographs, and theatrical and musical performances, and craft-making. Also, “The Word: Between the Lines,” works by Pasadena Society of Artists members.

Pasadena Symphony
Ambassador Auditorium
131 S. St. John Ave.
Harpist Alison Bjorkedal and others create an intimate musical preview of the 2010/11 season at the Pasadena Symphony’s new home, Ambassador Auditorium. Also, venue tours and special ticket offers.

Shumei Arts Council
2430 E. Colorado Blvd.
“The Dalai Lama and His People,” photography and book signing by Don Farber. Also, Makoto Taiko drumming at 6:30, 7:30, 8:30 and 9:30 p.m.

ArtNight Pasadena is an ongoing partnership among the cultural institutions and the Cultural Affairs Division of the city of Pasadena. Additional support is provided by the Pasadena Transportation Department. The event is sponsored by the Pasadena Arts & Culture Commission.