Pacific Asia Museum

11am: Festival The Armand Hammer Museum and Cultural Center will host "L.A. Impacts II," a daylong family festival celebrating the positive impact local arts organizations have made on the community since the 1992 riots. Activities will include art workshops, a community arts resource fair, dance performances by Kim Eung Hwa Korean Dance Company, African doll-making, storytelling with David Prather and lectures by writers Riua Akinshegun ("Home Grown Africans") and Mike Davis ("City of Quartz").

"The Magic of Story," a new performance series at Raven's Flight Bookstore in North Hollywood, is made to order for families who may want to explore the pleasures of a form of entertainment that still stirs the imagination even though it's about as old as human speech: storytelling. The once-a-month series, spotlighting respected professional storytellers who are part of the Los Angeles Dreamshapers, kicks off Friday with performances by Leslie Perry, Nick Smith and Bill Howard.

Nearly all 400 of the Pacific Asia Museum's volunteers worked at a frenzied pace Thursday, preparing for the 10-day Pasadena visit of his Holiness the XIV Dalai Lama, Tibetan Buddhism's spiritual leader. Staff and volunteers laid carpet in the auditorium and hung flags and tapestries throughout the museum, said Paul Little, director of communications for the museum. "I believe we are even getting a large Thanka painting," a religious painting depicting reincarnations and deities, he said.

History is never about just one time, place or person. It's about how all factors interact to create a special story. This is particularly clear in the Pacific Asia Museum's new show, "Collectors' Choice: An Exhibition in Honor of Grace Nicholson." At a visual scan the ensemble--organized by executive director David Kamansky--suggests a look at historic Asian art.

On Saturday evening, for once, the elaborate gilding and murals in the Biltmore's Crystal room didn't outshine the crowd. Many of the women and several of the men attending the Festival of the Autumn Moon benefit for the Pacific Asia Museum were bedecked in Oriental splendor. "I only get to wear this about three hours a year," said Everett Palmer as he pointed out the five-clawed dragon woven amid the silver and gold threads of his Chinese robe. "It really shouldn't be worn at all.

This city certainly has a right to be proud of its architectural history. It is home to the largest concentration of Charles and Henry Greene's finely designed and built Craftsman houses. Among the most notable jewels in this "Crown of the Valley"--what Pasadena means in the language of the Chippewa Indians--is the Greenes' Gamble House. However, there are some other, unusual gems within the city limits. On North Los Robles Avenue stands what is today the Pacific Asia Museum.

Free Fun: The Pacific Asia Museum in Pasadena will open its galleries to the public free of charge and offer special events spotlighting Pacific Asian cultures in its "Family Free Days" program from 1 to 4 p.m. on the third Saturday of each month. A "Myanmar (Burma) Celebration" kicks off this year's program on Jan. 15 with a day of traditional Myanmar dance, music, an arts and crafts display and an arts workshop for children. Future "Family Free Days" include a "Korean Festival" on Feb.

An extensive 400-piece exhibition of Japanese lacquer dating from the 17th to early 20th centuries at the Pacific Asia Museum in Pasadena has been drawing the attention of a small coterie of international art dealers and collectors from Europe, Canada and Japan. Modestly titled "Japanese Lacquer From Southern California Collections," the recently opened exhibit features works from 12 collectors, including a variety of techniques and subject matter.