USC Pacific Asia Museum [photo credit: Visit Pasadena]
“Mythical Creatures: The Stories We Carry,” a museum-wide installation at the USC Pacific Asia Museum, has transformed all 12 of the building’s rooms into an immersive journey through the immigrant experience, told through pan-Asian mythology. Conceived by Los Angeles-based Korean American artist Dave Young Kim, the exhibition draws approximately 100 objects from the museum’s permanent collection and pairs them with works by 24 contemporary artists most commissioned specifically for the show. It is on view through September 6.
The museum, at 46 N. Los Robles Ave., is the only university museum in the United States dedicated exclusively to the arts and cultures of Asia and the Pacific Islands, according to the institution’s official description. Its collection of more than 15,000 objects spans more than 5,000 years. Prominent holdings include the Harari Collection of Japanese paintings and drawings from the Edo (1600–1868) and Meiji (1868–1912) periods, according to Visit Pasadena.
Visitors to “Mythical Creatures” move through a shadowy night crossing filled with demons, a rendition of an immigrant’s first apartment, and a gilded room spotlighting a gold Jin Chan frog that dispenses coins. Dragons, cranes, guardian spirits and shapeshifters appear throughout as metaphors for internal states and intergenerational legacies, according to a USC press release announcing the exhibition. New technologies power the experience, including a wraparound video installation in a reconstructed airplane cabin, an AI video interaction that allows visitors to assume the role of an immigrant, and QR codes throughout the galleries that link to a custom AI Curator app for deeper exploration of individual objects.
The exhibition’s narrative is written in verse on the gallery walls, in a voice the museum describes as evocative of a wise elder speaking to a loved one.
“Imagine stepping inside an illustrated book of poetry written by a cherished loved one,” Kim said in a statement issued by USC. “This exhibition invites us into a conversation that was always meant for us, made possible by activating the Pacific Asia Museum’s remarkable collection and collaborating with an exceptional group of artists.”
Kim, who earned his B.A. from UC Davis and pursued graduate study at Mills College, co-founded the Korean American Artist Collective. He previously collaborated with the museum on a large-scale mural, “A Momentous Moment in Time of Passage and Landing,” which debuted on the building’s exterior in 2024. That work depicted diasporic communities as a flock of 30 birds traveling together in flight.
The current exhibition took more than a year to develop, Kim said in an interview with the TAAF blog. Connecting mythology and the immigrant story proved to be the central challenge.
“It took me over four months to figure out how to connect the two,” Kim said. “It was very challenging. Now it seems like it’s very natural that they connect together, but for four months I could not crack that code.”
The everyday altars and figurines found in immigrant-owned shops and restaurants across Los Angeles became a key source of inspiration, Kim told the Pasadena Weekly.
“The less exotic artifacts and things that exist in everyday immigrant life, that’s really at the heart of the exhibition,” he said. “I’m not an immigrant myself, but my parents are.”
The exhibition is the first to open in galleries newly named for Pasadena-based East West Bank, which in January provided what the museum called the largest single gift in its 55-year history. The dollar amount was not disclosed. Through the investment, the bank headquartered at 135 N. Los Robles Ave., on the same Pasadena street as the museum, will serve as lead sponsor of all USC Pacific Asia Museum exhibitions for the next two decades, according to a USC announcement. East West Bank’s art program was established more than 20 years ago to foster cultural connections by bridging East and West, according to USC, and the bank has supported institutions including the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, The Broad, the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures, The Huntington and the Asian Art Museum.
East West Bank will also underwrite free museum admission during the week of Lunar New Year, throughout Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month in May, and on opening and closing weekends of all exhibitions in the East West Bank Exhibition Hall, according to the announcement.
“Art is a universal language that speaks to us across time and place and illuminates our shared human experience,” Dominic Ng, chairman and CEO of East West Bank and a USC Trustee, said in a statement issued by USC. “We are proud to support institutions like USC and USC PAM that share this mission.”
Bethany Montagano, director of USC Museums, described the exhibition as part of a broader shift at the institution.
“Mythical Creatures: The Stories We Carry embodies a transformational shift in our direction at USC Pacific Asia Museum,” Montagano said in a USC press release, “centering artists, rethinking interpretation, and building exhibitions from the emotional and intellectual lives of our audiences outward.”
The museum occupies the Grace Nicholson Building, a Chinese-style structure that art dealer Grace Nicholson commissioned in 1924 from the Pasadena architectural firm Marston, Van Pelt and Maybury. Nicholson, who was born in Philadelphia in 1877 and moved to Pasadena in 1901, insisted on authenticity: roof tiles, stone and marble carvings, and bronze and copper work were imported directly from China or faithfully executed by Pasadena-area craftsmen using plans and photographs of authentic Chinese examples, according to the museum’s account of its history. The arched entrance is an exact copy of the Buddhist library in Beijing. The building’s interior courtyard, completed in 1929, features traditional Chinese garden elements including Taihu rocks, dragons and koi ponds.
The building, which opened in 1925, received an award from the American Institute of Architects and was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1977. It is California Historical Landmark No. 988. Nicholson donated it to the City of Pasadena in 1943 for art and cultural purposes. The building later housed the Pasadena Art Museum, which was renowned for its groundbreaking exhibitions of contemporary art, according to USC. The Pacificulture Foundation purchased it in 1971 and established the current museum. The University of Southern California partnered with the museum in 2013. The building underwent a 17-month seismic retrofit beginning in 2016 and reopened in December 2017.
Contemporary artists whose work appears in “Mythical Creatures” include Dinh Q. Lê, Lily Honglei, Wendy Park, Momoko Schafer, Kyungmi Shin, Sanjay Vora and Lauren YS, according to the museum. The exhibition is organized by USC Pacific Asia Museum and curated by Kim, with major support from Mei-Lee Ney and additional support from the Perenchio Foundation, the McClay Family Trust, Margaret Leong Checca and Zhang Financial.
The museum is open Wednesday through Sunday, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. General admission is $15; senior admission is $12; student admission (ages 15 and older) is $9. Children 14 and under are admitted free. Admission is free for all visitors on every Second Sunday. Free parking is available in the museum lot at the corner of Los Robles Avenue and Union Street. The Metro Gold Line’s Memorial Park Station is approximately half a mile away. Information: pacificasiamuseum.usc.edu or (626) 787-2680.
When the building opened a century ago, Southland Magazine called it “far and away the most beautiful building of which Pasadena can boast.” The roof tiles are still there. Now, so are the dragons.
USC Pacific Asia Museum Hours: Wed–Sun, 11 AM–5 PM (closed Mon–Tue) Venue: 46 N. Los Robles Ave., Pasadena, CA 91101 Link: https://www.visitpasadena.com/directory/usc-pacific-asia-museum/
