In honor of Armed Forces Day, the Blue Star Museums program just kicked off its 2023 season, offering active-duty military personnel and their families free admission to more than 200 museums nationwide. Initially enacted in 2010, the initiative, which runs through Labor Day, is “a partnership between the National Endowment for the Arts and Blue Star Families, in collaboration with the Department of Defense” in an effort to “show appreciation for those who serve.”
Movie and television aficionados will be happy to know that the list of participating galleries is peppered with a slew of notable filming locations, as well, including such oft-lensed spots as the Smithsonian American Art Museum in Washington, D.C., Descanso Gardens in La Cañada Flintridge, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, the Gamble House, the Philadelphia Museum of Art and the Pasadena Museum of History. The latter, founded in 1924 as the Pasadena Historical Society, is “the only museum and research library dedicated solely to preserving and sharing the history, art and culture of Pasadena and the west San Gabriel Valley.” Its location is also unique, housed on the grounds of the Fenyes Mansion, a gorgeous turn-of-the-century estate most famous for its central role in Beyoncé’s 2016 “Formation” video, which Rolling Stone recently deemed the best music video of all time.
Nestled on a leafy plot at 470 W. Walnut St., on the corner of Orange Grove Blvd., the sprawling Beaux Arts-style mansion was originally built in 1906 in the heart of what was then known as Millionaire’s Row, a 1.25-mile stretch of palatial abodes, each seemingly more lavish and extravagant than the last. Sadly, the vast majority of the historic properties have been lost to the ages. As the Star-News details, “During the 1920s, Pasadena was said to have the highest per capita income of any city in the country, but as the famous millionaires died, and their families were hit with the Great…