What to Know
- USC Pacific Asia Museum in Pasadena will offer free admission throughout May
- May is Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month
- A May 18 celebration pays tribute to the museum's new mural, "A Momentous Moment in Time and Passage and Landing" by artist Dave Young Kim
Many museums, schools, theaters, and cultural destinations will pay uplifting homage to Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month this May, but only one Southern California spot will truly take wing.
Or "wings," rather: A colorful and colossal new mural brimming with birds in flight is now adorning the sizable side of the USC Pacific Asia Museum.
Artist Dave Young Kim's marvelous new mural, called "A Momentous Moment in Time and Passage and Landing," will be at the heart of a special free museum celebration on May 18.
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In fact, admission to the Pasadena-based museum is free throughout May in honor of AAPI Heritage Month.
If you can make the May 18 party, expect to savor dances, presentations, and music, too; a few food trucks will visit the Los Robles Avenue institution as well.
The mural, which depicts "41 birds in harmonious flight, each representing a sovereign Asian or Pacific Islander nation and its official national bird" will be in the event's celebratory spotlight.
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"Traditionally, the king and queen would sit in front of a painted screen that had the sun and the moon on either side; it denoted yin and yang, the perfect balance, principles that make the universe work, along with dignity, heaven's favor, and mandate for the king, essentially each time they sat down publicly in front of the imagery, it evokes the idea that it's a momentous moment in time,” shared Dave Young Kim.
"With the mural, I'm taking that idea and placing that perfect balance above the depiction of birds, each representing a Pacific Asian nation in migration, moving from one homeland to another, and saying this is a momentous moment, all the forgotten stories, challenges, struggles of that journey and they should be elevated to the same level of royalty."
The mural is representative of "our shared sense of humanity," the museum staff shared.
Stop by and see it, and enjoy free USC PAM admission, at any time during AAPI Heritage Month, or on May 18 when a joyful party will take place.
Eager to identify what each bird represents? You can, with this helpful online key.
