The Installations at MAACM
Visitors to MAACM’s galleries have the rare opportunity to experience a variety of immersive Arts and Crafts movement installations. Room recreations, such as a period bedroom, combine select collection pieces to surround visitors in a complete Arts and Crafts environment. The museum’s Research Library is a functioning period room, decorated with antique bookcases, leaded glass lamps, and fine paintings.
Several unique Arts and Crafts installations, saved from demolition by the Two Red Roses Foundation, are preserved at MAACM. One highlight is the 1912 entry hall from the James A. Culbertson House in Pasadena, CA, designed by architects Charles and Henry Greene. The stunning redwood-paneled room, carved with an intricate landscape of gnarled trees, flowers, and birds, is considered among the Greenes’ best design work.
A luxurious, custom tile bathroom, installed c.1914 in a private home by Grueby Faience and Tile Company, is another rare survival. Nearly 1200 glazed tiles depicting irises and water lilies cover the intimate space, creating the sensation of being in a water garden. Also by Grueby is a nearly 300-square-foot tile floor from 1912, originally installed in a boathouse on Newport Harbor, RI, depicting sailing ships from thousands of years of maritime history.
As they enter the Atrium, visitors are greeted with a stunning 600-tile mural by Rookwood Pottery depicting ships in a calm harbor. Created c.1914 but never installed, it has been assembled at MAACM for the first time. The mural provides a fitting introduction to the wide-ranging accomplishments of Arts and Crafts artisans.