California Impressionism: The Gardena High School Collection

The story of the Gardena High School art collection is an enduring example of the power of art to rally a community and to shape people’s lives. Each year between 1919 and 1956, Gardena High School seniors collaborated to select and purchase contemporary art that they gifted to the school upon graduation. Thanks to their efforts, Gardena High School now possesses a museum-worthy collection of California Impressionist paintings, including works by some of the state’s most celebrated artists of the early twentieth century.

California Impressionism: The Gardena High School Collection features a selection of nine paintings from the collection, including major works by notable artists such as Maynard Dixon, Jean Mannheim, and Edgar Payne. The paintings on view reflect the state’s scenic diversity as well as the vitality of Gardena High School’s program and the Impressionist movement that once flourished here.

Credit: Exhibition overview from museum website.