Several times a year, the Claire Crowley Art Gallery at San Marino High School is the center of the local creative community – as it will be again on Saturday, Jan. 30 when ‘Arts Rock!’ returns to the campus from 11 a.m. – 4 p.m.
On that day, The Gallery will reflect the significant skills of the school’s finest purveyors of the visual arts while continuing to tell a valuable story.
A 1975 graduate of San Marino High School, Claire Crowley lost her life in a tragic automobile accident midway through her senior year at Wellesley, where she was studying art history. She was graduated with honors, posthumously, in June, 1979.
At the time of her death, Paul and Marie Crowley – Claire’s parents – founded the Claire Crowley Art Fund in Claire’s memory to perpetuate the study of art through the funding of grants in Claire’s memory. The specific emphasis of the fund was to help subsidize art projects and programs, particularly at the schools Claire had attended.
The Crowleys also made a $25,000 pledge during the district’s late-90s bond construction project to create the art gallery that bears their daughter’s name. Matching funds were donated through the San Marino Schools Foundation in Claire’s memory to complete the project. The Crowley Family continues to present the Claire Crowley Art Award to the senior who displays skill and passion for the visual arts.
The Crowley Family also sponsors an award and donates to the art departments at Sts. Felicita & Perpetua in San Marino and Assumption School in Pasadena, both of which Claire previously attended.
In November, 2015, a former San Marino High School classmate of Claire’s happened upon a watercolor that Claire had painted for her and is in the process of returning it to the Crowley Family, where it will be framed and featured in the gallery that bears her name.
‘Arts Rock!,’ San Marino High School’s annual showcase tribute to music, dance, art, poetry, comedy, crafts and drama, will take place on Saturday, January 30 from 11 a.m. – 4 p.m. on the East Campus. The event will include karaoke, a petting zoo, face-painting, ceramics, workshops, food, a crafts store and a one-woman performance by Dr. Nancy Beagle.
