The Chandler Museum exhibit hall features 6-8 exhibitions each year. The schedule includes a combination of in-house produced exhibits exploring Chandler history topics and nationally traveling exhibits showcasing culture, history and art.
Gaman: Enduring Japanese American Internment at Gila River
Dec. 8, 2018 - April 19, 2020
Closing Reception: April 18 | 11 a.m.
During World War II over 16,000 Japanese Americans were forcibly removed from the west coast to Gila River Internment Camp, near Chandler, simply because they looked like the enemy. This poignant exhibit demonstrates how the Japanese value gaman, enduring the seemingly impossible with patience and dignity, guided these American citizens, through loss and incarceration in the Arizona desert. See the photos, hear the stories, read the names of incarcerees, and view the community contributed paper cranes in this transformative exhibition.
Patios, Pools, and the Invention of the American Backyard
March 14 - May 24, 2020
Evening Reception: March 26 | 6-7:30 p.m.
The suburban backyard is an American original—an invention so familiar it hardly seems invented at all. Patios, Pools, & the Invention of the American Backyard explores the mid-century backyard from the rise of the suburbs and tract houses, to the beauty of postwar garden design, and the birth of the environmental movement. Filled with vintage photographs, historic drawings, and fun period advertisements, the exhibition reveals how these spaces became such an integral part of American popular culture.
Patios, Pools, & the Invention of the American Backyard is presented by the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service and the Smithsonian Garden’s Archive of American Gardens.
Image: Lakewood Plaza, outdoor living space. Long Beach, Calif., 1950s. Maynard L. Parker, photographer. Courtesy of The Huntington Library, San Marino, Calif.
Beyond Bollywood
May 2 - July 12, 2020
In the Western imagination, India conjures up everything from saris and spices to turbans and temples—and the pulsating energy of Bollywood movies. But in America, India’s contributions stretch far beyond these stereotypes. From the builders of some of America's earliest railroads and farms to Civil Rights pioneers to digital technology entrepreneurs, Indian Americans have long been an inextricable part of American life. Today, one out of every 100 Americans, from Silicon Valley to Smalltown, USA, traces his or her roots to India. This exhibit explores the Indian American experience and the community's vital political, professional, and cultural contributions to American life and history.
Beyond Bollywood: Indian Americans Shape the Nation was created by the Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center and the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service.
Image: Decorated Indian table player Pandit Shankar Ghosh and noted Indian classical vocalist Shrimati Sanjukta Ghosh with Vikram (Boomba) Ghosh at Samuel P. Taylor State Park, Lagunita, Calif., ca. 1970.Photo courtesy of the Ali Akbar Khan Foundation
A Million Acts of Kindness
May 22 - June 7
The Salvation Army USA has actively provided spiritual and humanitarian support to the American Armed Forces since the late 1890s. A Million Acts of Kindness explores the services provided to the troops and how Salvation Army volunteers provided aid on the home front. As times changed, so did the needs of the average soldier. The Salvation Army adapted the services it provided to meet these evolving and changing needs. Visit this traveling exhibition in coordination with the City of Chandler Veteran's Appreciation Event.
A Million Acts of Kindness was created by The Salvation Army Central Territory Museum.
Image: Adjutant Helen McClellen and Miss Betty Tenney provide doughnuts and sandwiches to servicemen from a Salvation Army USO mobile canteen, photographed in Michigan on September 10, 1942. Courtesy of The Salvation Army Central Territory Museum.