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
Through July 5
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.
A Million Acts of Kindness
Through July 5
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.
Focus In: Dorothea Lange’s View of Chandler
June 16 - August 23
Photographer Dorothea Lange visited Chandler three times in the late 1930s and early 1940s to document the effects of the Dust Bowl and New Deal Programs. She captured photographs of migrant families, auto camps, and the Farm Security Administration housing in Chandler. The debut of this six-panel banner exhibit shows the striking images Lange captured and gives a glimpse of Chandler in the late 1930s. This exhibit also features photographs taken by Russell Lee, another government photographer who captured Chandler.
Image: Photo courtesy of National Archive and Records Administration, 522527
Beyond Bollywood: Indian Americans Shape the Nation
June 23 - August 23
Digital Exhibit
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 tabla 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.
