At 2026 FestivArts, Claremont arts community provides color to a rainy afternoon

Gray clouds loomed over the San Gabriel Mountains, slowly passing over their peaks late in the morning. Warm amber bulbs strewn around the trunks of olive trees at Padua Hills Theatre became shrouded with the encroaching haze of sprinkling rain. But as artists began to open their booths and people poured inside, the venue quickly flooded with soul, color and curiosity. The Claremont Lewis Museum of Art (CLMA) hosted its 22nd annual FestivArts showcase on Nov. 1 at the Padua Hills Theatre, bringing 44 artists to the foothills of Claremont. Among them were 5C staff and longtime Claremont artists, and for many in attendance, the festival was a reminder of how deeply the city’s art scene connects to the Claremont Colleges — a legacy stretching back to Scripps College art department head Millard Sheets. “They made [Claremont] into a mecca for culture,” Shearer said. “The colleges, Pomona and Scripps, have a lot to do with it.

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