1200 Getty Center Drive, Los Angeles (310) 440-7300
The Getty Center presents the Gettys' collection of Western art from the Middle Ages to the present against a backdrop of dramatic architecture, tranquil gardens and breathtaking views. The Getty offers an impressive selection of European paintings, drawings, manuscripts, sculpture and decorative arts and European and American photographs.
At any given time the museum offers a wide variety of exceptional courses and demonstrations, tours, gallery talks and exhibitions. Some of the Getty's current exhibitions include: Where We Live: Photographs of America from the Berman Collection , Guercino: Mind to Paper, Public Faces/Private Spaces: Recent Acquisitions and From Caspar David Friedrich to Gerhard Richter: German Paintings from Dresden.
For more information, visit www.getty.edu .
THE GETTY VILLA
17985 Pacific Coast Hwy, Pacific Palisades
After a decade-long renovation, the Getty Center's older sibling once again opened its doors. Modeled after the Villa dei Papiri, a Roman country house buried by Mt. Vesuvius in 79 A.D., the Getty Villa is not only architecturally breathtaking, but educational as well.
The Villa organizes its collections thematically according to each piece's origin – Roman, Green or Etruscan. Even those who don't appreciate art will marvel at the fountains, pools and gardens of the Villa.
Don't miss selections of the finest mosaics produced between the second and sixth centuries A.D. currently on display at the Villa in the Stories in Stone: Conserving Mosaics of Roman Africa; Masterpieces from the National Museums of Tunisia .
For more information, visit www.getty.edu.
LOS ANGELES COUNTY MUSEUM OF ART
5905 Wilshire Blvd., Los Angeles (323) 857-6000
LACMA is a notable art museum featuring a compelling permanent collection along with varying temporary exhibitions. At LACMA, their motto – “experience the world through art” – comes to life with exciting events such as book signings, art classes, school tours, family days and lectures.
The wide variety of subjects that LACMA displays touch upon can currently be experienced in Magritte and Contemporary Art: The Treachery of Images , Picasso's Greatest Print: The Minotauromachy in All Its States and Breaking the Mode: Contemporary Fashion from the Permanent Collection .
For more information, visit www.lacma.org .
NORTON SIMON MUSEUM OF ART
411 West Colorado Blvd., Pasadena (626) 449-6840
The Norton Simon Museum of Art holds one of the world's finest and most prestigious collections of art. It stands as a tribute to human civilization, the visual arts and the nobility of individual accomplishment.
The museum holds a multitude of prints as well as a comprehensive collection of Picasso graphics. Located in beautiful Pasadena, the museum is housed in a unique building and boasts a truly beautiful garden inspired by Monet's Giverny . Currently, the museum hosts a compelling assortment of photographs in The Collectible Moment.
For more information, visit www.nortonsimon.org .
MUSEUM OF CONTEMPORARY ART
Grand Avenue – 250 South Grand Ave., Los Angeles (213) 626-6222
Geffen Contemporary at MOCA – 152 North Central Ave., Los Angeles
Pacific Design Center – 8687 Melrose Ave., West Hollywood
When visiting MOCA you get one museum with three locations! MOCA Grand Avenue is host to elegant underground galleries and is the flagship location.
Five minutes from Grand Avenue is the Geffen Contemporary, a former police car garage, which houses some of MOCA's largest exhibitions. Located in the heart of West Hollywood, MOCA Pacific Design Center features rotating exhibitions of architecture, design, and selections from MOCA's permanent collection.
Current featured exhibitions include Skin + Bones: Parallel Practice in Fashion and Architecture .
For more information, visit www.moca.org .
NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM900 Exposition Blvd., Los Angeles (213) 763-3466
The Natural History Museum of Los Angeles is a national leader in exhibitions, education and research. It is the largest natural and historical museum in the western United States, featuring more than 33 million spectacular and diverse specimens and artifacts.
In addition to special exhibitions, the museum boasts magnificent permanent halls. Guests are greeted by the towering “Dueling Dinosaurs,” complete skeletons of a Tyrannosaurus Rex and Triceratops in battle.
For more information, visit www.nhm.org .
MUSEUM OF TOLERANCE9786 West Pico Blvd., Los Angeles (310) 553-8403
The Museum of Tolerance is a one-of-a-kind, experimental museum dedicated to promoting tolerance and mutual understanding through education, community outreach and social action. The museum focuses on two central themes through unique interactive exhibits: the dynamics of racism and prejudice in America and the history of the Holocaust.
For more information, visit www.museumoftolerance.com .
THE AUTRY MUSEUM OF WESTERN HERITAGE4700 Western Heritage Way, Los Angeles
The Autry National Center is an intercultural history center formed from the merger of three other museums. The center provides a wide variety of programs and events throughout the year on diverse arts and cultures of the American West.
The center explores the distinct stories of cultures and peoples, examining how their interaction affects the complex, evolving history of the American West. Now on view at the Autry are breathtaking photos in an exhibit focusing on Yosemite: Art of an American Icon from 1855 to the present.
For more information, visit www.autry-museum.org .
HAMMER MUSEUM10899 Wilshire Blvd,. Los Angeles (310) 443-7000
The Hammer Museum is a unique, cutting-edge arts institution that connects the classics and the contemporary through its varied collections, wide-ranging exhibitions and provocative programs. The museum examines the depth and diversity of artistic expression through the centuries, with a special emphasis on the art of our time.
Now through Jan. 7 the Hammer presents the first retrospective in the U.S. of the German photographer Wolfgang Tillmans. View selected works from “one of the most important and distinctive artists to emerge in the 1990s.”
For more information, visit www.hammer.ucla.edu .
PAGE MUSEUM LA BREA TAR PITS
5801 Wilshire Blvd., Los Angeles (323) 934-7243
Rancho La Brea is one of the world's most famous fossil locations, recognized for having the largest and most diverse assembly of extinct Ice Age plants and animals in the world. Visitors can learn about Los Angeles as it was between 10,000 and 40,000 years ago, during the last Ice Age, when animals such as saber-toothed cats and mammoths roamed the L.A. basin.
The museum features a glass enclosed live-action room where people can watch scientists clean and repair real bones. Outside the museum, life-size replicas of several extinct mammals are featured.
For more information, visit www.tarpits.org .
MUSEUM OF RADIO AND TELEVISION
465 N. Beverly Drive, Beverly Hills (310) 786-1025
This unique museum collects radio shows, television programs, and commercial advertisements in both media and makes the programming available to the general public. In the museum you can view programming of your choice alone in a console or with a group in a family console.
For a truly L.A. experience, attend a screening in one of the museum's theaters where you can see any number of thematic series. Currently the museum hosts What the Deuce Are You Staring At!?! which features 21 paintings by emerging artists inspired by “Family Guy.”
For more information, visit www.mtr.org.
JAPANESE AMERICAN NATIONAL MUSEUM
369 E. First St., Los Angeles (213) 625-0414
The Japanese American National Museum is the only facility in the nation dedicated to sharing the experiences of Americans of Japanese ancestry. The museum is based upon the principle that by remembering history, people of every ethnicity will benefit.
Right now the museum is housing a collection of 50 vintage prints from the Manzanar internment camp by taken by the renowned photographer Ansel Adams.
For more information, visit www.janm.org.
Honorable Mentions:
African-American Museum: www.caamuseum.org
Craft and Folk Art Museum: www.crockerartmuseum.org
Fowler Museum of Cultural History: www.csudh.org
Hollywood Entertainment Museum: www.hollywoodmuseum.com
Hollywood Heritage Museum (DeMille Barn): www.hollywoodheritage.org
L.A. Children's Museum: www.childrensmuseumla.org
Museum of Neon Art: www.neonmona.org
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