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Tucked away on a pedestrian side street in Little Tokyo, this easily adaptable hall was once a warehouse. With its sprawling spaces, the MOCA annex often houses exhibitions that are too large or...
Tucked away on a pedestrian side street in Little Tokyo, this easily adaptable hall was once a warehouse. With its sprawling spaces, the MOCA annex often houses exhibitions that are too large or cumbersome for the main museum in California Plaza. This increased space allows for frequent interactive installations that blend visitors with the art. Aficionados taking in the latest show often rub elbows with passersby patronizing nearby shops and sushi houses. Admission: Adults $8; children (under 12) free; students/seniors $5. Admission to all three MOCA locations is free all day on Thursdays.
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*appointment only*
It probably won't go on your resume, but a Banana Club membership will earn you a peep into this uniquely single-minded collection of 17,000 objects. But brace yourself for a...
*appointment only*
It probably won't go on your resume, but a Banana Club membership will earn you a peep into this uniquely single-minded collection of 17,000 objects. But brace yourself for a lot of painfully wacky punning from curator and "top banana" Ken Bannister, who is constantly acquiring new trinkets for the tiny storefront space. Visitors from 27 countries have sought out the fruit-loopy aggregation, which began as a publicity stunt in 1972.
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Ostensibly the world's only repository of neon art and artifacts, the Museum of Neon Art is the preeminent place to admire that stunning 1940s liquor store sign or bask in the glow of offbeat...
Ostensibly the world's only repository of neon art and artifacts, the Museum of Neon Art is the preeminent place to admire that stunning 1940s liquor store sign or bask in the glow of offbeat installations by artists who attended Burning Man. Moving lights and goofy sounds lend a playful feel to the galleries, attracting both kids and grown-up fans of American pop culture. Housed in an unassuming commercial space deep downtown, MONA also maintains extensive archives documenting the often-ephemeral art of the neon sign. Admission: Adults $5; children under 12 free; students/seniors $3.50. Admission is free on the second Thursday of every month from 5pm to 8pm.
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Curious shrunken heads are among the oddities that lure tourists in from Hollywood Boulevard throughout the year. This bizarre museum overflows with out-of-towners during the summer, but the...
Curious shrunken heads are among the oddities that lure tourists in from Hollywood Boulevard throughout the year. This bizarre museum overflows with out-of-towners during the summer, but the collection is diverse enough to interest even locals, if not only for the silliness of it.
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Among the monstrous mementos are life-casts of Vincent Price and Boris Karloff, crusty old stop-motion puppets from "King Kong," a life-size replica of the curvy she-robot from "Metropolis," and a...
Among the monstrous mementos are life-casts of Vincent Price and Boris Karloff, crusty old stop-motion puppets from "King Kong," a life-size replica of the curvy she-robot from "Metropolis," and a cape and ring once flaunted by Bela Lugosi. Not even the basement and bedrooms are left out of this 18-room horror show, but things get scariest in the claustrophobic labyrinth of bookshelves holding 50,000 tomes. A former pulp-era literary agent, Ackerman usually ends tours hunkered down in an easy chair, sharing a few pun-riddled anecdotes about authors and actors he's known. hours of operation are Sat 11am-12pm, by appointment parking is available on the street.
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The small but great (by underwear standards) collection features lingerie of showbiz celebs. Highlights include Madonna's black-and-gold bustier with tassels worn on the "Who's That Girl" tour, Tom...
The small but great (by underwear standards) collection features lingerie of showbiz celebs. Highlights include Madonna's black-and-gold bustier with tassels worn on the "Who's That Girl" tour, Tom Hanks' beige boxer shorts from "Forrest Gump," panties from the cast of "Beverly Hills, 90210" and Phyllis Diller's outrageous training bra, marked "This Side Up!" Thieves looted $200,000 worth of goods about a decade ago, including another Madonna bustier. Frederick's offered a $1,000 reward for the missing undergarment but it was never returned. Intimates worn by Marilyn Monroe, Greta Garbo and Elizabeth Taylor enhanced the collection around the same time, though. PLUS ITS FREE FREE FREE!
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A dark warren of galleries is filled with preternaturally glowing vitrines and the sound of tinkling bells. Studiously mounted displays clarify the nature of the Cameroonean stink ant. Wonder how...
A dark warren of galleries is filled with preternaturally glowing vitrines and the sound of tinkling bells. Studiously mounted displays clarify the nature of the Cameroonean stink ant. Wonder how bats use sonar to pass through solid matter? Find out here. Other extraordinary exhibits include microscopic portraits of Pope John Paul sculpted in a strand of human hair, a magnetic fortune-telling machine crafted by a 17th-century Jesuit and meticulous dioramas of trailers interpreted as Ark-like repositories of human culture. All this and not a single Jurassic fossil in sight. Admission: Suggested donation: $5; children, seniors (12-21) $3
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LACMA
Category:
Sports & Recreation
Los Angeles, California 90036
(323) 857-6000
LACMA's holdings could fill a dozen specialty museums. A labyrinth of galleries showcase strengths of the permanent collection, such as Japanese art, German expressionism, pre-Columbian art and...
LACMA's holdings could fill a dozen specialty museums. A labyrinth of galleries showcase strengths of the permanent collection, such as Japanese art, German expressionism, pre-Columbian art and costumes. Touring exhibitions are often surprisingly edgy; it was LACMA, not MOCA, that hosted the Whitney's Mike Kelley retrospective. Other major traveling shows have included a history of the Egyptian pyramids and a high-profile Van Gogh retrospective. Museum admission is free on the second Tuesday of every month. April through December, 5:30pm-8:30pm, on Friday evenings, free jazz concerts are presented on the Times Mirror Central Court plaza. Admission: Adults $9, children (17 and under) free, students/seniors $5
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Stepping well beyond the realm of campy, the museum is classic Hollywood schlock at its best and worst. A distant second to an actual celebrity sighting, a visit is less about seeing the effigies...
Stepping well beyond the realm of campy, the museum is classic Hollywood schlock at its best and worst. A distant second to an actual celebrity sighting, a visit is less about seeing the effigies than about being able to say that you were here. Just don't let it bother you that David Hasselhoff looks like he has jaundice--do what the locals do: Go in for a good laugh. Admission: Adults $10.95; seniors $8.50; children 6-12 $6.95
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The museum preserves the heritage of the Issei (first generation Japanese Americans). Belongings of Japanese Americans who were interned in California during WWII are displayed in the main pavilion,...
The museum preserves the heritage of the Issei (first generation Japanese Americans). Belongings of Japanese Americans who were interned in California during WWII are displayed in the main pavilion, recalling the hardships of those trying years. The pavilion's tranquil rock and water garden offsets these stark images. Vintage photographs, archival documents and fine art by Japanese artists round out the rich collection. JANM also offers film screenings, readings and crafts classes. Admission: Adults $6; students/children (6-17) $3; seniors $5. Admission is free every Thursday from 5pm to 8pm and all day every third Thursday of the month.
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