The Museum of Contemporary Art used to be a vital part of downtown LA, but I don't feel that way about it now. It used to be the museum was free Thursday nights, but the trend now is for MOCA to have big mega-exhibits, which are never open to public without paid admission. When there isn't some big exhibition there, it is anyone's guess whether it will be open at all. The music programing has gone completely downhill; there used to be great jazz performances on summer Thursdays, but the new curator axed that in favor of a half-baked DJ party. No fun. The exhibitions are sometimes worthwhile, though, and there is decent modern art in the permanent collection.
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