Los Angeles Sights: Museums / Galleries

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The Getty Center as seen from the museum's central garden.

The Japanese American National Museum opened in 1992 in Little Tokyo.

• The Getty Center (aka J. Paul Getty Museum), 1200 Getty Center Drive, www.getty.edu/museum. Well worth a visit. Entrance is free though you will pay $15 for parking or is served by Metro Bus 761. Located at the top of the Santa Monica mountains, you have a spectacular view of both the L.A. basin, the Pacific Ocean, as well as the beautiful buildings and the rose gardens. They also have a very extensive arts collection, should that interest you. The old museum, J. Paul Getty Villa www.getty.edu/museum, in Pacific Palisades, is also worth a visit.

• Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA), 250 S. Grand Avenue, Los Angeles, CA, 90012, www.moca.org. M/F: 11:00am-5:00pm, Th: 11:00am-8:00pm (5-8pm is free), Sat/Sun: 11:00am-6:00pm. There are two branches located downtown, but there is another at the Pacific Design Center on Melrose Avenue. They feature rotating exhibits. GA: $10, Students/Seniors: $5, Children under 12: FREE.

• Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA), 5905 Wilshire Blvd., lacma.org. Mon, Tues and Thurs: 12-8 PM, Fri: 12-9 PM, Sat, Sun: 11 AM -8 PM,Wed: CLOSED. Since its inception in 1965, LACMA has been devoted to collecting works of art that span both history and geography—and represents Los Angeles’ uniquely diverse population. Today, the museum features particularly strong collections of Asian, Latin American, European, and American art, as well as a new contemporary museum on its campus, BCAM. With this expanded space for contemporary art, innovative collaborations with artists, and an ongoing transformation project, LACMA is creating a truly modern lens through which to view its rich encyclopedic collection—more than 100,000 works strong. •General Admission- $12,Seniors & College Students- $8,Under 18- Free, After 5 PM- Pay what you wish, Second Tuesday of every month- FREE, Target Holiday Mondays- FREE.

• Los Angeles County Museum of Natural History.

• California Afro-American Museum.

• Page Museum at La Brea Discoveries, 5801 Wilshire Boulevard. A fascinating site of palentological excavations. Saber-tooth cats, mastadons, giant sloth, bison, Dire wolves, the American lion (yes - there was one), camels, horses. An on-going work of digging the complete remains of tens of thousands of years old animals out of tar continues today and a massive collection of the bones inside. Well worth the visit away from the glitz of Hollywood and back in time when man was just appearing in the area. Rancho La Brea is one of the world’s most famous fossil localities, recognized for having the largest and most diverse assemblage 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. Watch volunteers dig out bones every summer, watch your step as active tar seeps are all over the property, watch the methane bubbles boil up in the lake in front of the museum, hold your nose.

• The Museum of Tolerance, 9786 West Pico Blvd, ☎ 310-553-8403. Mon-Fri 10AM-5PM, SUN 11AM-5PM, Early close on Fri 10AM-3PM Nov-Mar. The Museum of Tolerance houses several exhibits focused on bringing light to the ways in which humans have been and can be more tolerant. Adults $13, Seniors (62+) $11, Student with I.D. and Youth 5-18 $10.

• Japanese American National Museum.

• www.getty.edu/museum
• www.getty.edu/museum
• www.moca.org
• lacma.org