The City of Angels is much more than Hollywood, Rodeo Drive, and the Beach Cities. Los Angeles has some of the finest museums in the world, which showcase exceptional works of art and boast one-of-a-kind architecture that exhibits the city’s rich cultural heritage. Here’s a curated guide of the top nine Westside Los Angeles museums along with their current exhibits. Save this guide for your next cultural outing!
Situated in the scenic Santa Monica Mountains, the Getty Center is home to a beautiful campus housing contemporary buildings and well-landscaped gardens. The museum showcases art from the medieval period to the present and offers panoramic vistas of the Pacific Ocean and the Los Angeles skyline. Founded in 1997, the property was designed by architect Richard Meier. The Getty Center is well-known for its expansive permanent collection of American, European, and Asian paintings, sculptures, and decorative arts. Visitors enter the museum by taking a tram to a hilltop, where they are welcomed by several buildings arranged around a plaza.
The museum’s exhibitions presently include an exhibit on J. Paul Getty’s life, late 19th-century sculpture artist Camille Claudel, and nineteenth-century photography. I highly recommend the Getty Center’s guided tours to learn about the museum’s highlights.
Admission: Free admission, parking is $25 per car or motorcycle and $15 after 3:00 p.m.
Westwood Village is home to the Hammer Museum (“The Hammer”), a hub for contemporary art and special events. Established in 1990 by industrialist Armand Hammer to exhibit his personal art collection, the museum has become a major cultural center in West Los Angeles. It celebrates both established and upcoming artists, with a particular focus on underrepresented ones. Currently on view are a range of diverse exhibitions, including a display of art from South Korea in the decades following the Korean War, works of multidisciplinary artist Vamba Bility, whose work echoes the experience of the African diaspora, and paintings and multimedia installations by artist Thenjiwe Niki Nkosi.
While at Hammer Museum, don’t miss dining at Lulu, the museum’s beloved restaurant led by chef, writer, and cookbook author David Tanis. Lulu offers a daily changing three-course market menu and an à la carte selection for lunch. The three-course market menu is priced at $45 and includes an appetizer, a main, and a dessert. I was served the Roasted Eggplant, Mozzarella, and Artichoke appetizer, Ricotta Gnocchi Cacio e Pepe, and Passion Fruit Granita. I loved the fresh ingredients and beautiful presentation of the dishes.
Admission: Free admission, parking is $8 for the first three hours with museum validation, and $3 for each additional 20 minutes, with a $22 daily maximum.
If you’re looking for an off-the-beaten-path museum, make your way to the Museum of Jurassic Technology, a distinctive museum in Culver City. Unveiled in 1988 by David Hildebrand Wilson and Diana Drake Wilson, the museum is renowned for its collection of scientific, ethnographic, and age-old art objects and installations that blur the lines between what is real and what is not.
The Museum of Jurassic Technology is an endeavor evocative of the cabinets of curiosities, which were the precursors to modern museums. The museum features a small central gallery immediately following the entry foyer dedicated to exhibitions from the permanent collections. The exhibits in this gallery are mainly in the areas of natural history and the history of science. I particularly enjoyed these displays as they were thought-provoking and intriguing. This museum is not for everyone, but if you’re interested in strange and mysterious things, you’ll love it.
Admission: $12.
The Getty Villa is a one-of-a-kind art museum perched at the eastern end of the Malibu coast. It is a re-creation of a Roman country house based on ancient examples—and the original home of the Getty Museum. The Getty Villa exhibits the arts and cultures of ancient Greece, Rome, and Etruria. Its collection includes over 44,000 antiquities dating from 6,500 BCE to 400 CE. At the Getty Villa, visitors can explore over 4,000 years of ancient art, from the Stone Age to the final days of the Roman Empire. Highlights include a Roman-era mummy and the spectacular engraved gems.
The museum’s second floor features temporary exhibitions displaying works of art from global museums and Getty’s collections. Currently, in the temporary exhibits section, there is a display of sculpted portraits from ancient Egypt and arresting terracotta vessels from northern Peru. Moreover, the Getty Villa’s largest garden, housing a reflecting pool, colonnaded walkways, and views of the Pacific Ocean, is worth checking out.
Admission: Free, parking is $25 per car or motorcycle; $15 after 3:00 p.m., for evening events, and on Saturdays, parking is $10 after 6:00 p.m.
The Petersen Automotive Museum is a well-known institution focused on showcasing the history of automobiles and their impact on American life and culture. Founded in 1994 by magazine publisher Robert E. Petersen and his wife Margie, the Petersen Automotive Museum hosts a range of interesting automobile-themed educational programs and exhibits. My favorite among the current exhibits is “The Cars of Film and Television,” which showcases cars from Hollywood classics and popular TV shows. Additionally, the newer “ribbon” building architecture, completed in December 2015 by the architectural firm Kohn Pedersen Fox (KPF), is awe-inspiring.
Admission: $21
Established in 1965, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) is located in the heart of Miracle Mile. The LACMA is one of the most exhaustive art museums in the world, showcasing an expansive collection of more than 152,000 artworks. The museum comprises several interconnected modern buildings and a central plaza, which exhibits artist Chris Burden’s cast iron street lamp installation known as “Urban Light.” From the current exhibitions, the highlights include the “Korean Treasures from the Chester and Cameron Chang Collection,” “Dining with the Sultan: The Fine Art of Feasting,” and “War Stories: World War I Print Portfolios by German Artists.” I particularly enjoyed Dining with the Sultan: The Fine Art of Feasting, which showcases an inside glimpse of the culinary traditions of Islamic rulers.
Admission: $25
The Museum of Tolerance (MOT) is the educational arm of the Simon Wiesenthal Center, a renowned Jewish human rights organization. The only museum of its kind in the world, the MOT aims to help visitors understand the Holocaust in both historical and contemporary contexts and confront all forms of prejudice and discrimination in our world today. At this unique museum, the Holocaust Exhibit, Hitler’s Letter, and the Anne Frank Exhibit are must-visits.
Admission: adults: $16, seniors: $13, and students: $12.00
The Holocaust Museum LA is the oldest museum in the United States focused on the World War II genocide of Jews. Founded in 1961 by Holocaust survivors, its mission is to educate people about the Holocaust and inspire a more inclusive and humane world. Of the current exhibits, the one that made the biggest impression on me was the “To Paint Is To Live” display, which showcases artworks by Holocaust survivors.
Admission: $15, free all-day Sunday
The Academy Museum of Motion Pictures is dedicated to the American film industry’s history, science, and cultural impact. It is the first large-scale museum focusing on the film industry in the United States and opened in September 2021. The museum houses more than 13 million objects, including costumes, costume sketches, film reels, posters, props, and screenplays. From the current exhibition, I suggest not missing the exhibit on The Godfather movies and the installation in homage to filmmakers from the American avant-garde, underground film, and New Queer Cinema.
Admission: $25 for adults, $19 for seniors, $15 for students
Photos by the author.
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