Enjoy these and any of the 800 museums in Greater L.A.
GUTENBERG BIBLE from The Huntington Library collection.
Photos courtesy Huntington Library
The December holiday season is the busiest time of year for museums. Children are home from school, relatives often descend upon the household from out of town, and most people have time off from work, so a museum visit or two is a wonderful and enriching activity—if you match the museum to the interests of your group. With over 800 museums in the Greater Los Angeles area, there’s something for everyone.
Museums for art lovers
The Broad is celebrating its 10th anniversary through 2025, and its expansive contemporary art collection includes such art world luminaries as Jean-Michel Basquiat, Andy Warhol, and Yayoi Kusama. A crowd-pleasing special exhibit by Robert Therrien, “This is a story,” showcases the artist’s irresistible Goliath-sized tables and chairs, pots and pans, and stacked dishes, on view now through April 5, 2026. 221 S. Grand Ave.; 213-232-6200; thebroad.org. Free general admission; fee for special exhibits; timed reservations required. Closed Mondays.
CHINESE GARDEN PAVILION within The Huntington Gardens.
California African American Museum in Exposition Park showcases Black artists and celebrates African American history. Fans of science fiction writer Octavia Butler will enjoy an exhibit examining her legacy, through March 1, 2026. 600 State Dr., Exposition Park; 212-744-7432; caamuseum.org. Free. Closed Mondays.
Separated from the quotidian world by a short tram ride, the Getty Center’s gardens and views are as spectacular as the art. The exhibit “How to be a Guerilla Girl” asks, “Do women have to be naked to get into the Met Museum?” through April 12, 2026, and marks the 40th anniversary of the women’s equity in the arts advocacy group. 1200 Getty Center Dr., 310-440-7300, getty.edu. Closed Mondays. Free reserved timed entry; fee for parking.
The Getty’s sister museum, the Getty Villa, exhibits Greek, Roman, and Etruscan antiquities in a facsimile of a Roman villa. 17985 Pacific Coast Hwy., Pacific Palisades, 310-440-7300,getty.edu. Closed Tues. Fee for timed parking.
The biennial survey of art in Los Angeles, “Made in L.A.” at the Hammer Museum is covered on page 7.
Recognizing craft as high art, Craft Contemporary bursts with the creative energy of artists who often work with non-traditional materials. Through February 2026, a “Maker-in-Residence” program will encourage visitors to interact with ceramicists, woodworkers, metal shapers, and textile artists. 5814 Wilshire Blvd., 323-937-4230, craftcontemporary.org. Closed Mondays. Fee.
YOUSSEF NABIL’S “I saved my belly dancer,” starring Salma Hayek, is on view at LACMA. Photo courtesy of the artist
Many visitors never move beyond posing for selfies with the late artist Chris Burden’s streetlights installation, “Urban Light,” the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA), but there’s so much more. LACMA is the largest art museum in the western U.S., with over 140,000 pieces in its collections. Current exhibits include the A.I.-generated sculpture “Diffuse Control,” by the artist Beeple, on view through Jan. 4, 2026, and Youssef Nabil’s video “I Saved My Belly Dancer,” starring Salma Hayek, viewable through Jan. 11, 2026. LACMA will open its new Peter Zumthor-designed Brutalist building in April 2026, 5905 Wilshire Blvd., 323-857-6000, lacma.org. Closed Wednesdays. Ticket fee, except free to L.A. County residents 3 to 5 p.m. on weekdays and to those 17 and under.
The Marciano Art Foundation (MAF) is housed in a beautifully restored former Scottish Rite Masonic Temple designed by California painter and architect Millard Sheets. Specializing in contemporary art, current MAF exhibits include “Sorcery of Images,” an installation of activist artist Corita Kent’s slides (see “Sorcery of Images opens at Marciano,” November 2025, Page 21.) 4357 Wilshire Blvd.; 424-204-7555; marcianoartfoundation.org. Closed Sundays and Mondays. Free timed-entry reservation required.
NEON ART titled “A panoply of vintage neon.”
Courtesy of Museum of Neon Art
The Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA) and Geffen Contemporary at MOCA are two halves of the same museum. Over the holidays MOCA is showcasing works from their permanent collection that imagine new worlds. In the exhibit “Diary of Flowers: Artists and their Worlds,” through March 1, 2026. “Monuments” at the Geffen Contemporary juxtaposes decommissioned monuments, many of them Confederate, with responses from artists including Kara Walker and Julie Dash, through May 3, 2026. MOCA, 250 S. Grand Ave.; 213-626-6222; moca.org. Closed Mondays. Free. Geffen Contemporary, 152 N. Central Ave. Fee, but free the first Friday of every month.
A recently completed $14 million renovation—including careful restoration of the 115,000 handcrafted tiles by Edith Heath that clad the building and a reimagining of the exterior pathways, greenery, and pond—is reason enough to visit the Norton Simon Museum, but their art collection is stellar, too. On exhibit is “Retrospect: 50 Years at the Norton Simon Museum” in celebration of their milestone anniversary. 411 W. Colorado Blvd., Pasadena. Fee, but free 4 to 7 p.m. on the first Friday of the month. Closed Tuesdays and Wednesdays.
Museums for film fans
You may never go in the water again after visiting the 50th anniversary “Jaws” exhibit at the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures through July 26, 2026. Afterward, immerse yourself in the world of production design with “Barbie to Anna Karenina: The Cinematic worlds of Sarah Greenwood and Katie Spencer,” through Oct. 25, 2026. 6067 Wilshire Blvd.; 323-930-3000; academymuseum.org. Fee for tickets. Closed Tuesdays.
GUERILLA GIRLS EXHIBIT titled “Do women have to be naked to get into the MET Museum?” at the Getty Center.
Photo courtesy of Guerilla Girls
Max Factor was known as the father of modern movie makeup. His former building, where the magic happened, is home to the Hollywood History Museum. Factor’s makeup ephemera fills the first floor. Upstairs, movie and television props, posters, and costumes in the museum’s collection are thematically displayed. 1660 N. Highland Ave.; 323-464-7776; thehollywoodmuseum.com. Fee. Open Wed. to Sun.
Museums dedicated to science and natural world
A kid favorite, the 17,000 square foot California Science Center is chock-full of engaging hands-on exhibits. Test your batting reflexes against a simulated 60 mph pitch in “GAME ON! Science, Sports & Play,” on view through the 2028 Olympics. Catch an IMAX movie, including an insightful look at medical miracles, in “Superhuman Body.” 700 Exposition Park Dr.; 323-724-3623; californiasciencecenter.org. Open daily. Free timed general admission. Fee for IMAX.
THE MUSEUM OF JURASSIC TECHNOLOGY’S “Lives of Perfect Creatures—Dogs of the Soviet Space Program.”
Photo courtesy of the museum and the artist M.A. Peers
The Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Gardens has something for everyone: spectacular themed gardens (including the Chinese garden, dessert garden, and rose garden), rare books and papers in the library, two art museums (one for British and European art, another for American art), and a tea room serving traditional afternoon tea, complete with finger sandwiches, scones, and clotted cream. 1151 Oxford Rd., San Marino; 626-405-2100; huntington.org. Closed Tuesdays. Fee.
A visit to the La Brea Tar Pits and Museum usually comes with a free souvenir: blobs of tar stuck to one’s shoes. The repository of saber-toothed cat, mammoth, and dire wolf bones is planning an expansion by 2028 to better display over 3.5 million fossils and increase the interactive and educational components. Part of the Natural History Museums of Los Angeles County. 5801 Wilshire Blvd.; 213-763-3499; tarpits.org. Closed first Tues. of the month. Fee, but free for L.A. County residents from 3 to 5 p.m. Mon.-Fri.
Gawk at a 75-foot-long green-hued dinosaur at the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County in their new NHM Commons addition. Then learn all there is to know about felines in “Fierce! The Story of Cats” through Feb. 18, 2026. Spectacular rare minerals are on display in “Unearthed: Raw Beauty” from Dec. 13, 2025 through April 18, 2027. 900 Exposition Blvd.; 213-763-3466; nhmlacounty.org. Closed first Tues. of every month. Fee, but free to L.A. County residents from 3 to 5 p.m. Mon.-Fri.
Cars and cartoons
Los Angeles and cars are practically synonymous—and there’s a museum for that. The Petersen Automotive Museum offers both a historical perspective on the development of the automobile and jaw-droppingly gorgeous wheels. In “Performance & Prestige: A History of Aston Martin,” James Bond’s favorite vehicle is in the spotlight. 6060 Wilshire Blvd.; 323-930-2277; petersen.org. Fee. An additional fee includes access to the vault, where over 300 rare cars from around the world are stored. Open daily.
Nearly every family includes a member who would rather read comic books than hit the museums, but here’s a way to make everyone happy. The Skirball Cultural Center is exhibiting the work of Jack Kirby, the comic book artist who created Captain America and co-created Ant-Man, the Black Panther, The Hulk, Iron Man, Thor, and X-Men, among others. “Jack Kirby: Heroes and Humanity” is on through March 1, 2026. 2701 N. Sepulveda Blvd.; skirball.org. Fee, free on Thursdays. Closed Mondays.
Museums with
specialized perspectives
There are too many museums in Los Angeles to cover here, but the following specialized spaces should be noted. The Autry Museum of the American West embraces our western heritage. “Black Cowboys, An American Story” is on view through Jan. 4, 2026. Theautry.org. The Fowler Museum, on the UCLA campus, looks at art and culture through an anthropological lens. Fowler.ucla.edu. Institute of Contemporary Art is dedicated to emerging artist voices and important untold stories. Theicala.org.en. The Museum of Jurassic Technology is possibly the quirkiest museum on the planet. Professing to explore spirituality, metaphysics, mysticism, and science, with displays such as Soviet space dogs, vintage peach pit-carving tools, and ruminations on a futurist’s predictions, it’s impossible to tell what’s real and what is complete fabrication. In every family there will be at least one person who pores over every description—and someone who will run screaming from the place within five minutes. Mjt.org. Museum of Neon Art provides a trip down memory lane with a rotating collection of restored vintage signs along with contemporary artists’ neon works. Neonmona.org. The Museum of Tolerance describes their program as, “using lessons of the Holocaust to build tolerance and learn to better understand our world.” Museumoftolerance.com. The Wende Museum approaches Cold War history from multiple perspectives: cultural, artistic, architectural, and emotional. The current exhibition, which runs through October 2026, examines Caribbean nations’ responses to the Cold War.
Category: Entertainment
