Admit it. We’ve all made the same excuse. We would go out and get cultured, but it can get expensive—it’s $15 dollars to get into LACMA, and that’s before parking costs. So every once in a while, the museums of LA team up and offer a day where even those drowned in student-loan debt can go stretch their minds. It sure beats sitting at home. This Saturday will be a free-for-all at 20 LA museums, so in order to make the most of it, we’ve done the research for you. Without any more buildup, here are three museums we highly recommend.
If you’ve ever realized that you just spent more than an hour watching a panel of the actors on you favorite TV show, you have some experience with The Paley Center for Media. So instead of lying in your bed switching between tabs and listening to the behind-the-scenes jokes on Mad Men, hit up the Beverly Hills museum. There you’ll find relics from television shows from the past fifty years and consoles to watch your favorite shows or listen to radio shows. And with more than 90,000 programs, the Paley Center has Netflix beat by a long shot.
Science hasn’t proven it yet, but Angelenos know we live in the greatest state in the union. The Pasadena Museum of California celebrates our home and the history behind it. Right now they have three exhibits, most notably Flora Kao: Homestead, a recreation of the shacks our predecessors inhabited in the late ’30s. The walls are projected onto hanging canvas, so the dilapidation and rebuilding over time can be shown. The other current exhibits are Serigrafia and Picturing Mexico: Alfredo Ramos Martinez in California. Serigrafia highlights Latino culture in California with screen-printed images, while Picturing Mexico shows a Mexican’s experiences in California in the 1920s.
MOCA is one of the most well-known museums in the city, and for good reason. Right now it’s hosting two exhibitions in addition to its permanent exhibit, and both—Room to Live and Bob Mizer & Tom of Finland—are worth experiencing. There’s so much to see at MOCA, you could easily get lost for hours, so make sure to give yourself enough time.
For a complete list of Saturday’s free museums, check out MuseumLA’s website.