There are so many great museums around Southern California that everyone needs to see. And now that places are starting to open up again, tickets are becoming available online and galleries, one by one are being shown to the public. Here are a few places that are open and what they will be presenting in their galleries.
LACMA
Everyone who has taken photos in SoCal knows this iconic spot because of their dozens of lamp posts. Not only is this an amazing museum, but it is a great photo opprotunity. LACMA reopened their galleries to the public April 1st. Their visitors are able to enjoy some exhibitions that were hanging when the museum closed last March, along with a few shows such as Hill Viola: Slowly Turning Narrative, Yoshitomo Nara, NOTI: Throwing Voices, and many more. Tickets are released in blocks once a week to help comply with mandatory capacity restrictions. Member tickets for the week ahead are available on Wednesdays and public tickets are released on Thursdays.
The Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Garden
The Huntington museum opened their doors on April 17th to a few indoor gallery spaces. These galleries will include a newly-restored The Blue Boy by Thomas Gainsborough and half of the Hammer Museum’s “Made in L.A. 2020: a version” biennial; with the other half being presented at the Hammer Museum. All of the Huntington’s galleries have been closed since March 2020 as a result of the pandemic, but with county public health permission to safely reopen museums, the Huntington will open once again and welcome visitors to only three galleries.
Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, La Brea Tar Pits, and William S. Hart Museum
Indoor spaces at the NHM opened on April 1st. Exhibitions on display at the reopening included Rise Up L.A.: A Century od Votes for Women and Spiky, Hairy, Shiny: Insects of L.A. The La Brea Tar Pits reopened April 8th, with tickets on sale since April 1st.
Travel Town Museum
Travel town at Griffith Park opened for visitors on April 17th. They will only be open on weekends from 10am to 4pm, and there are no reservations available.
The Norton Simon Museum
Just Opened Up! They are now open from 12 – 5 pm on Monday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. The current exhibitions that are open are the Paul Gauguin’s ‘The Swineherd’, Beyond the World We Know: Abstraction in Photography. Exhibitions coming later this summer is the Unseen Picasso, The Expresive Body: Memory, Devotion, Desire (1400-1750), and the Alternate Realities: Alton, Diebenkorn, Lodbell, Woelffer.
Long Beach Museum of Art
The Long Beach Museum of Art and LBMA Downtown reopened at 25% capacity on April 1st and is now at 50%. LBMA is now featuring a special exhibit, CA Designed 1955 and Decade by Decade: Women Artists of California. The waterside Claire’s at the Museum restaurant at LBMA reopened in March.
