
L.A.’s thriving cultural scene offers thought-provoking creativity in every shape and form imaginable. But while there are tons of world-class museums in Los Angeles to lose yourself in all year round, there are a few that stand out as must-sees. From The Broad to LACMA, here are the best museum installations and art exhibits in Los Angeles that you simply cannot miss.
⚠️ Important: The following museums have been affected due to the ongoing L.A. wildfire crisis.
- The Skirball Cultural Center has reopened
- The Getty Center has reopened
- The Getty Villa is closed until further notice
Best in Low
This new Petersen Museum exhibition takes us through the craft of lowrider culture, including paint, metal finishings, interiors, and hydraulics. Now that cruising bans have been lifted in California, lowriders are rolling into a new era on local streets. Learn all about the artistry and craftsmanship involved in creating these immaculate vehicles.
🗓️ Dates: Open now through April 2025
📍 Location: Mid-Wilshire – Petersen Museum, 6060 Wilshire Blvd, Los Angeles
🎟️ Tickets: Best in Low is included with general admission tickets to the Petersen Museum
Sonic Playground
The GRAMMY Museum is welcoming a brand-new exhibition where music lovers can explore 17 interactive music-making spaces. Visitors are welcome to get a close-up look at the music industry from the point of view of a rapper, singer, producer, music supervisor, or voice actor. The hands-on adventure includes cutting-edge technology that guests of all ages can enjoy.
🗓️ Dates: Just opened! Feb. 14, 2025 – ongoing
📍 Location: Downtown LA – GRAMMY Museum, 800 W Olympic Blvd, Los Angeles, CA
🎟️ Tickets: Sonic Playground is included with general admission tickets to the GRAMMY Museum.
Mapping the Infinite: Cosmologies Across Cultures
LACMA collaborated with Carnegie Observatories and the Griffith Observatory for this exhibition exploring the history of cosmologies. Learn about how different cultures, time periods, and religions across history have attempted to explain the universe, from its origins to its greater meaning.
🗓️ Dates: Closing soon! Oct. 20, 2024 – Mar. 2, 2025
📍 Location: Mid-Wilshire – LACMA, 5905 Wilshire Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90036
🎟️ Tickets: Mapping the Infinite is included with general admission tickets to LACMA.
Kaos Theory: The Afrokosmic Media Arts of Ben Caldwell
Celebrate the stunning archive of Ben Caldwell, a community-minded filmmaker and producer based in LA. A + P collaborated with the California African American Museum to present this retrospective of Caldwell’s work, comprising a selection of works including photography, film, music, performance, and interactive media.
🗓️ Dates: Closing soon! Oct. 12, 2024 – Mar. 8, 2025
📍 Location: Leimert Park – Art + Practice Exhibition Space, 3401 W. 43rd Place, Los Angeles, CA 90008
🎟️ Tickets: Kaos Theory is included with free admission to A + P.
Alice Coltrane, Monument Eternal
This exhibition celebrates the legacy of jazz musician Alice Coltrane. By pairing archival ephemera from Coltrane herself with contemporary art by American artists, visitors will learn about how Coltrane’s work connects with spiritual transcendence and sonic innovation.
🗓️ Dates: Just opened! Feb. 9 – May 4, 2025
📍 Location: Westwood – Hammer Museum, 10899 Wilshire Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90024
🎟️ Tickets: Alice Coltrane is included with free admission to the Hammer Museum.
Animation and Me
The Academy Museum of Motion Pictures invites you to explore the behind-the-scenes process of animation, taking you through the history of the art form with perspectives from different studios. The museum exhibition is geared towards younger audiences and incorporates interactive elements for a fun and engaging experience.
🗓️ Dates: Dec. 7, 2024 – Apr. 6, 2025
📍 Location: Beverly Hills – Academy Museum of Motion Pictures, LACMA West, 6067 Wilshire Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90036
🎟️ Tickets: Animation and Me is viewable with general admission tickets to the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures.
Cyberpunk: Envisioning Possible Futures Through Cinema
Cyberpunk, a science fiction subgenre centered on near-future scenarios, provides some of the most thought-provoking images and scenes in cinema. This new exhibition from the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures presents artifacts from the industry’s most iconic cyberpunk films including Blade Runner, Tron, and Ghost in the Shell. Writer-director Alex Rivera adds a compelling voiceover throughout the presentation, delving into the genre’s origins, new directions, and future implications.
🗓️ Dates: Oct. 6, 2024 – Apr. 12, 2026
📍 Location: Mid-Wilshire – Academy Museum of Motion Pictures, 6067 Wilshire Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90036
🎟️ Tickets: Cyberpunk is viewable with general admission tickets to the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures.
RetroBlakesberg: The Music Never Stopped
San Francisco photographer Jay Blakesberg has captured three decades of music history on film between 1978 and 2008. This magnificent exhibition in LA presents over 150 of his most exemplary photographs depicting performances from a range of artists including E-40, Dr. Dre, Nirvana, Radiohead, Tracy Chapman, The Grateful Dead, Neil Young, Green Day, Ice-T, Flaming Lips, and dozens of others.
🗓️ Dates: Nov. 8, 2024 – June 15, 2025
📍 Location: Downtown LA – GRAMMY Museum, 800 W Olympic Blvd, Los Angeles, CA
🎟️ Tickets: RetroBlakesberg is viewable with general admission tickets to the GRAMMY Museum.
Olafur Eliasson: OPEN
Icelandic-Danish artist Olafur Eliasson has worked with light and sculpture throughout his impressive career, and this new installation in LA was designed specifically for MOCA’s Geffen Contemporary space. Interact with a series of sensory experiences and optical devices that play with light, shadow, perception, and participation.
🗓️ Dates: Sept. 15, 2024 – July 6, 2025
📍 Location: Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA) – 250 S Grand Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90012
🎟️ Tickets: Viewable with general admission tickets to MOCA
Digital Witness: Revolutions in Design, Photography, and Film
LACMA presents a fascinating examination of the world of digital manipulation tools. See over 150 works by nearly 200 artists dating back to the 1980s, spanning media from photography to graphic design and visual effects.
🗓️ Dates: Nov. 24, 2024 – Jul. 13, 2025
📍 Location: Mid-Wilshire – LACMA, 5905 Wilshire Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90036
🎟️ Tickets: Viewable with general admission tickets to LACMA.
Color in Motion: Chromatic Explorations of Cinema
Learn about the history of color in cinema through this interesting exhibition at the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures. Follow larger concepts of visual storytelling with close-up access to famous movie artifacts including Dorothy’s ruby slippers from the The Wizard of Oz, Jamie Foxx’s blue costume from Django Unchained, Jack Nicholson’s red jacket from The Shining, and more. The exhibition concludes with an interactive color arcade.
🗓️ Dates: Oct. 6, 2024 – Jul. 13, 2025
📍 Location: Mid-Wilshire – Academy Museum of Motion Pictures, LACMA West, 6067 Wilshire Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90036
🎟️ Tickets: Viewable with general admission tickets to the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures
Diane von Furstenberg: Woman Before Fashion
If you’re a lover of fashion history, the Skirball’s Diane von Furstenberg showcase is a must this year. The US debut exhibition presents over sixty pieces from the archives of Belgian fashion designer Diane von Furstenberg, including her iconic wrap dress which celebrates its 50th anniversary this year. Explore four thematic sections diving into the designer’s life and work, presented through the use ephemera, media pieces, fabric swatches, and more.
🗓️ Dates: Oct. 17, 2024 – Aug. 31, 2025
📍 Location: Santa Monica Mountains – Skirball Cultural Center, 2701 N Sepulveda Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90049
🎟️ Tickets: Diane von Furstenberg is viewable with general admission tickets to the Skirball Cultural Center.
Reframing Dioramas: The Art of Preserving Wilderness
The Natural History Museum is famous for its life-size diorama halls, displaying over 75 different habitats representing global ecosystems including the Arctic tundra, the jungles of Tanzania, and the Great Plains of North America. To honor the 100th anniversary of the dioramas, the NHM will reopen a diorama hall that has been closed for decades. See newly restored dioramas that showcase this unique union of art and science.
🗓️ Dates: Sept. 15, 2024 – Sept. 15, 2025
📍 Location: Exposition Park – Natural History Museum, 900 Exposition Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90007
🎟️ Tickets: Reframing Dioramas is viewable with general admission tickets to the Natural History Museum.
On The Red Carpet
See your favorite red carpet looks from the most recent GRAMMYs and Latin GRAMMYs at this brand new ongoing exhibition. Look out for Lizzo’s massive red rose gown from Dolce & Gabbana, Shania Twain’s black and white polka dot suit by Harris Reed, and Harry Styles’ colorful patchwork jumpsuit by Egonlab.
🗓️ Dates: Nov. 4, 2024 – ongoing
📍 Location: Downtown LA – GRAMMY Museum, 800 W Olympic Blvd, Los Angeles, CA
🎟️ Tickets: On The Red Carpet is viewable with general admission tickets to the GRAMMY Museum.
Yayoi Kusama’s Infinity Mirror Rooms
Yayoi Kusama’s Infinity Mirror Rooms are turning heads from San Francisco to New York, and we’re lucky to have two of them available to visit for free right here in LA.
- Infinity Mirrored Room—The Souls of Millions of Light Years Away: An enclosed mirror-lined space filled with flashing LED lights that visitors physically step into. Since guests enter the space one group at a time, The Broad requires that you make a timed reservation to foster the best possible experience. Find it on the first floor of The Broad.
- Longing for Eternity: A mirrored chamber filled with pulsating neon lights that guests peer into one by one. There’s no need to make a reservation for this, so just join the line on the third floor.
🗓️ Dates: Ongoing
📍 Location: Downtown LA – The Broad, 221 S Grand Ave, Los Angeles
🎟️ Tickets: Free to visit at The Broad, but a reservation is required for Infinity Mirrored Room—The Souls of Millions of Light Years Away.
Leonardo da Vinci: Inventor. Artist Dreamer.
Discover 30 innovative inventions drawn from Leonardo da Vinci’s drawings, brought to life by contemporary Italian artisans and displayed in a stunning presentation at the California Science Center. The exciting LA exhibit features famous contraptions including the Flying Bicycle, Mechanical Bat, Great Kite, the Helical Air Screw, and the 33-foot-wide Mechanical Eagle. Over a dozen of the presented models are built at full scale, and many of the works are presented alongside an interactive activity where you can test your engineering skills.
🗓️ Dates: Ongoing
📍 Location: Exposition Park – California Science Center, 700 Exposition Park Dr., Los Angeles
🎟️ Tickets: Leonardo da Vinci: Inventor. Artist. Dreamer. requires special admission tickets.
Expansive Presentation of Andy Warhol
The Broad presents a showcase of work by legendary American artist Andy Warhol, who is best known as a leading influence in the pop art genre. This installation takes the viewer through 26 of Warhol’s works, eleven of which are on view for the first time at The Broad. The major artwork to seek out is Liz [Early Colored Liz], which is a silkscreened image of Elizabeth Taylor from 1963. Other items on display include Warhol’s iconic Campbell’s Soup Can (Clam Chowder – Manhattan Style) [Ferus Type] and 40 Gold Marilyns.
🗓️ Dates: Ongoing
📍 Location: Downtown LA – The Broad, 221 S Grand Ave, Los Angeles
🎟️ Tickets: Expansive Presentation of Andy Warhol is free to visit at The Broad.
Cars of Film and Television
This fascinating ongoing exhibition by the Petersen Museum is one of LA’s most unique museum displays. They display a constantly-rotating selection of famous vehicles from film and television, such as the 1989 Batmobile to the 1958 Plymouth Fury from the film Christine.
🗓️ Dates: Ongoing
📍 Location: Mid-Wilshire – Petersen Museum, 6060 Wilshire Blvd, Los Angeles
🎟️ Tickets: Viewable with general admission tickets to the Petersen Museum
Whether you’re an art lover, hosting visitors, or just want to change up your weekend plans, we love these Los Angeles exhibitions for a chance to experience the city’s thriving arts and culture scene. Which one will you see next?