Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA)

Before You Step Inside

Urban Light is the first thing most visitors see, and it earns the attention. Chris Burden’s 2008 installation lines the museum’s Wilshire Boulevard entrance with 202 restored cast-iron streetlamps, each one salvaged from cities across Southern California. No two are identical. At dusk they glow warm gold against the Miracle Mile skyline. The installation is free to walk through at any hour and doesn’t require admission. It draws photographers, couples, families, and people who have no plans to enter the museum at all.

On the west side of the campus, Michael Heizer’s Levitated Mass completes the pair of landmark outdoor works. A 340-ton granite boulder sits balanced in a concrete channel over a narrow walkway you can pass beneath. The effect is genuinely unsettling in the best way. It, too, is free to view.

The Collection

LACMA’s permanent holdings are genuinely wide-ranging. European painting and sculpture anchor the central galleries, with works by Rembrandt, Rubens, and Magritte among the holdings. The Islamic art collection is among the strongest in the country. Ancient Egyptian and Near Eastern galleries offer context going back thousands of years, and the pre-Columbian collection is a highlight that many visitors overlook. The Pavilion for Japanese Art, a standalone building designed specifically to channel filtered natural light onto fragile works on paper and lacquerware, is a quiet and carefully considered space that rewards an unhurried visit.

The Broad Contemporary Art Museum (BCAM) handles large-scale contemporary work, including pieces that couldn’t fit in a conventional gallery. The Resnick Exhibition Pavilion cycles through major traveling and thematic exhibitions, typically with an additional admission charge beyond general entry.

Right Now: What to Expect

The east campus has been under construction since 2020. The new David Geffen Galleries, designed by Swiss architect Peter Zumthor, open to the public on May 4, 2026. Until then, the existing buildings remain fully operational. But the campus is currently less intuitive to navigate than usual, signage sometimes feels sparse near the construction perimeter, and the full sense of the campus won’t return until the new building is open.

When it does open, it will be a significant moment. The 900-foot-long concrete structure spans Wilshire Boulevard and places the entire permanent collection on a single level, organized not by medium or period but by the world’s oceans, framing art through the movement of cultures across water. The collection on view will include crowd favorites: Henri Matisse’s La Gerbe, Georges de La Tour’s The Magdalen with the Smoking Flame, and Vincent van Gogh’s Tarascon Stagecoach.

Programs and Outdoor Events

From April through October, Jazz at LACMA brings free outdoor concerts to the Smidt Welcome Plaza every Friday evening. Latin Sounds, a Saturday evening series, runs through the summer. Both are included with general admission and tend to draw real crowds, so plan to arrive before the music starts if you want a decent spot. Docent-led tours cover the permanent collection and current exhibitions; check the website for the current schedule.

Practical Logistics

Plan two to three hours minimum, more if a major exhibition is running. The campus spans several buildings and requires real walking between them. Timed-entry tickets are required and worth booking in advance, especially on weekends. Parking in the Pritzker Garage on 6th Street runs $23 per vehicle; metered street parking exists along 6th Street and Wilshire Boulevard. The museum is reachable by Metro and will eventually sit above the Purple Line Wilshire/Fairfax station, currently under construction.