Dozens Of Southland Museums To Offer Free Admission This Weekend

LOS ANGELES, CA — Museums across the Southland will offer free admission Saturday as part of the 15th annual Museums Free- for-All.

In all, more than 40 local museums will participate, including the California Science Center, the La Brea Tar Pits, the Pomona College Museum of Art, the Los Angeles Museum of the Holocaust, the Descanso Gardens, the Los Angeles Museum of Contemporary Art, and the Orange County Museum of Art. The annual tradition encourages southlanders to soak in the arts, and it also gives families a chance to enjoy a day at the museum that would otherwise be cost prohibitive. With the free admission, however, comes larger than usual crowds and lines, especially at the children's museums.

"It's a great chance to revisit old favorites or discover something new," said Jennifer Caballero, president of SoCal Museums and marketing director for the Skirball Cultural Center. "I'm always impressed by the range of cultural offerings. From cars to Cold War artifacts to modern art, there's something for everyone."

The free offer applies only to general museum admission. It does not include specially ticketed exhibitions. Some museums also charge for parking.

A complete listing of museums and more information is available online at

The participating museums, courtesy of SoCal Museums at www.socalmuseums.org include:

Academy Museum of Motion Pictures
(Museum opening in 2020. See activity details.)
American Museum of Ceramic Art
Automobile Driving Museum
Autry Museum of the American West
Bowers Museum
The Broad*
California African American Museum
California Science Center
Cayton Children’s Museum
Columbia Memorial Space Center
Craft Contemporary
Descanso Gardens
Forest Lawn Museum
Fowler Museum at UCLA
Frederick R. Weisman Museum of Art
Getty Center Museum
Getty Villa Museum
Glendora Historical Society
Hammer Museum
Heroes Hall Veterans Museum
ICA LA
Japanese American National Museum
Kidspace Children’s Museum
La Brea Tar Pits at tarpits.org/tpfreeforall
LA Plaza de Cultura y Artes
LACMA
Los Angeles County Fire Museum
Los Angeles Museum of the Holocaust
MOCA (Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles)
Muckenthaler Cultural Center
Museum of Tolerance**
Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County
General admission only; free tickets available at nhm.org/freeforall
OCMA (Orange County Museum of Art)
Pomona College Museum of Art
Rancho Santa Ana Botanic Garden
Santa Barbara Historical Museum
Santa Barbara Museum of Art
Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History
(Please note free admission is for the museum only, not the Sea Center.)
Skirball Cultural Center
(Let us know you’re interested in visiting on Free-For-All Day!)
Sunnylands Center & Gardens
The International Printing Museum
The Wende Museum
Torrance Art Museum
USC Fisher Museum of Art
USC Pacific Asia Museum

Valley Relics Museum

City News Service contributed to this report.