Museums of the Arroyo Day is May 15, 2016

Explore great architecture, historical discoveries, family fun and entertainment at six local museums all for free at Museums of the Arroyo (MOTA) Day on May 15, 2016. Learn Victorian dances, check out blacksmithing and woodworking demonstrations, climb into a retired LAPD helicopter, attend a fine arts marketplace and discover what continues to make the Arroyo Seco a bustling, vibrant arts-driven community that crosses neighborhoods and social boundaries.

Free shuttles connect all museums so visitors can park their car once to experience the arts, culture and history of the Arroyo. (See website www.MuseumsOfTheArroyo.com for parking locations, shuttles routes and other MOTA Day information.)

With so much to do and see – and only a few hours to do it – visitors are encouraged to best plan their visits. MOTA Day takes place from noon to 5 p.m. with last entry at 4 p.m. Special events this year include:

· The Autry’s Historic Southwest Museum Mt. Washington Campus: Visitors can tour the exhibition Four Centuries of Pueblo Pottery, which features more than 100 pieces of rare ceramics, and explore the community garden overlooking the Arroyo Seco. Take a self-guided tour and view a traditional cordage demonstration using native plants. From 1:00 to 4:00 p.m., participate in activities led by eighth grade students from the Arroyo Seco Museum Science Magnet Middle School. The students’ demonstrations and hands-on activities will explore how interactions between people and nature have changed the Arroyo and its inhabitants over time.

• The Gamble House. Visitors can tour the 1908 Arts and Crafts gem that is on the National Registry of Historic Places; free refreshments and musical entertainment. This year marks the 50 years the Gamble House has been open to the public. The newly restored gardens will be available for viewing; a Garden Discovery Cart will help guests explore the plants and materials used in the restoration. Children can do crafts and join in a planting workshop.

• Heritage Square Museum. Guests can watch traditional woodcarving demonstrations. Professionals will be on hand to teach dances of the period to visitors. Children can play with Victorian toys, do crafts, and learn about plants and flowers in the Ford House Kitchen garden. Sew Cranky will be on hand to show how to sew on hand cranked machines. “Pump & Splash” will be onsite for water fun.

• The Los Angeles Police Museum. Visitors can tour the facilities which feature private collections and historical memorabilia that date back to the late 1800s, including a vehicle shelter and a restored 1955 paddy wagon. Kids can climb into a retired police helicopter. Visitors can experience a real jail cell and snap their own free police booking photos. L.A. Vintage Coppers will display a vintage police automobile. Tour three other permanent exhibits about the Onion Field murder, the Patty Hearst kidnapping, and the 1997 North Hollywood shootout.
  
• The Lummis Home and Garden. ​ Visitors can enjoy self-guided tours of the home and gardens. A fine arts market will be set up on the grounds featuring the work of Native American jewelers, painters, sculptors and fiber artists of both traditional and modern styles. Children can play games and do art project as well. In celebration of the 30th Anniversary of the Lummis Garden, a community based garden clean-up will take place in the morning prior to MOTA Day on May 14. (Want to volunteer? Contact Cassadra Reyes at (818) 243-6488.

• The Pasadena Museum of History. Visitors can also view the current exhibition Crossing the Atlantic Quilt by Quilt (which features 30 quilts on display for the first time ever) and Strings Attached: Tradition Meets Contemporary Woven Art (which highlights the work of the Bobbinwinders Guild of the San Gabriel Valley who combine modern and historical techniques of weaving and design. Families can participate in hands-on craft activities; additionally Bobbinwinders Guild members, weavers, sewers and spinners will be on the grounds showing their craftwork. Additionally, guests can take a mini-tour of the recently remodeled Fenyes Mansion as well as the Finnish Folk Museum which is housed in a replica of a 19th Century Finnish farmhouse.

For more information visit www.museumsofthearroyo.com and “like” MOTA (museumsofthearroyo) on Facebook and MuseumsOfArroyo on Twitter. #MOTADay2016