Love letter to LA: standout museums and cultural gems

If you’re planning your next adventure, the city of Los Angeles has a variety of world-class institutions and unique locations to offer. Explore contemporary art at LACMA, neon signs at MONA, botanical beauty at Descanso Gardens, or prehistoric wonders at the La Brea Tar Pits. You can learn more about these exciting cultural venues below, including highlights to see on your visit and standout content to access in their digital guides.

Founded in 1981 by artists Lili Lakich and Richard Jenkins, the Museum of Neon Art (MONA) in Glendale is one of the longest-running artist-operated museums in the world. It exhibits and collects electric, kinetic, and light-based artworks, alongside Los Angeles vintage neon signs, illuminating the past, present, and future of light artistry. Currently on view, Michael Flechtner’s solo exhibition Ecce Artifex features his three-dimensional light sculptures and visual puns.

 

What are some highlights from the MONA collection?

• A replica of the “Central Perk” coffee shop sign from the TV sitcom Friends
• The iconic La Palma Chicken, which welcomed customers to the chicken shop for nearly 40 years
• Cover Up, Cowboy, created to promote mask-wearing during the COVID pandemic
• Bound Diver by Craig Kraft, made in collaboration with Bonnie Burnau during her battle with breast cancer

 

What unique content can I find in the MONA guide? You can:

• Learn about the history of neon technology and watch how neon is made
• Follow neon walking tours of Universal CityWalk, Echo Park, and Pomona to see signage and architectural elements in the wild
• Join the award-winning Neon Cruise for a bus tour of the nighttime attractions in Los Angeles and Hollywood
• Listen to visual descriptions of selected highlights from the MONA collection

As the only Ice Age fossil site being actively excavated in a city, La Brea Tar Pits offers an opportunity to watch paleontologists uncover new discoveries in real time. Since the early 1900s, there have been over 100 excavations, revealing animals, plants, and insects that were trapped in sticky asphalt over the last 60,000 years. 

 

What are some highlights of a visit to La Brea Tar Pits?

• The Lake Pit, left over from asphalt mining in the late 1800s, with its recreation of a trapped mammoth that can also be experienced in AR
• Live fossil excavations in Project 23, the newest active site, or in Pit 91, which was first discovered by paleontologists in 1915
• Landmark finds on display in the museum, including mammoths, sabre-toothed cats, giant sloths, and dire wolf skulls
• Ice Age Encounters, a family-friendly multimedia performance featuring a life-size sabre-toothed cat puppet

 

What unique content will I find in the La Brea Tar Pits guide? You can:

• Learn about the giant sloth and short-faced bear statues, which were added to the site in the 1930s
• Discover the Fossil Lab, where volunteers and scientists clean and conserve specimens
• Watch curators report new research findings, such as the role of wildfires in extinction and survival, or how Ice Age plants responded to climate change

The GRAMMY Museum pays tribute to our collective musical heritage, celebrating the diversity of the music industry and spotlighting hit songs from today and yesterday. Their permanent collection traces the sonic evolution of recorded sound from scratchy records to immersive audio, and features pop culture artifacts from musical legends. Current exhibitions include a showcase of GRAMMY Awards fashion, 30 years of music photography, and the legacy of Luther Vandross.

What are some highlights of a visit to the museum?

• An array of historic musical artifacts, including: Taylor Swift’s 2010 GRAMMY,  Flavor Flav’s clock, Billie Eilish’s Barbie-inspired outfit, and Elvis Presley’s 1970s shirt
• The interactive music exhibit Sonic Playground, where visitors can produce beats and mixing loops, perform on stage with instruments, or create soundtracks for video games
• The rooftop Ray Charles Terrace, which offers 180-degree views of downtown LA and the Hollywood sign

What unique content can I access in the GRAMMY Museum guide? You can:

• Hear the story of the mixtape and its role in local hip-hop culture
• Learn about the history of the Latin GRAMMY Awards from curator Isabelia Herrera, whose audio guide includes Celia Cruz’s wig and Los Tigres del Norte’s jackets
• Watch a short film about the making of Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” music video

Founded in 1979, the Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA) is committed to the collection and presentation of significant art created in all media since 1940. The museum has two locations in Los Angeles – MOCA Grand Avenue and The Geffen Contemporary at MOCA – in addition to significant public art, such as Michael Heizler’s Double Negative in the Nevada desert. Look out for the upcoming Monuments exhibition (opens October 23, 2025) which displays decommissioned monuments with contemporary artworks by Kara Walker, Torkwase Dyson, and Hank Willis Thomas, among others.

What are some highlights of visiting MOCA?

• Landmark works by contemporary artists, including Louise Nevelson, Donald Judd, Belkis Ayón, Do-Ho Suh, and Senga Nengudi
• Public art installations such as Chas’ Stainless Steel by Nancy Rubins, which includes scrapped airplane parts, or the glass cubes of Bill and Coo at MOCA’s Nest by Larry Bell
• Family-friendly activities including a mini-mart inspired by Claes Oldenburg’s The Store and a Kid Corner with sensory play for toddlers

 

What unique content can I access in the MOCA guide? You can:

• Take an audio tour of the exhibition Fictions in Display to discover details and form personal connections with the works
• Watch Artists on Artists, a video in which Nevine Mahmoud talks about Scott Burton’s work
• Learn about Little Tokyo, the neighborhood surrounding The Geffen Contemporary at MOCA

Whether you’re an art aficionado or a music maestro, a fossil fancier or a plant person, Los Angeles has a cultural institution to suit your mood – download Bloomberg Connects to find a new favorite.