Page 32 - 2015 Travel Guide to California

CA.MUSEUMS & ART
BY JEFF GREENWALD
Infinite Creativity
California’s museums celebrate the human spirit
SAN FRANCISCO
FINE ARTS
The Legion of Honor, above,
commands a dramatic setting
atop Lincoln Park with views of
the grand Pacific Ocean.
Combined with the de Young
Museum in Golden Gate Park,
they form the largest public arts
institution in San Francisco.
Few places in the United States—few
countries in the world, in fact—offer the
astonishing variety of California’s
museums. From the famous Tactile Dome
in San Francisco’s Exploratorium to the
sensuous Asian gods and goddesses at
Pasadena’s Norton Simon Museum, there’s
a gallery for every interest and obsession.
California has provided fertile ground for
artists of every stripe, whether their
medium is oil paint or HD video displays.
And because it’s such a diverse state,
California’s museums promote and cele-
brate a broad spectrum of cultures.
Whether you’re inspired by Diego Rivera’s
murals, Rodin’s Thinker or the moons of
Saturn, California has a museum that will
enlighten and inspire you.
The Arts
Visiting Los Angeles? It’s easy to spend
hours gleefully lost in the galleries at the
Los Angeles County Museum of Art
(LACMA). The museum always features
some great temporary exhibitions, but don’t
miss their permanent collections of Asian,
African and Japanese art. Deeper down-
town, the Museum of Contemporary Art
(MoCA) and Geffen Contemporary show-
case the best in 20th- and 21st-century
painting, sculpture and conceptual artwork.
But the biggest art event of 2015 will cer-
STEVE WHITTAKER, FINE ARTS MUSEUMS OF SF. OPPOSITE: JORG HACKEMANN/SHUTTERSTOCK; ORHAN CAM/SHUTTERSTOCK
30 2015 T R AV E L G U I D E TO C A L I F O R N I A