The Getty Villa | Photo: Wikimedia Commons
Rich in originality, aesthetic beauty and an appreciation for the arts, Los Angeles is home to an astounding collection of over 300 cultural institutions. The fourth annual Discover the Arts in Los Angeles, a partnership between LA INC., Wells Fargo and the Department of Cultural Affairs, offers the perfect opportunity to sample LA’s world class visual and performing arts at a great discount.From January 16 to April 30, 2012, nearly 50 cultural attractions across Los Angeles are offering up to 50% off on admission, gift store purchases and more.
New for this year are specially designed “show & save” cards, available at Wells Fargo branches and Ralph’s supermarkets, that enable consumers to receive discounts throughout Discover the Arts without having to print out coupons, as was the case in years past. However, consumers can still opt to download special coupons for individual organizations.
Following are just a few of the dozens of participating museums and attractions.
Discover the Arts in Los Angeles: History, Culture, Science & More.
Dorothy Chandler Pavilion | Photo by JoeInSouthernCA via Flickr
The Music Center - Performing Arts Center of Los Angeles County is one of the largest and most highly regarded performing arts centers in the United States. Every year, almost 2 million people visit its four main venues - Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, Ahmanson Theatre, Mark Taper Forum, and Walt Disney Concert Hall - along with its vibrant collection of outdoor theatres, plazas, and gardens. Experience performances by the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Los Angeles Master Chorale, Center Theatre Group, LA Opera and Dance at the Music Center.
Gustavo Dudamel | Photo by Sylvia Lleli
A heavenly sounding orchestra in the City of Angels? Not surprising. Even better is experiencing the world renowned Los Angeles Philharmonic at a discounted ticket price. Music Director Gustavo Dudamel has inspired rock star level fervor among LA music lovers: during his inaugural performance in October 2009, the audience erupted in a ten-minute standing ovation at the end of Mahler’s First Symphony. Dudamel was named Gramophone 2011 Artist of the Year, in Gramophone’s only publicly-voted award. Dudamel won this worldwide online public vote ahead of musicians including Lang Lang, Mitsuko Uchida, Jonas Kaufmann and Alina Ibragimova.
Photo by GRAMMY Museum
The GRAMMY Museum’s imaginative mix of memorabilia and high-tech exhibits is a Fender-smashing success, and with the Discover the Arts discount, you can afford to bring the whole band along on this fascinating journey into the history of music. Artifacts include a collection of Michael Jackson’s famous beaded jackets and a letter home from Buddy Holly, while interactive exhibits help you map the developments of dozens of music genres through the decades. Currently on display in the Special Exhibits Gallery: Say It Loud: The Genius of James Brown (through January 22, 2012); Andrea Bocelli: The Story Of A Voice (through Feb. 12, 2012); and George Harrison: Living in the Material World (through March 25, 2012).
Dinosaur Hall, Natural History Museum | Photo by veganbakesale via Flickr
The Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County (NHM) has amassed one of the world’s most extensive and valuable collections of natural and cultural history — more than 35 million objects, some as old as 4.5 billion years. Its curatorial staff not only cares for those collections, but uses them for groundbreaking scientific and historic research. The landmark Dinosaur Hall opened in 2011 and established the Museum as the definitive West Coast destination for dinosaurs. The opening of Dinosaur Hall is part of the greatest transformation in the Museum's history. When NHM celebrates its 100th anniversary in 2013, the Museum will have re-imagined seven galleries, installed five new permanent exhibitions and reclaimed approximately 3.5 acres of green space to create an innovative outdoor learning laboratory in the heart of the city.
Cirque du Soleil ® made its American debut in Los Angeles over 20 years ago. Now, the globally acclaimed production company has returned to LA with an exclusive extravaganza in its permanent home at the famed Kodak Theatre at Hollywood & Highland Center. IRIS, A Journey through the World of Cinema™ is the story of two young heroes who experience the art of cinema, as only Cirque du Soleil could tell it. IRIS features a cast of 72 performers bringing together dance, acrobatics, live video, filmed sequences and animation and taking audiences into the heart of the moviemaking process. IRIS is directed by Philippe Decouflé, with music by Oscar-nominated composer Danny Elfman.
NOTE: IRIS will be dark from Jan. 22-Mar. 24, 2012 to make way for the Academy Awards.
“Urban Light” at LACMA | Photo by Jason Fris via Flickr
The Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) is the largest encyclopedic art museum in the western United States. LACMA attracts nearly a million visitors annually to its seven-building complex in LA’s Miracle Mile District. Its collections include more than 100,000 works that span the history of art from ancient times to the present. The museum’s strengths include its holdings of Asian art, Latin American art, and one of the most significant Islamic art collections in the world. LACMA is undergoing a multi-phase, ten-year expansion and renovation known as the Transformation, designed by the Renzo Piano Building Workshop. Completed projects include: the Broad Contemporary Art Museum (BCAM), a three-story, 60,000 square foot space that opened in 2008; and in 2010, the Lynda and Stewart Resnick Exhibition Pavilion, the largest purpose-built, naturally lit, open-plan museum space in the world.
Getty Center | Photo by Laura Padgett via Flickr
The J. Paul Getty Museum is a program of the J. Paul Getty Trust and welcomes visitors to view works of art at two world famous locations: the Getty Center in Brentwood and the Getty Villa in Malibu. The $1.3 billion Getty Center houses European paintings, drawings, sculpture, illuminated manuscripts, decorative arts, and European and American photographs. Among the works on display is Irises by Vincent van Gogh. The Getty Center was designed by acclaimed architect Richard Meier, with a central garden created by artist Robert Irwin. The center's hilltop location offers spectacular panoramic views of Los Angeles. The center draws 1.3 million visitors annually, making it one of the most visited museums in the country.
The Getty Villa is an educational center and museum dedicated to the study of the arts and cultures of ancient Greece, Rome, and Etruria. The Villa houses some 44,000 works of art, with 1200 antiquities from the Museum’s permanent collection on display, arranged by themes including Gods and Goddesses, Dionysos and the Theater, and Stories of the Trojan War. The Getty Villa is modeled after a first-century Roman country house, the Villa dei Papiri in Herculaneum, Italy.
Gene Autry & Champion, "Back in the Saddle Again." | Photo by marbla123
The Autry National Center, formed in 2003 by the merger of the Autry Museum of Western Heritage with the Southwest Museum of the American Indian and the Women of the West Museum, is an intercultural history center dedicated to exploring and sharing the stories, experiences, and perceptions of the diverse peoples of the American West. Located in Griffith Park, the Autry’s collection of over 500,000 pieces of art and artifacts, which includes the collection of the Southwest Museum of the American Indian, is one of the largest and most significant in the United States. From February 4 to March 18, 2012, the Autry National Center presents Masters of the American West Fine Art Exhibition and Sale, considered the country's most important Western art show.
The Aquarium of the Pacific is the fourth largest aquarium in the country, displaying over 11,000 animals in more than 50 exhibits that represent the diversity of the Pacific Ocean. Located on a 5-acre site on Rainbow Harbor in Long Beach, the Aquarium explores the waters of Southern California and Baja, the Northern Pacific, and the Tropical Pacific in 19 major habitats and 32 focus exhibits. Each year more than 1.5 million people visit the Aquarium, which also offers educational programs for people of all ages, from hands-on activities to lectures by leading scientists. The Aquarium of the Pacific was the first among museums, zoos, and aquariums in the nation to register its greenhouse gases and is a leader in green practices, including its LEED platinum Watershed classroom and its commitment to grow without increasing its carbon footprint.
