SoCal Museums Free-for-All: Free museum day coming to L.A.

More than 30 museums across Southern California will throw open their doors on March 23, and the price of admission will be free.

The SoCal Museums Free-for-All spans multiple cities and covers a gamut of artistic interests, including pop culture, cultural heritage, science and history. The offer for March 23, a Saturday, is good for general admission but does not cover parking or any special ticketed events, according to event organizers.

Participating institutions include the Autry Museum of the American West, the Hammer Museum, LA Plaza de Cultura y Artes and the Skirball Cultural Center.

Visitors should consult with each museum before heading out, because some locations strongly encourage making reservations and others require ticket reservations. The Museum of Tolerance in Pico-Robertson will be participating in the event on March 24.

The SoCal Museums group is made up of marketing and communications employees in the museum industry and includes museums from across the region. This year’s participants are:

• The Academy Museum of Motion Pictures
  Reservations are encouraged; visit the museum website. Current exhibits include “John Waters: Pope of Trash,” “Significant Movies and Moviemakers: Lourdes Portillo” and “The Art of Moviemaking: The Godfather.”
• The American Museum of Ceramic Art
  Reservations are required; visit its website.
• The Armory Center for the Arts
• The Autry Museum of the American West
  Reservations are required; visit its website.
• The Benton Museum of Art at Pomona College
• Bowers Museum
• The Broad
  Reservations are encouraged; visit its website.
• California Botanic Garden
• The California Science Center
  The museum features the space shuttle Endeavour, and although it isn’t open to the public yet, visitors can marvel at the craft while visiting other exhibits.
• The Carolyn Campagna Kleefeld Contemporary Art Museum
• Catalina Museum for Art & History
• The Cayton Children’s Museum
  Reservations are required; visit its website.
• The Columbia Memorial Space Center
• Craft Contemporary
  Formerly the Craft and Folk Art Museum, the museum on the Miracle Mile currently features the exhibit “Art Iran: Falling Into Language.” According to the museum, the exhibit presents “nine diaspora Iranian artists who engage diverse forms of the Persian alphabet, handwriting, text, and fragments as a way to remain connected to their cultural inheritance and form an essential part of their artistic practice.”
• Forest Lawn Museum
• The Fowler Museum at UCLA
• The Frederick R. Weisman Museum of Art at Pepperdine University
• The Getty Center
  Timed tickets are required; visit its website.
• The Getty Villa
  Timed tickets are required; visit its website.
• The Grammy Museum
• The Hammer Museum
• Holocaust Museum LA
  Reservations required; visit its website.
• Institute of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles
  Formerly known as the Santa Monica Museum of Art, ICA LA’s current exhibits include “Scratching at the Moon.” The show is described as the first focused survey on Asian American artists in a major contemporary art museum in Los Angeles.
• The International Printing Museum
• Japanese American National Museum
  Advance tickets are strongly recommended; visit its website.
• Laguna Art Museum
• La Brea Tar Pits & Museum
  Advance tickets are required; visit its website.
• LA Plaza de Cultura y Artes
• The Lincoln Memorial Shrine
• Los Angeles County Museum of Art
  Advance tickets are required; visit its website.
• The Museum of Contemporary Art
  Advance tickets are recommended; visit its website.
• The Museum of Latin American Art
  Current exhibits at MOLAA, which is in Long Beach, include “Cross-Border Women: Alejandra Phelts,” based on the artist’s “interest in recording the desires and daily experiences of women living in Tijuana.”
• The Museum of Ventura County
• The Museum of Tolerance
  The museum will be participating in the Free-for-All on March 24.
• The Orange County Museum of Art
• The Santa Barbara Museum of Art
  One of the current exhibits is “Janna Ireland: True Story Index,” which includes the artist’s photographs. According to the museum, “Janna Ireland’s photographic practice is primarily concerned with the themes of family, home, and the expression of Black identity in American culture.”
• The Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History
  Reservations are encouraged; visit the museum’s website. The Sea Center is not included in the Free-for-All event.