Los Angeles Official Visitor Guide 2008 - (Page 34) THE ARTS LA’s Cultural Treasures Waiting to Be Discovered Every great city is measured by the quality of its arts and culture, and Los Angeles is fast becoming the world’s yardstick. With more than 2,000 professional arts organizations and premier cultural destinations, LA is without a doubt the cultural capital of the 21st century. When it comes to taking in some of the city’s must-see cultural attractions, you can often leave the wheels behind and explore smaller pockets of highly concentrated cultural treasures. If you’re ready to tackle the best of LA’s cultural assets on foot, check out Downtown, Little Tokyo, Museum Row and Exposition Park. Concert Hall, you can explore the rest of the Music Center campus with its worldfamous performing arts venues — The Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, Mark Taper Forum and Ahmanson Theatre — homes to Plácido Domingo’s Los Angeles Opera, the Los Angeles Master Chorale and the Center Theatre Group, recipient of more Tony Awards® than any company outside of Manhattan. Geffen Contemporary at MOCA, visitors will find major exhibitions as well as art from MOCA’s permanent collection. Ideal for large-scale installations, the Geffen Contemporary at MOCA tends to host works by up-and-coming artists working in multimedia, electronic or conceptual styles. Downtown Within just a few blocks, a cluster of worldclass institutions await in Downtown. Without moving the car, you can explore Walt Disney Concert Hall, the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels, MOCA Grand Avenue and Bertram Grosvenor Goodhue’s Egyptian-inspired Richard Riordan Central Public Library. But the architectural pedigree of these institutions is just the beginning. Once inside, you’ll discover there’s more to see than just amazing buildings. After visiting Walt Disney Museum Row Located on Wilshire Boulevard’s Miracle Mile between Fairfax and La Brea avenues is another great place to park the car and explore on foot. Start things off at LACMA. It’ll take days to explore all the galleries and exhibits, but don’t let that stop you from seeing the highlights. You can experience the scope of world art history in just an hour or two. After visiting LACMA, head next door to explore the La Brea Tar Pits with its animatronic mastodons, fascinating Pleistocene-era mammal finds collected from the tar pits, and the largest urban Little Tokyo Located just east of Downtown, this neighborhood is home to two world-class institutions: the Japanese American National Museum and the Geffen Contemporary at MOCA. Exploring the meaning and value of ethnicity in the United States, the Japanese American National Museum offers exhibitions, events, extensive collections and resources for research as well as educational programs. At the 34
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