A Visit to the Neon Museum (...it definitely deserves a glowing review!)

She's always buzzing just like
Neon, neon...
...Who knows how long, how long, how long
She can go before she burns away*

If you simply drive too quickly through the intersection of Brand and Caruso in the city of Glendale, CA you might do a double-take, trying to figure out why there's a girl diving off a building into the deep blue sky.

But if you fail to stop and explore this amazing building, you'll miss one of the most unique and amazing museums in the area: the Museum of Neon Art.

Seriously, who doesn't love a neon chicken?

The neon lights may be bright on Broadway, but it turns out that Los Angeles was once the neon capital of the world. At the MONA, you can learn all about the history of neon in Los Angeles, and check out the pieces they've rescued and recovered from all over the area. Started in 1981, MONA has inhabited several locations before finally coming to rest in Glendale.  The walls are covered in a wide variety of signs.  Most are working; but some are beyond repair, leaving you wistfully imagining what they must have looked like in their glory days.

In the background, one of the girls of a tumbling series of signs that used to hang on the boulevard. Most of the lights are missing, but it must have looked incredible when it was all in place and working....

The MONA has made it their mission to collect and preserve these glowing jewels of the metropolis, displaying them for you to enjoy.  There's also a lab on premises designed to encourage the education of the craft with on sight demonstrations and classes.

It's a colorless, odorless, inert gas...so what is about the glow from a neon light that evokes such a wide variety of feelings?  Is it nostalgia: do we think about days gone past when streets were lined and lit with signs for everything from motor oil to the corner market, and think it was a simpler time?

Or perhaps it's comfort in the familiarity of a light that reminds us of places we frequent the most...

Maybe we're enamored in the artistry:  it's more than a picture, but not quite a sculpture....

Or maybe it's just plain fascination about a sign that glows.  Science meets magic, as it were.....

By far, one of my favorites at the museum. (This is a single row sign, with individual elements lighting up as the paratrooper glides towards ground - but I wanted you to see it in one panel)

My friend Mollie actually turned me on to the awesomeness of neon signs.  I mean, they were always been around...usually lighting the way to the nearest dive bar for me to haunt.  But one night, as I watched her snap pictures around the skyline at the Baltimore Inner Harbor, she explained the beauty and magic she saw in a neon sign; and how much she loved capturing that on camera.  Seeing what she saw through her lens, I found a greater appreciation for them from then on.

Yes, the REAL sign from the Hollywood and Vine location!!

The museum may not be very large, but it is filled with interesting anecdotes, history and awesome, beautifully lit signs.

So if you find yourself blowing some bucks at The Americana, take a break from the glitz and glamour of shopping and take a walk through history at the Museum of Neon Art.  If you're able to linger a bit after dark, be sure to check out the pieces that come to "light" nearby.

By the way, MONA also hosts Neon Cruise nights through Hollywood and DTLA; so if you can't get enough of the lights inside, jump on the bus and see what else the city has to share!  Hopefully I'll see you there!

PS...Mollie....don't forget your camera!

The Museum of Neon Art is located at 216 S Brand Blvd in Glendale.  Learn more about the museum HERE

*"Neon" by John Mayer (lyrics by Douglas Clay Cook / John Clayton Mayer)

A Day at The Broad (just a-ways up the road)

I'll start by telling you that I'm not normally a huge art person.  I'm a fan of the arts...just not specifically art...like paintings, sculptures, etc.  I've visited a couple of the fancy museums around the world (because I suppose that's what one does when one wants to get cultured)...but I can't always get behind it.  This:

Just doesn't seem like art to me.  I'm pretty sure I have something similar inside my refrigerator.  But someone, somewhere, declared it artistic, so it hangs in the National Gallery of Art in Washington D.C.

Every once in awhile, however, I'll get this idea in my brain that I should venture out into the art world, and so I feel the need to migrate towards a museum.

As luck would have it, there is a new art museum in downtown LA that opened a few months back, and this past weekend, I just happened to be in the mood for a little culture.
Welcome to The Broad.

Pronunciated "broʊd", by the way - rhymes with road (hence the title...cute, huh?).   It's named for Eli Broad, a philanthropist who financed the museum. I was walking around for months calling it The Broad - as in broad-minded.   Whoops, sorry 'bout that, Mr. Broad.  No disrespect intended.

Anyway, first thing's first - if you are planning to take a trip to The Broad, reserve your tickets on their website NOW (don't wait - go HERE)!!!  Not for this weekend, mind you - you'll have to plan for a few months ahead - but do yourself a huge favor and plan now to go later.  You'll have to pick not only a date, but also a time that you plan to visit the museum - so choose wisely.  I chose tickets for 11:30, which allowed for a little bit of sleep-in on a Saturday, a leisurely drive up the 110, and a few minutes for a bite to eat at a nearby cafe.  I also ordered tickets back in December for a visit in February.  It seems extreme, but having that much time to wait before going added to the excitement of the visit.  It was like having concert or theater tickets - the anticipation seemed to make the visit more meaningful.

By the way, on the day we went, the wait time for the stand-by line was 4 hours long.  4 HOURS!!!   Don't get me wrong, I'm all about the museum experience - but I could be halfway to a Carne Colorado burrito Enchilada Style at El Charro in Tucson in that amount of time.  Just sayin'.
The Broad is located across the street from the MOCA in LA and next door to the Walt Disney Concert Hall.  We parked at the Disney parking garage (with an entranced located underneath Grand Avenue).  This actually worked out extremely well, because it also gave us a chance to explore the grounds at the concert hall building (totally worth it, by the way).

Plus parking was a few dollars cheaper, so there's that.

If you arrive before your scheduled entry time, there are a few restaurants nearby that you can snag a cup of coffee or a bite to eat at.  There were also a few food trucks set up outside when we went, so there was a nice variety of cuisines to sample from.  There is also outdoor seating under the trees or in the grass - so you can hang out and just savor the day.

Anyway...once you're finally inside the museum, it's really quite interesting.

Did I mention it's a contemporary art museum?  This was the first piece we saw as we walked in the door, and I was totally enamored by it.  It was just so real and lifelike; I really thought the Jolly Green Giant dropped a plate of dishes right there in the museum.

By the way - the big long line you may see once you enter the museum is for the Infinity Mirrored Room.  I didn't get a chance to go inside (the wait time was way too long for me) - but people coming out of the exhibit seemed impressed, so sign up to see it if you can.  The exhibit is scheduled to run through September of 2016.

The architecture is almost cave-like on the ground floor, which helps fuel the idea that you're not in the same-old, usual, stuffy art museum you may be used to.

As you ascend to the main floor - where most of the artwork is displayed - suddenly you're out of the cave and into this amazingly bright room surrounded by rooms of awesome, strange, interesting, intriguing, weird, love-it, hate-it, variety of contemporary pieces.

Walk further into the museum and you'll find yourself surrounded by a wide variety of contemporary art in a range of mediums - from canvas, to sculpture, to...well...furniture:

(I told Nick I wanted a larger dining room set....this is not exactly what I had in mind)

You'll see artists you're familiar with and discover a whole lot of new.

OK - quick break - I have to tell you just how much I love this piece by Lichtenstein:

It's a 3-D sculpture of what appears to be a paint can on a book on an easel mount - but no matter which angle I photographed it at, it kept looking 2-dimensional-ish.  Coolest thing.  Loved it.

Pieces range in style and shape, and there really seemed to be something for everyone.   There were a few pieces that were more adult-oriented...but there were also pieces that the younger audience seemed to get a real kick out of:

Hmmm...this piece also reminds me of a joke.  How did that one about the mushroom go again...?
I saw people of all ages enjoying, discussing, and disagreeing with what they saw.  Parents spent time explaining art to their kids. Couples meandered and pointed out their favorites.  People took pictures of themselves in front of pieces.  And then there were people busy creating their own art....

I'm predicting The Museum of Selfie Art popping up somewhere within the next 10-20 years.
Just remember I said it first.

On your way out, be sure to sneak a peek into the storage area:

The Broad really has so much to offer, and for as much art as there was on the floor - it looks like there's even MORE to see tucked away in storage.  So who knows...perhaps there's another visit to The Broad in my future.  If I reserve tickets now, I could be there in May.

With any luck - I'll see you there.