Culture
Hammer Museum, Westwood
UCLA’s free museum stages ambitious exhibitions and lectures. Work from Kerry James Marshall and Charles Gaines features heavily, as does that of up-and-coming artists such as Lauren Halsey and Wang Shui. The in-house restaurant, Lulu, was co-founded by chef Alice Waters.
The Broad, Downtown
Eli Broad’s collection of postwar and contemporary American art is displayed across this purpose-built Diller Scofidio + Renfro building on Grand Avenue. It includes work from Jean-Michel Basquiat and Ed Ruscha, and general admission is free. Arrive early to avoid the queues.
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Eames House, Pacific Palisades
The wildfires that ravaged Los Angeles in 2025 came perilously close to destroying the Eames House – the former home of mid-century designers Charles and Ray Eames and now a museum. After avoiding catastrophe and undergoing smoke restoration, it’s welcoming visitors once again. For the first time in its history, this includes the adjacent Eames Studio, where Charles and Ray worked on everything from furniture prototypes to film editing. “People know them mostly for their chair designs but by coming here you also learn that they were graphic designers, artists, industrial designers and filmmakers,” says Eames Demetrios, the designers’ grandson.
Hauser & Wirth Los Angeles, Arts District
This gallery inside a former flour mill on East Third Street is defined by its raw feel and industrial scale, and has shown the likes of Mark Bradford, Louise Bourgeois and Rashid Johnson. The bookshop has a comprehensive selection of contemporary-art titles, while the leafy courtyard restaurant, Manuela, makes a convincing case for staying a little longer over a glass of wine and farm-to-table fare.
Ennis House, Los Feliz
This home was built by Frank Lloyd Wright’s son Lloyd under his father’s instructions. It was influenced by temple architecture and made with some 27,000 concrete blocks. It is currently undergoing restoration but it’s worth a drive by for a glimpse of the façade.
The United Theater on Broadway, Downtown
This downtown icon was commissioned as a cinema in the 1920s by Hollywood’s early royalty, including Charlie Chaplin. At the time it was seen as an ambitious statement of intent by what was then a young film industry. The restored Spanish Gothic interior now hosts concerts, stand-up comedy, independent-film screenings and other culture events.
Nonaka-Hill, Hollywood
Tucked into a former laundromat, Nonaka-Hill bridges Japanese culture and contemporary art. The focus is on historically overlooked and emerging artists, such as Ulala Imai, Sawako Goda, Megumi Shinozaki and Adam Alessi.
