The Broad Museum in Los Angeles

The Broad Museum
Location: Los Angeles, California
Address: 221 S. Grand Ave.
Los Angeles, CA 90012
Parking: Nearby Parking Garages
Admission: Free
Hours: 11am – 5pm/8pm Daily
Handicap Accessible: First Floor Only
Recommended Time: At Least 2 Hours
No Cafés or Restaurants On-Site

The Broad Museum in Los Angeles is home to a vast collection of works of art by the likes of Andy Warhol, Jeff Koons, Roy Lichtenstein, Pablo Picasso, and many others, plus a number of permanent installations like Yayoi Kusama’s wildly popular Infinity Mirrors. Admission to The Broad is free, and can be booked in advance, however there are only a limited number of advance tickets, so once they run out, there’s no guarantee that visitors will be able to get into the museum. However, there is also a standby line, which non-ticket holders may wait in. Typically the wait time for this line is only an hour or so, and is great for people who were unable to book advance tickets. We arrived to the stand-by line right when the museum opened (there was already a line, so get there early), and we only had to wait about 45 minutes.

In order to see special exhibits like Infinity Mirrors, there is a separate registration inside to get in another line for that. This is done by heading directly along the left wall, glass wall from the entrance to an iPad kiosk and entering your information. Unlike the first line however, there is no need to physically wait in a line, as the museum’s system will text you when it’s your turn to go see the exhibit. Guests then have 5-10 minutes to get to the exhibit or they forfeit their spot and have to re-register.

The museum itself is a beautiful place to enjoy the day, and has a sprawling, open and airy floor plan, which makes it spacious even on very crowded days. Many of the exhibits are bright, colorful, and very interesting, unlike anything else at other museums. There are however, several exhibits that are not suitable for children or people who have certain triggers, so keep an eye out for signs, or ask museum workers which exhibits you should avoid if you are with children, if you’re a sensitive person, or if you simply don’t want to view heavy or graphically violent subject matter. While these potentially offensive displays are the minority in The Broad, they are worth mentioning, because we witnessed several instances where people didn’t read the signs and became very upset or offended, so I wanted to give my readers fair warning about this.

Inside The Broad, there is also a large gift shop where visitors can purchase books about their favorite artists or works of art, and buy themed gifts like miniature metal balloon animals by artist Jeff Koons (shown in the photos above). Whenever we visit free museums, we like to pick up at least something from the museum gift shops to support the artists being displayed, and support access to free art in the communities we visit.

The Broad was one of the most beautiful museums I’ve ever been to, and I and very thankful that such incredible works of art on display, at no charge, to the public. If you’re ever in Los Angeles, you should absolutely visit The Broad Museum and spend the afternoon learning about incredible artists from around the world.

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