30 Places to Visit and Color
Jake Rose Illustrations by Various Artists
1.
Los Angeles
A place for bold dreams, creative expression, and limitless possibilities, Los Angeles is a city defined by its people. One of the world’s most culturally diverse destinations, L.A. inspires visitors to immerse themselves in unique perspectives, astonishing moments, and a loving community. There’s always something new to discover in the City of Angels, with plenty of multi-faceted neighborhoods and hidden gems to explore. From outstanding museums and legendary sports teams to gorgeous beaches and irreplaceable culinary experiences, Los Angeles invites you to join their vibrant, bustling city of dreamers and doers.
Photo by BDS2006
2. Hollywood Sign
The Hollywood Sign is more than just nine white letters spelling out a city's name. It’s one of the world's most famous monuments and a universal metaphor for ambition, success, and glamour for this industry, lifestyle, and fantasy people call Hollywood. Though the Sign’s appearance and purpose have evolved over the years, its message remains the same: this is a place where magic is possible and where dreams come true. Hollywood obtained its crown jewel when the Hollywoodland sign was built on Mount Lee in 1923. Designed by Harry Chandler as a billboard for his real estate development, the Sign soon became a giant marquee for a city that was constantly announcing its own premiere. Donated to Los Angeles in 1944, the Hollywoodland Sign became just Hollywood in 1949 when its last four letters were removed. Designated as a Historic-Cultural Monument in 1973, the Sign was revamped in 1978. When it was finished, the Hollywood Sign stood tall as the world’s largest sign and shone brighter than ever as Hollywood’s biggest star. As it approaches 100 years of stardom, the Sign still shines as a dazzling beacon for aspiring stars.
Photo by Thomas Wolf
3.
Grauman's Chinese Theater
By stepping off the red carpet and walking through its golden doors, you become a part of Hollywood cinematic history at this Movie Palace of the Stars. Developed by Sid Grauman in 1927 as his magnum opus, the TCL Chinese Theatre is the world’s most iconic movie palace. With over 50 events a year, including red carpet movie premieres, imprint ceremonies, and film festivals, the theatre has made Hollywood history every week for almost 100 years! The historic theatre is best known for its Forecourt of the Stars, a fantastical oasis that features cement hand and footprints of major movie stars from past to present. They also have the world’s largest IMAX auditorium and California’s only movie palace with an IMAX Laser projection. Its intricate lotus-shaped fountains, curved walls, copper-topped turrets, bronze roof, and stone dragon and Heaven Dog statues makes the building feel like it was lifted right out of China.
Photo by Carol Highsmith
4.
Walt Disney Concert Hall
Designed by Frank Gehry and acoustically augmented by Dr. Minoru Nagata and Yasuhisa Toyota, Walt Disney Concert Hall is an internationally recognized architectural landmark and one of the world’s most acoustically sophisticated concert halls. From its strikingly curved stainless steel exterior to the hardwood-paneled auditorium’s state-of-the-art acoustics, the complex embodies Los Angeles’ creative spirit and its signature orchestra. Thanks to Lillian Disney’s vision and generosity, Los Angelenos can experience music from the renowned Los Angeles Philharmonic as it presents the best in classical music, contemporary music, world music, and jazz. Conceptualized in 1987, its opening in 2003 forever changed the musical landscape of Los Angeles. Since then, this architectural masterpiece and acoustical marvel has provided audiences with opportunities to hear amazing symphonies, challenged conductors and musicians to rise to a new level of performance, and made Los Angeles a conveyor of intellectual thought and discussion.
Photo by Carol Highsmith
Grifffiith Observatory
Griffith Observatory is southern California’s gateway to the cosmos! Visitors can look through telescopes, explore exhibits, see live shows in the Planetarium, and enjoy spectacular views of Los Angeles and the Hollywood Sign. Designed by John Austin and Frederick Ashley, Griffith Observatory’s unique architecture and cinematic exposure have made it one of southern California’s most famous landmarks. Since it opened in 1935 at Griffith Park, Griffith Observatory has become the planet’s most-visited public observatory and the world leader in public astronomy.
At Griffith Observatory, more people saw Halley’s Comet, Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9’s impact on Jupiter, Comet Hale-Bopp, and the closest approach of Mars than anywhere else in the globe. Envisioned by Griffith J. Griffith to provide fantastic celestial experiences to the public, this historic Observatory owes its continued existence to the scientists and public servants who dedicate themselves towards making astronomy and observation accessible to all.
6.
Photo by Matthew Field
La Brea Tar Pits and Museum
Located right in the heart of L.A. sits the world’s only active urban fossil dig site – La Brea Tar Pits, where plants and animals from the last 50,000 years are discovered here every day. At Hancock Park, people can watch excavators carve fossils out of asphalt and observe the processes of paleontology unfold right before their own eyes. In the George C. Page Museum, the staff prepares these discoveries in the Fossil Lab. In their exhibits, saber-toothed cats, Columbian mammoths, dire wolves, mastodons, and the microfossils of insects, plants, mammals, and reptiles are brilliantly displayed. The Tar Pits gives people a gateway to what life was like in Los Angeles during the Ice Age, and in the process shows what lies ahead as climate and habitats continually change.
9.
Photo by Downtowngal
11.
Universal Studios
Welcome to the Universal Studios Hollywood – where a Hollywood studio sitting just feet from one of the world’s top theme parks could only exist in Hollywood Hills. This combination of cinematic glamour and high-stake thrill rides has its roots with Carl Laemmle founding Universal Studios in 1912 and opening Universal City in 1915 as a city dedicated entirely to making movies. However, regular people did not experience this moviemaking magic until the Universal Studio Tour opened in 1964 and gave them the chance to see all the studio’s inner workings. Over the years, Universal Studios Hollywood has created groundbreaking attractions like Jaws Experience, the King Kong Encounter, and Earthquake: The Big One. But the Studio Tour’s biggest draw has always been the prospect of seeing movie stars. Always evolving and always innovating, Universal Studios Hollywood is the world’s only theme park where saying goodbye is a given. Though most of Universal City may not remain, the ramifications from Universal Studios Hollywood and its studio tour still serves as a blueprint for theme parks around the world.
Photo by V_E
The Getty Villa
The Getty Villa evokes the classical world in both its landscape and architecture. Modeled after the Villa dei Papiri in Herculaneum, Italy, the Villa features mosaic floors and colorful walls and paintings. Completed in 1974 by architects that worked with its founder Jean Getty and renovated in 1996 by Machado Silvetti, the Villa includes gardens that are surrounded with luscious Mediterranean plants, the Getty Villa Museum that houses the Getty’s extensive collection of Greco-Roman antiquities, an entry pavilion, and the classical outdoor Fleischman Theater.
13.
Photo by sailko
14. Hollywood Bowl
Created by Christine Stevenson in 1922, the Hollywood Bowl is the premier destination for live music and performances in Southern California. Designed by Lloyd Wright and built by Allied Architects, its iconic concentric-arched Streamline Moderne band shell has hosted every kind of legendary artist from Billie Holiday to The Beatles, Yo-Yo Ma, and Lady Gaga. Located in cavernous Bolton Canyon, the Hollywood Bowl showcases artistic greatness, celebrates the globe’s many cultural heritages, and delivers both a proving ground for emerging artists and a living laboratory for experimentation and discovery. The Bowl complex also houses a museum whose exhibits, artifacts, and archives provide visitors with a tremendous insight into its illustrious history.
Photo by Mcarey10419
L.A. Live
Located across from Crypto.com Arena is L.A. LIVE, a one-of-a-kind sports and entertainment district in downtown Los Angeles. Completed in 2009, the destination features Microsoft Theater, the GRAMMY Museum, Conga Room, and The Novo, giving L.A. LIVE more music per square foot than any other location in the world. The district also offers plenty of restaurants, a special event space, the Lucky Strike Lanes and Lounge, a convention headquarters hotel, the XBOX Plaza, the Regal L.A. LIVE, and ESPN's West Coast broadcast headquarters. As the home for the American Music Awards, EMMYS, ESPYS, and BET Awards, L.A. LIVE is recognized worldwide for offering unforgettable entertainment experiences.
18.
Photo by Brion L. Vibber
20.
Grammy Museum
Established in 2008 alongside the GRAMMY Awards’ 50th anniversary, the GRAMMY Museum is a one-of-a-kind institution that is dedicated to exploring music from yesterday and today to inspire the music of tomorrow. Paying tribute to their heritage, the Museum celebrates diverse connections, tells inspiring stories, and makes music an indelible part of society through its dynamic exhibits and thought-provoking programs.
Photo by Pamela Brick
Through its 30 beautiful illustrations and detailed descriptions, “Color Los Angeles” masterfully highlights what makes the City of Angels so special to its residents and visitors.
Color Los Angeles is filled to the
brim with the town's most iconic settings, like the Hollywood Sign, Griffith Observatory, and the Los Angeles Coliseum, among many others.
www.colorourtown.com
