Places to experience art

taking an art walk

Los Angeles is studded with world-class museums and art galleries—but there are plenty of opportunities to take in the city’s rich cultural o erings in unexpected settings.

BY ALLISON AGSTEN

Clockwise from top: Andy Warhol with Joan Collins at The Factory at Hotel Bel-Air, UCLA’s Franklin D. Murphy Sculpture Garden, Frank Gehry’s Wishful Thinking at Walt Disney Concert Hall.

Just down the street from Hotel Bel-Air, UCLA’s Franklin

D. Murphy Sculpture Garden

o ers more than five verdant acres on which to view sculptures by artists like Alexander Calder, Henry Moore, and Auguste Rodin. Stop by in late April when the stunning jacaranda trees typically bloom. hammer.ucla.edu

> Further afield, Pomona College’s campus features James Turrell’s outdoor installation, Dividing the Light, the only example of the artist’s famed Skyspace works publicly on view in Southern California. The immersive installation is best visited at dawn or dusk when the shifting sunlight paints the structure that frames it. Draper Courtyard, Lincoln and Edmunds Buildings, Pomona College; pomona.edu

> This spring, Hotel Bel-Air hosts an exhibition of never-beforeseen images by Andy Warhol. The photos, taken in the last decade of Warhol’s life, provide an intimate glimpse into the artist’s world, including his celebrity encounters and scenes from Studio 54. Open to the public through April 14; dorchestercollection.com > Also outdoors, Judith F. Baca’s Great Wall of Los Angeles o ers the opportunity for a scenic stroll. The monumental, half-mile mural was completed over the course of five summers alongside hundreds of L.A. youth, and represents “the history of ethnic peoples of California from prehistoric times to the 1950s,” according to the artist. 12900 Oxnard St., North Hollywood

> For an experience that includes food and shopping, ROW DTLA’s concept o ers unique dining options and independent boutiques as well as large-scale murals by street artists like Lakwena Maciver and RETNA. Feeling inspired? Art classes are often available on weekends in media ranging from paint to clay. rowdtla.com

> Consider visiting Walt Disney Concert Hall while downtown. In addition to musical performances, the venue is home to visual art presentations like Frank Gehry’s Wishful Thinking, an immersive installation of large-scale metal figures based on the Mad Hatter’s tea party scene from Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. Through March 20, free and open to ticket holders during concert hall tour hours; laphil.com