Museums in La Crescenta-Montrose


Pasadena Museum of California Art

West Central

$50 $25




Travel Town Museum Foundation

Los Angeles

$60 $30




Chinese American Museum


$50 $22




The Museum of Contemporary Art ( moca )

Downtown Los Angeles

$34 $15




Downtown Los Angeles

$25.90 $13




Museum of Tolerance


$31 $17




Museum of Flying

Santa Monica

$20 $10



Santa Monica Museum of Art

Santa Monica

$55 $25




Santa Monica History Museum

Downtown Santa Monica

$10 $5


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3400 W Riverside Dr

Martial Arts History Museum's exhibits chronicle martial arts' role in two stories: the histories of prominent Asian countries, and the cultural influence of Asian countries on America. Through paintings, musical instruments, and theatrical displays, the nonprofit organization's exhibits cover the origins and growth of China, Japan, Korea, Thailand, and the Philippines. As they trace those histories, they also zoom in on major events such as the Boxer Rebellion and the relationship between martial arts and Asian arts such as Chinese opera and Japanese Taiko drumming.

Fittingly for a museum whose designers included artists from Disney and The Simpsons, the space also contains a media section. Portions of this section analyze pop-culture staples such as Kung Fu Panda and Avatar: The Last Airbender, and other parts display movie memorabilia such as Ralph Macchio's headband from The Karate Kid, though his socks are kept in a hidden location known only to the world's three richest kings. The museum also hosts frequent events and classes that range from sushi seminars to sword-cutting performances.

2319 W Magnolia Blvd

Dr. Adalbert and Eva Fenyes’s 1906 Beaux-Arts mansion served as a haven and gathering place for local musicians, artists, writers, and scientists for decades. In 1970, in an effort to ensure this salon atmosphere would live on, their descendants transferred the family mansion, its gardens, and scores of original furnishings and artwork to the Pasadena Museum of History. Today, the more than 85-year-old museum fills the Fenyes Estate with tours, exhibits, and a range of events as part of its mission to preserve and display Pasadena's history and culture.

Docents lead tours through the rooms of the National and California Historic Landmark mansion, which once served as the Finnish Consulate. (Nearby, the Finnish Folk Art Museum resides in the estate’s former sauna and guesthouse.) The history experts also conduct regular spotlight tours of specific collections that embody local high-society life at the turn of the 20th century.

In the History Center Galleries, the staff curates rotating exhibits on local history. Outside, visitors can wander the verdant landscaped gardens that separate the History Center Galleries from the Finnish Folk Art Museum and prevent staff members from reaching each other with volleys of water balloons.

470 W Walnut St

What was once the personal collection of Pasadena residents Bob and Arlene Oltman is now a three-story institution with more than 10,000 square feet of gallery space. The Pasadena Museum of California Art features art, architecture, and design from all over the state and aims to explore cultural issues that are unique to California.

490 E Union St

Moving picture began by depicting a horse running at full gallop, and has now evolved into visually stimulating films like Star Wars, Star Trek, and Planet of the Apes, which can all be seen at The Hollywood Museum. Visitors meander through a 35,000-square-foot, four-floor maze of more than 10,000 authentic movie props, costumes, and memorabilia. Previously a Prohibition-era speakeasy, the subterranean floor beckons patrons down Hannibal Lecter's The Silence of the Lambs jail corridor into the full cell used in the film, storing spine-tingling treasures such as his muzzling mask. First-floor doors open into Max Factor's restored makeup rooms, which border Cary Grant's Rolls-Royce and The Wizard of Oz's ruby slippers, which tempt visitors to slip them on and teleport to Kansas. Costumes, props, awards, and photos crowd the upper two floors, where Sylvester Stallone's Razzie for Worst Actor of the Century finds a home next to threads that once hugged Marilyn Monroe's legendary curves. In the past, rotating exhibits have showcased such items as a script and autographed poster from Slumdog Millionaire, duds modeled by the quick-stepping cast of High School Musical 3, and rows of awards for TV shows and particularly supercalifragilisticexpialidocious spelling-bee performances.

1660 N Highland Ave
Los Angeles,

Notably nimble hands earned Madame Tussaud the title of Versailles’ art tutor in the 1770s, beginning an illustrious sculpting career that brought her from Paris to London and won widespread acclaim. Though her first displays brought news stories and faraway leaders to waxy life, Madame Tussauds Hollwood’s exhibitions expanded to include the motley of political leaders, ficticious characters, celebrities, and shrugging pedestrians that the Hollywood location houses today. Each sculpture represents more than 800 hours of facial measuring, molding, and painting, which create uncanny likenesses of Samuel L. Jackson, Beyoncé, James Dean, Alfred Hitchcock, and Audrey Hepburn. As visitors stroll through the museum, they can pose with their favorite statue, snapping pictures alongside it or testing its rock, paper, scissors prowess.

6933 Hollywood Blvd
Los Angeles,