Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
PASADENA
Norton Simon Museum of Art
Finds
Named for a food-packing king and
financier who r eorganized the failing P asadena M useum of M odern Ar t, the N orton
Simon displays one of the finest private collections of European, American, and Asian art
in the world (and yet another feather in the cap of architect Frank Gehry, who redesigned
the interior space). Compr ehensive collections of masterpieces b y Degas, Picasso, Rem-
brandt, and G oya are augmented b y sculptures by Henry Moore and A uguste Rodin,
including
The Burghers of Calais,
which greets you at the gates. The “Blue Four” collec-
tion of works by Kandinsky, Jawlensky, Klee, and Feininger is impressive, as is a superb
collection of S outheast Asian sculptur e. Perhaps the most popular piece is
The Flower
Vendor/Girl with Lilies,
by Diego Rivera, followed by Goya's
Disasters of War.
The collec-
tion of paintings, sculptures, pastels, and prints b y French Impressionist Edgar Degas is
among the best in the world.
Tip:
Unless you're an ar t expert, you'll probably want to
take the “Acoustiguide” audio tour—it's $3 well spent.
411 W. Colorado Blvd., (corner of Orange Grove and Colorado Blvd. at the intersection of the Foothill [210]
and Ventura [134] freeways), Pasadena.
&
626/449-6840.
www.nortonsimon.org. Admission $8 adults,
$4 seniors, free for students and kids 17 and under; free for everyone 6-9pm the 1st Fri of each month.
Wed-Mon noon-6pm (Fri until 9pm). Free parking.
Pacific Asia Museum
The most striking aspect of this museum is the building itself.
Designed in the 1920s in Chinese I mperial Palace style, it's rivaled in flamboyance only
by Grauman's Chinese Theatre in Hollywood (p. 151). Rotating exhibits of 14,000 rare
Asian and Pacific Islands art and artifacts span the centuries, from 100 b.c. to the current
day. This manageable-size museum is wor th a visit, par ticularly if you're an adherent of
Buddhism.
46 N. Los Robles Ave., Pasadena.
&
626/449-2742,
ext. 10. www.pacificasiamuseum.org. Admission $9
adults, $7 students and seniors , free for children 11 and under ; free for everyone the 4th F ri of each
month. Wed-Sun 10am-6pm (until 3pm Dec 24 and Dec 29). Closed Jan 1, Thanksgiving, Dec 25. F ree
parking.
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L.A.'S ETHNIC NEIGHBORHOODS
Los Angeles has the highest concentration of Mexicans outside Mexico, Koreans outside
Korea, and even Samoans outside Samoa. Tiny Russian, Ethiopian, Armenian, and even
British enclaves also coexist throughout L.A. But to call the city a “melting pot” wouldn't
be quite accurate; to paraphrase Alex H aley, it's really more of a tossed salad, composed
of distinct, albeit overlapping, cultures.
The following neighborhoods all fall under the “Downtown” label, as we've defined it
in “The Neighborhoods in Brief” in chapter 4.
BOYLE HEIGHTS
East of Downtown; bounded by U.S. 101, I-10, Calif. 60, and Indiana St.
In the first decades of the 20th centur y, Boyle Heights was inhabited b y Jewish immi-
grants, who have since migrated west to the Fairfax district and beyond. They left behind
the oldest or thodox synagogue in Los Angeles, and B rooklyn Avenue, which has since
been renamed Cesar E. Chav ez Avenue. Boyle Heights is no w the hear t of the Latino
barrio.
