When in Los Angeles, there are a multitude of fun events to see and do. One of my Top 5 favorites is The Broad museum – It’s FREE. Here are 10 Things to Know Before Exploring The Broad –

1. The museum is closed on Mondays. It opens at 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday and Wednesday. On Thursdays through Saturdays it stays open until 8 p.m. Sunday is opens at 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.

   

2. Make a reservation online to get a free ticket – www.thebroad.org. You can go there spur of the moment, however lines are long on the weekend for stand-by. While you are online, make a reservation to eat at the new contemporary American restaurant Otium before or after your visit. Enjoy wood fired meats, vegetables and pizzas, a full bar, indoor and outdoor dining space. There are other restaurants nearby. On weekends there are usually three to four food trucks.

   

3. The Broad has more than 2,000 pieces of work by over 200 artists. Eli and Edythe Broad have been collection postwar and contemporary art for the past 50 years. Once inside log in to see Yayoi Kusama Infinity Mirrored Room – The Souls of Millions of Light Years Away. When I visited, there was a four hour wait to enter the room. Go early when the museum opens.

   

4. The architectural firm Diller Scofidio + Benfro collaborated with Gentler in designing The Broad. It’s titled, “the veil and the vault.” The veil is 2,500 fiberglass reinforced concrete panels on the outside of the building.  The vault walls are made of Venetian plaster and 36 million pounds of concrete. Viewing windows allow guests a peek into the vault area where many of the Broad’s collected pieces are stored.

   

5. There are 318 skylights in the ceiling of the third floor gallery allowing diffused, natural light.

   

6. Outside of The Broad are 100-year-old Barouni olive trees offering a park-like setting.

   

7. On Level 3 is an Andy Warhol Exhibit with Campbell Soup Cans – Clam Chowder-Manhattan Style, Two Marilyns, and Twenty Jackie Kennedy.

   

8. Kids will love the huge Takashi Murakami – Hustle ‘n’ Punch By Kaikai and Kiki, 2009. This artist not only has his art displayed in The Broad, he also has exhibited his works at the Palace of Versailles in France, filling 15 rooms and the park with his sculptures, paintings, a decorative carpet, and lamps.

   

9. Stand under Robert Therrien’s – Under The Table, 1994. The artist takes ordinary items and gives them an Alice’s Adventure in Wonderland spin. It’s to bring back the memory of when you were a small child and could stand under tables during family gatherings. Another fun Therrien piece in on the ground floor of ceramic epoxy on fiberglass stacked on top of one another.
10. See some classic pop art Roy Lichtenstein pieces – I…I’m Sorry, 1965-66, and a stand-alone table with fish in water, titled Goldfish Bowl. These were radical in the 1960s.