Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA)

The Los Angeles County Museum of Art, known as LACMA, stands at 5905 Wilshire Boulevard in the Miracle Mile district of Los Angeles, California. It is the largest art museum in the western United States, with a permanent collection of well over 140,000 objects spanning ancient to contemporary art from around the world. The campus sits beside the La Brea Tar Pits and Hancock Park. Outdoor icons include Chris Burden's Urban Light, a field of restored vintage street lamps near the Wilshire entrance that is one of the most photographed public artworks in the city, and Michael Heizer's Levitated Mass, a large granite boulder on a concrete channel. Inside, galleries cover Latin American art, Islamic art, Japanese and Korean art, European painting, modern and contemporary works, photography and costume and textiles. The new David Geffen Galleries building, a low-slung structure bridging Wilshire Boulevard, expands the display space for the permanent collection. General admission is about 28 to 30 dollars for adults, children under 17 are admitted free, and County residents have free hours at certain times. Most visitors spend two to four hours. Crowds peak on weekends and during popular special exhibitions, while weekday mornings are calmer. Urban Light is best photographed at dawn or dusk, when the lamps are lit and the crowd is thinner. The museum is closed one weekday each week, so checking the website before visiting is wise. Food is available at on-site cafes. Metro Line 20 and 720 buses run along Wilshire Boulevard, and the Metro D Line extension is bringing a new station close by.