Los Angeles & Southern California - Andrea Schulte-Peevers [74]
The campus is vast; walking briskly from one end to the other takes at least 30 minutes. It would be mostly a lovely saunter, through landscaped grounds, profuse gardens and past replicas of Italian Renaissance churches on historic Royce Quad. One of them, the Powell Library, harbors the UCLA Film and Television Archive ( 310-206-5388; www.cinema.ucla.edu; admission free; 9am-5pm Mon-Fri), the country’s second-largest after the Library of Congress, with more than 220,000 movies and TV shows. It’s only open to researchers, but regular screenings take place at the state-of-the-art Billy Wilder Theater in the Hammer Museum.
Nearby, the Fowler Museum at UCLA (Map; 310-825-4361; www.fowler.ucla.edu; admission free; noon-5pm Wed-Sun, noon-8pm Thu) presents sometimes intriguing, sometimes baffling ethno-exhibits from non-Western cultures. A recent one featured stunningly intricate found-object art by El Anatsui, one of Africa’s top sculptors. It’s free, so why not pop in – you might be surprised.
Garden retreats include the Murphy Sculpture Garden northeast of Royce Quad, with more than 70 works by Rodin, Moore, Calder and other American and European artists set amid jacaranda and coral trees. The latest addition is a ginormous torqued ellipse by Richard Serra in the plaza of the new Broad Art Center. Designed by Richard Meier, it houses the UCLA visual-arts programs and an MFA student gallery.
In the campus’ southeastern corner, the Mildred E Mathias Botanical Garden (Map; 310-825-1260; www.botgard.ucla.edu/bg-home.htm; admission free; 8am-5pm Mon-Fri, 8am-4pm Sat & Sun) has more than 5000 native and exotic plants and flowers. Enter on Tiverton Ave. On winter weekdays, gates close an hour earlier.
It’s only open by reservation, but the lovely Hannah Carter Japanese Garden (Map; 310-794-0320; www.japanesegarden.ucla.edu; 10619 Bellagio Rd; admission free; 10am-3pm Tue, Wed & Fri; ) is well worth the trouble. Strolling through this spiritual gem inspired by the terraced gardens of Kyoto is an instant escape from city life. Sorry, no picnics. Call at least 10 days in advance. It’s about one mile north of campus.
HAMMER MUSEUM
Originally a vanity project of the late oil tycoon Armand Hammer, his eponymous museum (Map; 310-443-7000; www.hammer.ucla.edu; 10899 Wilshire Blvd; adult/senior/child under 17 $5/3/free; 11am-7pm Tue, Wed, Fri & Sat, 11am-9pm Thu, 11am-5pm Sun; ) has long since graduated to a widely respected art space. Selections from Hammer’s personal collection include relatively minor works by Monet, Van Gogh, Mary Cassat and Honoré Daumier, but the museum really shines when it comes to cutting-edge contemporary exhibits featuring local, under-represented and controversial artists. As an intellectual forum, it presents incredibly diverse, high-caliber readings, lunchtime art talks, screenings, happenings, discussions, lectures and concerts, many of them free. Parking costs $3.
PIERCE BROS WESTWOOD MEMORIAL PARK
This little cemetery (Map; 310-474-1570; 1218 Glendon Ave; admission free; 8am-dusk; ) packs more Old Hollywood star power per square foot than any other in town. Best of all, the staff is happy to have you here and will even help you locate your favorite six-foot-under resident. Lipstick prints usually decorate Marilyn Monroe’s crypt next to one reserved for Hugh Hefner, and Natalie Wood, Burt Lancaster, Truman Capote and Jack Lemmon aren’t far either. Rodney Dangerfield is finally getting some respect in his spot on the park’s south side. Enter via the driveway immediately to your left as you turn south on Glendon Ave.
SKIRBALL CULTURAL CENTER
Although it’s the country’s largest