Max Donner, San Diego Fine Arts Examiner, talks up this weekend’s December NIghts in Balboa Park, San Diego.

The best things in life are free. At least on this Friday, December 4 and Saturday, December 5. The occasion is the annual Balboa Park December Nights celebration. The special event includes free admission to Balboa Park museums both evenings from five to nine p.m.

It is also a good time for art admirers to visit their favorite museums in Balboa Park. This weekend is also your last chance to see the special exhibition of works by Picasso, Miró, and Calder at the San Diego Museum of Art, which ends December 6. The Museum of Man is hosting two art exhibitions, “Gods & Gold: Ancient Treasures From Mexico to Peru,” and “The Art of Andean Retablos: Religion, Tradition and Social Commentary.” The retablos are portable altars dating to the Spanish colonial period in Latin America in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, art treasures of great historical significance that are rarely on view. In addition, The Ordover Gallery at the San Diego Museum of Natural History is concluding its display of National Geographic photography of the Baja California coast.

Read Max’s complete write-up here: Balboa Park December Nights Highlight Arts

Follow this link:
Balboa Park December Nights Highlight Arts

MCASD Open House: Free Third Thursday Evening
Thursday, 11/19/09 > 5-7 PM > La Jolla and Downtown
On the third Thursday of every month from 5 to 7 pm, visitors receive FREE admission to the Museum, plus free themed Gallery Guide-led tours beginning at 5 and 6 pm.

Also tonight at MCASD La Jolla:

UCSD/MCASD Russell Lecture Featuring Matthew Ritchie
Thursday, 11/19/09 > 7 PM > La Jolla
This year’s Russell Lecturer is renowned and influential artist Matthew Ritchie, who engages vast bodies of knowledge with a multiplicity of media and approaches.

SHARE

• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 

Thank you Los Angeles Times:

View “Free Museum Day, Oct. 3 and/or 4” in a larger map

Summer is officially over, but that doesn't mean family excursions are out of season, especially when it comes to local museums.

This weekend, many of the major art, history and science museums in L.A. and Orange County are participating in the annual Museums Free-for-All, which allows admission-free access to the institutions' main exhibitions.

Among the museums participating are the Museum of Contemporary Art, the Norton Simon, the Bowers Museum and the Orange County Museum of Art.

With museum ticket prices reaching as high as $12 for adults, this weekend's program represents an opportunity for affordable culture. Some museums are offering free admission on both Saturday and Sunday; others are free for only one day.

Check our map of the participating museums so you can plan your trip accordingly.

– David Ng

Read the rest here:
Musuems open their doors for free today and Sunday

If the Smithsonian free museum day sipped past you last Saturday, here’s another chance at free arts & culture in Los Angeles this weekend:

This weekend will be a good time to explore a museum that’s on your cultural to-do list, or to discover one you weren’t aware of, thanks to the straightforwardly named Museum Marketing Roundtable, an organization formed by museum marketing professionals in the LA metro area.

Twenty-four museums in Los Angeles and surrounding areas will offer free admission this Saturday and Sunday, October 3rd and 4th. Some will participate on both days, while others will offer free admission on only one of the days. Check MuseumsLA.org for details.

Read the original post here.