Museums & Galleries in Santa Clarita

Notably nimble hands earned Madame Tussaud the title of Versailles’ art tutor in the 1770s, beginning an illustrious sculpting career that brought her from Paris to London and won widespread acclaim. Though her first displays brought news stories and faraway leaders to waxy life, Madame Tussauds Hollwood’s exhibitions expanded to include the motley of political leaders, ficticious characters, celebrities, and shrugging pedestrians that the Hollywood location houses today. Each sculpture represents more than 800 hours of facial measuring, molding, and painting, which create uncanny likenesses of Samuel L. Jackson, Beyoncé, James Dean, Alfred Hitchcock, and Audrey Hepburn. As visitors stroll through the museum, they can pose with their favorite statue, snapping pictures alongside it or testing its rock, paper, scissors prowess.

Dr. Adalbert and Eva Fenyes’s 1906 Beaux-Arts mansion served as a haven and gathering place for local musicians, artists, writers, and scientists for decades. In 1970, in an effort to ensure this salon atmosphere would live on, their descendants transferred the family mansion, its gardens, and scores of original furnishings and artwork to the Pasadena Museum of History. Today, the more than 85-year-old museum fills the Fenyes Estate with tours, exhibits, and a range of events as part of its mission to preserve and display Pasadena's history and culture.

Docents lead tours through the rooms of the National and California Historic Landmark mansion, which once served as the Finnish Consulate. (Nearby, the Finnish Folk Art Museum resides in the estate’s former sauna and guesthouse.) The history experts also conduct regular spotlight tours of specific collections that embody local high-society life at the turn of the 20th century.

In the History Center Galleries, the staff curates rotating exhibits on local history. Outside, visitors can wander the verdant landscaped gardens that separate the History Center Galleries from the Finnish Folk Art Museum and prevent staff members from reaching each other with volleys of water balloons.

The Skirball Cultural Center is a renowned museum, vibrant performing arts center, and prestigious educational institution that is dedicated to sustaining Jewish heritage while welcoming visitors of all ethnic and cultural identities. Members get unlimited year-round access to museum exhibits, including Noah's Ark. The popular interactive gallery inside a massive wooden ark is filled with animal puppets (made from recycled materials) and hours worth of creative, challenging activities for kids of every shoe size, all aimed at teaching the value of community and sustainability without having to live among Himalayan monks for seven years. Children must be accompanied by an adult, and members should call ahead to schedule a timed entry or book online.

What was once the personal collection of Pasadena residents Bob and Arlene Oltman is now a three-story institution with more than 10,000 square feet of gallery space. The Pasadena Museum of California Art features art, architecture, and design from all over the state and aims to explore cultural issues that are unique to California.

Since its inception in 1979, The Museum of Contemporary Art has devoted itself to post-1940 artwork, a focus that sets it apart from all other Los Angeles museums. Its permanent collection harbors more than 5,000 art objects, encompassing media from video installations and documentary photography to pop art. Works from renowned artists such as Roy Lichtenstein, Jean-Michel Basquiat, and Diane Arbus share gallery space with pieces from up-and-coming artists across the museum’s three facilities.

To complement its permanent collection, the museum hosts rotating temporary exhibits, such as the current Amanda Ross-Ho exhibit, Teeny Tiny Woman, which incorporates architectural elements and large-scale paintings. The museum staff also augments these displays with events, such as their summer concert series in Geffen Plaza, which explores the intersection of music and art like a guitar decoupaged with pages from DaVinci’s journal.