Los Angeles’ Top 12 Art Galleries: Free Access to Museum-Quality Art

Los Angeles is a city where art galleries are not confined to a specific hierarchy or discipline. A single visit can introduce you to an emerging artist practicing a new form of craft art and then put you face-to-face with a Mark Bradford painting for a rare showing before it moves into a museum. This diversity allows L.A. galleries to be more art-centric than their business-motivated counterparts in other parts of the world.

Moreover, the city’s inspiring and ambitious art is housed in buildings that are sandwiched between, for instance, a laundromat and a bowling alley in Hollywood. These buildings, once film production offices in Culver City or community spaces that taught martial arts in Mid-City, often use their past and present lives to identify themselves. This makes these spaces feel like our own among art world insiders and collectors.

The following museum-quality galleries are free and open to the public, and most importantly, they welcome you there regardless of your status in the art market. If you’re looking for more free art, check out L.A.’s free museums and free admission days.