Free Admission to the Gamble House and Pasadena Museum of History

Here’s a recipe for a memorable Sunday: great art, architecture, and family fun with plenty of local historical discoveries. The best part? It’s all free.

On May 19, 2013 the 24th annual Museums of the Arroyo (MOTA) Day invites the public to tour five museums located along the celebrated Arroyo Seco in Los Angeles and Pasadena for a free day of music, storytelling, art, crafts and entertainment. MOTA Day museums are open for free tours and festivities are scheduled at each museum throughout the day.

With so much to do and see – and only a few hours to do it – visitors are encouraged to best plan their visits. MOTA Day takes place from noon to 5 p.m. with last entry at 4 p.m. Special events this year include:

• The Gamble House. Visitors can tour the 1908 Arts and Crafts gem that is on the National Registry of Historic Places; children can do crafts in the backyard.

• Heritage Square Museum. Guests can observe a Spanish American War encampment, watch traditional woodcarving demonstrations, listen to storytellers as well as enjoy music and traditional dancing. Children can play with Victorian toys, do crafts, and learn about plants and flowers in the Ford House Kitchen garden.

• The Los Angeles Police Museum. Visitors can tour the facilities which feature private collections and historical memorabilia that date back to the late 1800s, including the newly constructed vehicle shelter and the freshly restored 1955 paddy wagon. Kids can climb into a retired police helicopter, try on police gear and get “locked” in a real jail cell where adults can snap free police booking photos. Tour the limited engagement Gangster Squad exhibition as well as three other permanent exhibits: Onion Field murders, the Patty Hearst kidnapping, and the 1997 North Hollywood Shootout.

• The Lummis Home and Garden. From its inception, the Lummis Home has been the place to see and be seen. Visiting and local dignitaries, artists, controversial public figures – all were guests of Lummis from 1897-1928. Using a newly developed computer application, historian Dennis Harbach will be able to finally give you an answer: Did my grandfather meet Theodore Roosevelt in this house? Did my grandmother dance the fandango with Lummis or Rudolf Valentino in this place? Also, browse through Harbach’s photo album of Lummis’ famous guests. In addition, self-guided tours of the home and garden will also be available on MOTA Day.

• The Pasadena Museum of History. Guests can take a mini-tour of the newly remodeled Fenyes Mansion as well as the Finnish Folk Museum which is housed in a replica of a 19th Century Finnish farmhouse. Pasadena Society of Artists members will display their works; artwork will be for sale and artists will be actively working on new pieces during the afternoon. Check out two current exhibitions: I Do! I Do! Pasadena Ties the Knot features a stunning display of vintage wedding gowns. The juried art exhibition,Relationships, showcases art inspired by the vintage wedding gowns. Kids can take home three different art projects involving a rain stick, a Japanese brush painting, and a family colla. Visitors can purchase a meal from the Pie ‘n Burger truck that will be on site celebrating its 50th anniversary.

For more information visit www.museumsofthearroyo.com and “like” MOTA (museumsofthearroyo) on Facebook.

Getting to MOTA Day

Getting around MOTA Day is easy — take the Gold Line to Heritage Square or Southwest stations. Or drive your car and park at the many convenient parking lots. Bicyclists are also welcomed between museums and bike racks are available at Pasadena Museum of History; other museums offer fences for locking bikes.

Walking is encouraged at the two Highland Park museums, which are close to each other. Also, free shuttles between all museums will be available.

The MOTA Day shuttles will operate two free routes that allow visitors to easy get from museum to museum. One will run between Pasadena and Highland Park with stops at the Pasadena Museum of History (across the street from The Gamble House) and the Los Angeles Police Museum. The other will shuttle guests back and forth between the Los Angeles Police Museum, Lummis Home and Garden and Heritage Square.

Parking will be available in Pasadena at Avery Dennison on Walnut (near Pasadena Museum of History) and surrounding streets. In Highland Park, parking will be at the Los Angeles Police Museum’s parking lot, on Carlota Street (near Lummis Home and Garden), at Heritage Square and Southwest Museum’s parking lots and surrounding streets.

About the MOTA Museums

The Gamble House (4 Westmoreland Place, Pasadena, 626-793-3334)
An internationally recognized National Historic Landmark, in the style of the American Arts and Crafts movement. Built in 1908, The Gamble House is the most complete and best-preserved example of the work of renowned Pasadena architects Charles and Henry Greene.

Heritage Square Museum (3800 Homer Street, Los Angeles, 626-796-2898)
Established in 1969, this living history museum reflects the settlement and development of Southern California from 1850 to 1950. Through guided tours, changing exhibits and special events, Heritage Square Museum takes its guest back in time to eras where electricity was a novelty, a trip to the beach was often a full-weekend activity and manners were distinctly different from those of today.

The Los Angeles Police Museum (6045 York Blvd., Los Angeles, 323-344-9445)
Founded in 1989, the museum displays the rich history of the LAPD from its beginnings on March 10, 1869. Located in the 1925 Highland Park Police Station, the museum was salvaged and restored to its original Renaissance Revival style and it a registered National Historic landmark.

The Lummis Home and Garden (200 East Avenue 43, Los Angeles, 323-222-0546)
A turn-of-the century home built over a 12-year period with stones from the arroyo by Charles Lummis, early activist, author and civic booster. Lummis also founded the Southwest Museum and was one of the first city editors of the fledging Los Angeles Times.

Pasadena Museum of History (470 W. Walnut Street, Pasadena, 626-577-1660)
A museum and research library/archives focusing on the history of Pasadena and the San Gabriel Valley, the museum is on the grounds of one of the few remaining grand homes on Pasadena’s former “Millionaire’s Row.” The 1906 Beaux Arts Fenyes Mansion is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The history galleries contain changing exhibitions and the “Tupa” or Finnish Folk Art Museum is one of the only such museums in the United States.