EXHIBITIONS & EVENTS AT A GLANCE (see below for more detailed information)
December 3 Petersen Garage Sale and Swap Meet
December 3 CARnival Family Fun Day
January 3 Discovery Day- Make Your Year!
January 23 Zócalo Event- Do Museums Matter?
February 4 Discovery Day- Valentine's Pop-up CARds
February 25 Grand Salon- Italian Styling and Design
Feb 29-Mar 3 Deuce Week
February 29 Bruce Meyer Gallery- 1932 Fords
March 13 Discovery Day- Italian Styling and Design
April 7 Discovery Day- Car Air Fresheners
May 5 Discovery Day- Bejewel a Bag For Mom!
June 2 Discovery Day- Gift Bags For Dad
Through Jan 15 Bruce Meyer Gallery- Phil Hill: A Life In Cars
Through Feb 5 Grand Salon- Supercars: When Too Much Is Almost Enough
Through May 28 Gordon R. Howard Gallery- Scooters: Size Doesn't Always Matter
NEW EXHIBITS
ITALIAN STYLING AND DESIGN
Grand Salon
Opens February 25
From the grand classics of the 1930s to modern supercars of today, Italian designers have influenced the look of automobiles on a global scale. The Petersen Automotive Museum exhibition on Italian design will explore the many ways in which Italian coachbuilders and manufacturers have contributed to the evolution of the automobile from a collection of disorganized parts to a single, visually appealing unit. Already well aware of the Italian contribution in the look of clothing, art, and architecture, museum visitors will be fascinated to learn that the country that gave the world Michelangelo and Botticelli also gave it the designers responsible for the exotic and inspired automobiles we have now come to expect from Italy.
HOT RODDING ICON: 1932 FORD
Bruce Meyer Gallery
February 29 through March 25, 2012
As part of Deuce Week and to celebrate 80 years of the 1932 Ford, the Petersen Automotive Museum will also display several iconic Deuces in the Bruce Meyer Gallery. Vehicles on display will include winners of America's Most Beautiful Roadster, 1932 ford race cars, vintage hot rods, and modern high-tech street rods.
PETERSEN AUTOMOTIVE MUSEUM GARAGE SALE AND SWAP MEET
Saturday, December 3, 2011, 9 a.m.-2 p.m.
Petersen Museum Parking Structure
Now is your chance to buy some of the vehicles, props, parts, store products and duplicate literature that is no longer needed here at the Museum. Museum members will also have booths set up to sell items and vehicles from their personal collections as well. Find that missing part for your exotic, classic, or muscle car or motorcycle, buy a Christmas gift for the auto enthusiast in your life, or purchase a restoration project, or drive home in the car of your dreams! While you are here, learn how to properly detail your car at the Griot's Garage car care seminars going on all day! Griot's garage is the Official Car Care Product Provider of the Petersen Automotive Museum.
ZOCALO EVENT DO MUSEUMS MATTER?
Monday, January 23, 2012
Grand Salon
While museums remain popular as ever with the broad public, they have come under attack within the academy. In the fields of cultural studies and museum studies, scholars have attacked places like the Louvre or the British Museum for supposedly perpetuating imperialist values and aims. By gathering up art from less powerful nations around the world, putting it on display, and telling people what to think of it, museums, according to their critics, exert an unhealthy power over us all. James Cuno, president and CEO of the Getty Trust and author of Museums Matter: In Praise of the Encyclopedic Museum, has a response to this: it's a fantasy. Museums promote tolerance, historical awareness, and cross-cultural understanding. Cuno visits Zócalo to make the case for why museums have never been better in what they have to offer or more important in the role they play.
DEUCE WEEK
Wednesday, February 29 -Saturday, March 3, 2012
The streets of Los Angeles' Miracle Mile will once again resonate with the sounds of finely tuned V-8s when the Petersen Automotive Museum celebrates the 80thAnniversary of hot rodding's most popular car, the 1932 Ford, during Deuce Week in March 2012. Exciting events each day of Deuce Week include tours to other automotive museums, private collections, and hot rod shops, a round table discussion and dinner with hot rodding's biggest heroes, a silent auction, book signings, and a concert with legendary rock musicians. The event ends with the Deuce Day car show on Saturday, March 3 when 500 Deuces from all over the world will be on display in the Petersen Parking Structure. Each event is priced separately. Registration opens September 1. Go to www.DeuceWeek.org for details and to register.
DISCOVERY DAY Car Activities & L.A. BookPALS First Saturday of every month, 1-4pm
Join us on the first Saturday of each month for arts and crafts, and at 2:30pm, actors from L.A. BookPALS read stories. The program is included in Museum general admission. Call 323-964-6308 for more information. Future topics include:
December 3, 2011 CARnival
Join us for many fun activities in our 5th annual CARnival Family Fun Day!
January 3, 2011 Make Your Year!
Join us in decorating calendars as you plan for your new year!
February 4, 2012 Valentine's Pop-up CARds
Send one of our CARds to someone you love!
March 13, 2012 Italian Styling & Design
Decorateyour own mini car and model it after something in our new exhibit!
April 7, 2012 Car Air Fresheners
Put together your very own Lightning McQueen car air freshener!
May 5, 2012 Bejewel a Bag for Mom!
Mother's Day is coming soon, make mom a present!
June 2, 2012 Gift Bags for Dad
Decorate these gift bags and think up what to fill them with for Father's Day!
PHIL HILL: THE LIFE OF A LEGEND
EXTENDED through January 15, 2012
Few motorsports icons command greater respect than Phil Hill, but his accomplishments did not stop with winning auto races. In addition to being the world's first and only American-born Formula 1 champion, he was a student of automobile history, an accomplished mechanic, a classic car restorer, a skilled photographer, and a family man. Created in collaboration with Phil's son Derek, the Petersen Automotive Museum's Phil Hill tribute exhibition will take a revealing look into the life and work of this racing legend interpreted through artifacts ranging from the vehicles he raced to the clothes he wore.
SUPERCARS: WHEN TOO MUCH IS ALMOST ENOUGH
EXTENDED through February 5, 2012
Supercars have existed since the first decade of the twentieth century and while their mechanical and design specifications have evolved from era to era, they have always had in common immensely powerful engines, minimal passenger carrying capacity, adventurous mechanical specifications, and a commanding presence.
Like supermarkets, supermodels, and supercomputers, supercars represent an extreme. More than mere transportation, they offer a bold and extroverted means to express oneself.
NEW CAR SHOWROOM: 1941 CADILLAC
Through March 4, 2012
Streetscape
Beginning August 6, the Petersen Automotive Museum's prewar new car showroom exhibit will feature the 1941 Cadillac. A pivotal year for the prestige car manufacturer, 1941 was the year that Cadillac introduced luxury features such as the fully automatic transmission and air conditioning. It was also the year that Cadillac introduced its now famous egg-crate grille design, a styling feature still in use today.
FROM SILVER SCREEN TO DIE-CAST: DISNEY-PIXAR CARS IMAGINED BY MATTEL
Through April 29, 2012
Hollywood Gallery
In celebration of their Disney*Pixar Cars die-cast vehicles collection, Mattel, the #1 toy maker, will unveil From Silver Screen to Die-cast: Disney*Pixar Cars Imagined by Mattel, a comprehensive exhibit showcasing the history of its Cars die-cast collection. This special six-month exhibit offers families and Cars collectors an entertaining and informative glimpse into Mattel's blockbuster toy line.
THE ARTWORK OF PETE MILLAR
Through April 29, 2012
Art Wall
This exhibition will feature original illustrations of satirical cartoonist Pete Millar, best known for his hot rod and drag racing comics of the 1950s and 1960s. Originally an engineer before changing careers, Millar created Rod and Custom's famous cartoon mascot, Arin Cee, and oversaw the creation and development of CARtoons Magazineand Drag Cartoons, publications that are now highly collectible.
SCOOTERS: SIZE DOESN'T ALWAYS MATTER
Through May 28, 2012
Gordon R. Howard Gallery
With today's high fuel prices, growing traffic congestion, and environmental consciousness, people are looking for easier, cheaper and cleaner ways to get where they are going. The diminutive scooter has been popular for generations in other countries, yet until recently has remained but a footnote in American transportation culture. This exhibit will explore different types of scooters from around the world, how and why they differ, and the culture that surrounds them.
IMAGINING THE FUTURE:
The Southern California Automotive Design Studio,
Presented in Cooperation with Art Center College of Design
Ongoing Exhibit
Visitors will see a comparison of a 1930's studio with a modern-day studio with various examples of the creative process in 2-D and 3-D form from different points in California's rich automotive history. Design demonstrations by Art Center students will occur in the exhibit on the second and fourth Sunday of every month from approximately 10am-3pm.
HOT WHEELS(r) HALL OF FAME
The Hot Wheels Hall of Fame at the Petersen Automotive Museum, features Hot Wheels(r) full-size and die-cast cars, original models, wooden patterns, injection molds and drawings of original vehicle designs.
ALTERNATIVE POWER: LESSONS FROM THE PAST, INSPIRATION FOR THE FUTURE
From the highly styled 1963 Chrysler Turbine to the General Motors EV1, automobiles equipped with innovative propulsion systems are presented to illustrate the growth of alternative vehicle technology.
MAY FAMILY DISCOVERY CENTER
Open Tuesday-Friday, 10am-4pm, and Saturday & Sunday, 10am-5pm
The May Family Discovery Center is an interactive learning center that teaches basic scientific principles using the fundamental elements of the car.
SPECIAL FEATURES AT THE PETERSEN
SPECIAL EVENTS AND FILMING - Please call (323) 964-6348 or visitwww.petersenevents.org to host your event or shoot film at one of LA's most exciting venues!
BIRTHDAY PARTIES - The Museum offers a wonderful venue for children's birthday parties. Party guests can enjoy all three floors of the museum including the May Family Discovery Center. For more information or to book your party, call 323-964-6373.
SCHOOL TOURS- Taking a field trip to the Pete is an excellent way to teach your students about the history of Los Angeles and its intertwined relationship with the automobile. Students learn basic scientific principles and their applications as they explore hands-on activities in the Discovery Center. School Tours focus on history/social science, visual arts, and science & technology. Call (323) 964-6358 for information and reservations.
GROUP TOURS - A docent-led tour is available to groups of ten or more. - (323) 964-6346.
VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITIES - Come and be a part of the Petersen's "Pit Crew". For an application or more information call - (323) 964-6358, emailvolunteers@petersen.org, or visit www.petersen.org.
MUSEUM STORE - Excellent souvenirs and gifts for auto enthusiasts (323) 964-6328.