Itinerary: Free Art

The art world sometimes seems to include only giant cultural institutions, pricey galleries and record-breaking auctions.

Yet some art is free for the taking by everyone--or at least free for the viewing.

Friday

L.A.’s highest-profile public art in the ‘90s was at the MTA’s train stations. Though opinions differ on the overall success of the projects, critics agree that a few are worth checking out. Downtown, the Red Line’s Civic Center Station features Jonathan Borofsky’s whimsical “I Dreamed I Could Fly” (1993): six flying Borofskys suspended from the ceiling.

On the Green Line, Richard Turner’s installation at the Aviation Boulevard station is an enjoyable--and comfortable--riff on ‘50s suburban style. The platform is transformed into a living room, complete with picture window, lounge chairs and coffee table. It’s an ironic fusion of urban mass transit and L.A.’s suburban (read: car) culture.

Saturday

The sunny weather in Los Angeles makes the city a perfect spot to enjoy art outdoors.

Outside the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (5905 Wilshire Blvd., [323] 857-6000) is the B. Gerald Cantor Sculpture Garden, which can be enjoyed without entering the rest of the museum. The sculpture garden is filled with bronzes by Rodin and his contemporaries.

The Sondra and Marvin Smalley Sculpture Garden at the University of Judaism (15600 Mulholland Drive, Bel-Air [310] 476-9777) is small but contains work by some important 20th century artists: George Rickey, Sol Lewitt, Jenny Holzer and others.

The largest such spot, however, is the Franklin D. Murphy Sculpture Garden on UCLA’s north campus (405 Hilgard Ave., [310] 443-7000), designed by landscape architect Ralph Cornell. Its five acres contain more than 70 works from the 19th and 20th centuries, including “Standing Woman” by Gaston Lachaise, “Button Flower” by Alexander Calder and “Bas-Reliefs I-IV” by Henri Matisse.

Sunday

Los Angeles is also the mural capital of the nation, with an estimated 1,200 painted walls dotting the urban landscape. They range from government-funded WPA-era work to images inspired by the Mexican mural tradition to politically charged images from the 1960s to graffiti art that changes by the week. The best way to size up L.A.’s murals might be to stow Robin J. Dunitz’s guide “Street Gallery” in your car for a few years. But to get a start this weekend, check out “The Great Wall of Los Angeles” (Tujunga Wash flood control channel, Coldwater Canyon Avenue between Burbank Boulevard and Oxnard Street, Van Nuys), Judy Baca’s 40-panel work created over seven years. It spans half a mile and all of California history, from prehistoric life to the development of suburbia.

The area east of downtown is a treasure trove of Chicano murals from the ‘70s. The most well-known is probably “The Wall That Cracked Open” (4125 City Terrace Drive, near Carmelita Avenue, City Terrace), painted by Willie Herron III in 1972 and restored in May. But there are more than 100 in Boyle Heights, East L.A., City Terrace and Monterey Park. One place to start is the intersection of Cesar Chavez Avenue and Soto Street, the location of two Herron works: “No Somos Animales” (1995) and “Advancements of Man” (1976, repainted 1995). Also nearby is “El Corrido de Boyle Heights” (1983) by David Botello, Wayne Healy and George Yepes, Botello’s “The Greatest Love” (1992) and “Resurrection of the Green Planet” (1991) by Ernesto de la Loza.