Officially a USC art museum though located 15 miles from the campus in Pasadena (LA County), the USC Pacific Asia Museum was established in 1971 to spotlight the arts and cultures of Asia and the Pacific Islands. Combining a courtyard garden and outdoor exhibition space with multiple indoor galleries and a nicely curated, Asia-themed gift store, the Museum permanently features a kid-friendly, hands-on “Honoring the Silk Road” exhibition in the Crossroads gallery, a building wall-covering mural of birds in flight, and multiple small pieces of ceramic and garden art. Temporary exhibitions of additional ceramics, clothing, prints, and paintings rotate through the other galleries.
Free parking is available immediately outside of the Museum in a dedicated lot, with paid street parking nearby. Though admission to the temporary exhibits is typically $20 per adult and $15 for students 17 and older, free admission is offered to Crossroads, the central courtyard, and museum store. USC’s Fisher Museum of Art, focused non-exclusively on Latin art, Latin-American art, and student exhibitions, is located in Los Angeles at USC’s campus.
